Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
The Spurs are silently moving up the standings.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Gay/AP.)
So some team is quietly rising. Actually, they’ve been pretty much moving in a quiet manner for the entire existence of this franchise. They’re very low-key. There are no frills. There is no sizzle. No pomp and circumstance. No fireworks around them. They are no-nonsense and they just do their jobs.
It’s the San Antonio Spurs. These guys never seem to go away.
To be fair, they didn’t make the postseason in the Disneyworld bubble last summer. But they played pretty well, going 5-3 and just missing the cut.
They have built on that. The Spurs have won three straight and 5 of their last 7 games overall. They are 11-8 and 4th in the West. They beat the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets in their last two games and they also beat Houston and Portland in the beginning of that 7-game stretch.
What’s up?
What drove the analytic experts mad was the diet of midrange jumpers they have in their offense. They actually are still Top 2 in that department (18.5 shots per game in the midrange zone) but they have shot fewer than in the last couple of seasons, which tells you where we are in the NBA trends. But either way, the Spurs were still in the Top 10 in offensive rating (that’s points per possession) in the last couple of seasons. They’re actually middling this season in terms of that side of the ball. So what was their weakness then?
Defense always won the games for the Spurs. They were 25th in defensive rating (points allowed per possession) last season and 19th in 2018-19. They are 9th this season.
We talked about the potential of their young players defensively. Dejounte Murray was in the All-Defensive 2nd team in 2018. Keldon Johnson was known for his defensive chops coming into the league. Lonnie Walker is a good man-to-man defender. Jakob Poeltl does his job inside. Devin Vassell is also good on that side of the ball.
They are incredibly switch-heavy on defense, which can be a problem when one of their players is LaMarcus Aldridge, who just doesn’t have the mobility anymore to do that regularly. But as long as they have the right line-ups, they can cover and make up some ground. Derrick White is due back very soon and he can only help the improving Spurs defense.
But that’s where they are. That’s how they’ve been winning. Their offense hasn’t been as good as the last couple of seasons but if that catches up to their defense, their absence from the postseason might be very, very short.
Oh, those Spurs. They just like to creep on the league, man.
Bullet Passes
Well, we know how different the Clippers look when they have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George back. Anyway, these Clips are 9-1 in their last 10 games after decimating the Magic.
No Donovan Mitchell but Bojan Bogdanovic broke out with 32 points in their blowout win over Dallas. The Jazz have won 11 straight.
It’s fair to ask if the Jazz have peaked too early. But all you can do is play and keep improving, right?
All the Nets want to do is outscore you. 147 points against OKC. They didn’t even have Kevin Durant but it allowed them to spread the wealth. 9 players scored in double figures. Good grief.
Immanuel Quickley had another high-powered game with 25 points off the pine for the Knicks. It’s nice to see a pretty decent team coming out of New York!
Joel Embiid, man. I’m telling you. Dominance.
Well, it’s nice to see Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo get reacquainted.
Rondo pointed to the locker room after Westbrook got ejected 😅 pic.twitter.com/mm87Zi03qr
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2021
No love lost here.
Oh, and the Wizards lost again.
NBA Scoreboard
Jan. 29, 2021
Watch This Play
John Collins had a similar oop but I like this one better from Miles Bridges (THANKS, LaMELO).
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
One of the best game-dunkers in the league today.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else. GG.