Game Thread Spurs (45-17) vs Clippers (30-31) (Fri 03/06/26) [8:30 PM CST]

On a serious note, the way LAC lost the game...Batum out of bound, give up 2 offensive rebounds to blow the 25 pts lead to lose the game.

I hope it don't destroy their momentum and start a losing streak and give OKC a higher draft pick
 
spursparker9 said:
On a serious note, the way LAC lost the game...Batum out of bound, give up 2 offensive rebounds to blow the 25 pts lead to lose the game.

I hope it don't destroy their momentum and start a losing streak and give OKC a higher draft pick
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Zero chance they fall out of the play-in tbh, and they should beat the Guests in the 9/10 game. Not sure they go further than that though.
 
What, did you want the Spurs to lose or something? Why are you calling this out?
 
What a crazy comeback win. This team does not give up. Really happy with their effort tonight and happy for them. Win or lose, great, great effort to get back into the game and give themselves a chance.

CB, I don't think I need to say anything else.

Correct Crusader said:
It really is understated that Wemby is the premier dominant player on both sides of the ball for us. It's gotta be exhausting.
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As I've mentioned almost a week ago, Victor is exhausted with the load he's carrying defensively and offensively. He's been amazing pushing through that fatigue, but I don't know how nobody else has really noticed it (I don't recall people mentioning it). I could just tell days ago that he's exhausted and that's one reason I've wanted CB to play more/possibly start - To help with some of that physical stuff. I've also mentioned all the fouling teams are doing on Victor, and I think it's taking a toll. I hope it's just the back to back and that he's able to recharge and feel better with some rest, but he is carrying a huge load.

Ice009 said:
If someone else could help do that, then I guess Carter doesn't have to start. And I also simply don't like how fatigued Victor is looking (I'm not blaming Victor for poor play on offense lately, because he just looks exhausted from the load he's had to carry defensively. He's got no one else to help him down low with the physical play. Maybe Mason Plumlee can help with this?).
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I mentioned this days ago, but don't know if anyone else has noticed (no one commented on it - it was before the Detroit game/after the Sixers game). Just a feeling I've had, but it's been through close observation and not just purely guessing. He has looked exhausted. You got guys like @wEmBoY clamoring for more minutes which I also thought isn't the right move. I still wanted him to rest/play less minutes in games the Spurs have in hand. I know people are saying he needs conditioning for the playoffs and I somewhat relented to that when Wemboy brought it up the other day because for most players, I don't think 32-34 minutes is that much, but now that Victor came out and said after the game what I'd been seeing/thinking (that he's exhausted), I think for Victor, it's best to not give him big minutes every game and not ramp up for the playoffs that way. I think for Victor, just play him 32-34 in the bigger games and try and keep the minutes down in the games the Spurs have in hand.

rascal said:
I like the Wemby fast break for the dunk. This team is exciting to watch. Finally athletes who can quickly finish and run the fast break off turnovers for easy dunks/ baskets.
Castle although having a rough night came up with a big play to close out the win. Kid is a gamer and winner and leaves everything out on the floor.
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Don't know if anyone noticed, but It was interesting seeing Kawhi sort of put his hand on Steph's chest after the game ended, sort of like to say, good job. Don't know if I am reading that body language right, but seems like Kawhi respects him.


DAF86 said:
If Wemby really is feeling as bad as he's saying and he isn't exagerating for the sake of theatrics, then it is worrisome. 22 year olds shouldn't have such a hard time playing 60 minutes over a two days span.
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Do you think it's just from the past two games, or do you think all the physical play (the pushing, pulling, grabbing, fouling that I mentioned earlier this week), or the load he's carrying on both defense and offense that is taking a toll?

Wemby_Island said:
The effort he puts is 2x the energy every other player puts.

Dont measure his velocity by minutes.
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Very true. Something some of us mention. Don't know if people just don't understand what it takes to play like that on both sides of the court. I guess you've got to play to understand that, but still, fans should have see that it wasn't easy on Kawhi when he played all out on defense and offense in the 2016/2017 season for the Spurs. He offense wasn't as good as what it was on Toronto on the Clippers, but that was his best season as far as going all out of defense and also putting in huge effort on offense combining the two at a high level. He ended up taking the following season off (still don't know if he was really full hurt, though). It's NOT easy even for the elite of the elite playing at that level on both sides of the ball.

I just thought I'd mention this up to show as people brought up Victor's size, and that might very well be a factor, but also wanted to point out that even more regular sized players find it hard to put out maximum effort on both sides like that. Someone also mentioned (I'll have to lookup who to give props) Westbrook looking like he goes all out when he was at his peak, but that was on offense, and he still slacked on defense. That was a good example that @spursparker9 brought up.
 
Robz4000 said:
Gotta go all out to get that W against Houston then punt that Celtics game tbh.
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I'm not punting a home game on a non-B2B against a team we might need the tiebreaker for if we meet them in the Finals. We already own it over Detroit, but we're also trying to keep pace with OKC and Detroit, especially OKC down two in the loss column.
 
Millennial_Messiah said:
I'm not punting a home game on a non-B2B against a team we might need the tiebreaker for if we meet them in the Finals. We already own it over Detroit, but we're also trying to keep pace with OKC and Detroit, especially OKC down two in the loss column.
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Celtics have as brutal a schedule as anyone tbh, and even with an L the Spurs should have no issues getting the tiebreaker with a better record against the EC (Spurs are 19-4 against the East while the Celtics are 14-7 against the West with two games against the Thunder and one against the T'Pups left).
 
Robz4000 said:
Celtics have as brutal a schedule as anyone tbh, and even with an L the Spurs should have no issues getting the tiebreaker with a better record against the EC (Spurs are 19-4 against the East while the Celtics are 14-7 with two games against the Thunder and one against the T'Pups left).
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Right, but we still need to tie Detroit or better, and they're still one game ahead of us in the loss column, and the East is the easier conference.

And I'm still holding out hope for the #1 seed in the West. No need to punt home games with a typical gap day. If there's a B2B road game, or something like 4 in 5 nights, and OKC has lost a couple, I'd be down.

Even Popovich with the old big 3 didn't simply punt random non-B2B games :st-lol: btw, the NBA still owes us $250k plus interest and penalties from that game in the early part of the 2013 season in Miami against the Heatles where we flew our starting lineup plus Manu home and the bench almost beat a healthy prime Miami Big Three, tbh.
 
Millennial_Messiah said:
Right, but we still need to tie Detroit or better, and they're still one game ahead of us in the loss column, and the East is the easier conference.
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Pistons also have three left against the Thunder/T'Pups and several more against playoff teams. That said, I can't see them coming out of the East and even then the Spurs have proven to be a matchup nightmare for them.
 
Spurs shouldn't even be looking at HCA against any EC foes regardless tbh. Too many unknowns and its fucked the Spurs in the past.
 
Robz4000 said:
Pistons also have three left against the Thunder/T'Pups and several more against playoff teams. That said, I can't see them coming out of the East and even then the Spurs have proven to be a matchup nightmare for them.
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that said, we're 5-0 in the Finals with HCA, 0-1 without it

It's not quite as disadvantageous to be on the butt end of the 2-2-1-1-1 vs. the old 2-3-2, but it's still undesirable and the Spurs have been better at home than away.

Robz4000 said:
Spurs shouldn't even be looking at HCA against any EC foes regardless tbh. Too many unknowns and its fucked the Spurs in the past.
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huh, explain?
 
Millennial_Messiah said:
that said, we're 5-0 in the Finals with HCA, 0-1 without it

It's not quite as disadvantageous to be on the butt end of the 2-2-1-1-1 vs. the old 2-3-2, but it's still undesirable and the Spurs have been better at home than away.



huh, explain?
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They went for HCA throughout the postseason in the last game of the season in 2011 and Manu broke his elbow. You know the rest tbh.

Also, Spurs would've won 3 of those series with or without HCA.
 
It sucks, I fell asleep during the 1st Q and missed a helluva comeback. I am very pleased that we won.

I saw Denver got beat again.
 
Spurs Homer said:
I dont think you have grasped what wemby does on every play - offense and defense…
He consistently - for 3 years now

Gets as good or better numbers than any other player in the league plus beats everyone in blocks hands down-
IN HALF OF THE MINUTES - of every other star

This isnt deandre ayton jogging up and down the court at 1/3 speed affecting nothing and no one and allowing multiple layups to boot

This is a superhuman forcing every team to choke on offense and panic on defense every second he is out there.

I suggest you watch the games and pay attention to fully appreciate the effort wemby is expending out there and then factor the past month on the road all over this shithole country and winning almost every game on that journey- to return home and play a back to back against one great team and one that was having a hot night of shooting.
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Great post. I mentioned that when Kawhi played DPOY level defense for the Spurs and raised his offense to top 5, that definitely took a toll on him too as he's never played at that level since. His offense has been better in Toronto and the Clippers, but I don't think he's played at that high of a level on both defense and offense since his 2016/2017 season with the Spurs. He definitely hasn't played the same level on defense since that season with the Spurs. It is not easy for anyone to do it.

Fireball said:
What a game. but watching this shitshow in the first half was worth it and when CB converted that alley oop I shouted out loud!
Props to Julien for stirring the comeback.

On the downside - I am really worried Castle will get unplayable in the playoffs. His offense is putrid.
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I'm not going to get on Steph too much. Kawhi really did give him a good run a huge test. He didn't have a good game, but it seemed to me that Kawhi appreciated his effort. He put his hand on Steph's chest as to give him props after the game ended (well at least, that's the way it looked to me on Kawhi giving props in his own way).

However, what you said can't be discounted. He has to be better on offense in the playoffs. He just has to. He can't be someone that the other team doesn't have to worry about. He needs to be efficient and be a threat on the offensive side of the ball.

Robz4000 said:
Bruh. We just saw Castle dominate Cunningham twice in the past two weeks. This was the second night of a B2B against the best perimeter defender in the NBA and another elite perimeter defender in Dunn on a team full of elite defenders that negate a lot of his advantages, and he still had 8 assists.
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Yeah, Steph didn't have a great game, but I won't get on him too much about it for those very reasons you said.
 
Robz4000 said:
Pistons also have three left against the Thunder/T'Pups and several more against playoff teams. That said, I can't see them coming out of the East and even then the Spurs have proven to be a matchup nightmare for them.
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Celts will come out of east.

Write it down..
 
Spurs Homer said:
I dont think you have grasped what wemby does on every play - offense and defense…
He consistently - for 3 years now

Gets as good or better numbers than any other player in the league plus beats everyone in blocks hands down-
IN HALF OF THE MINUTES - of every other star

This isnt deandre ayton jogging up and down the court at 1/3 speed affecting nothing and no one and allowing multiple layups to boot

This is a superhuman forcing every team to choke on offense and panic on defense every second he is out there.

I suggest you watch the games and pay attention to fully appreciate the effort wemby is expending out there and then factor the past month on the road all over this shithole country and winning almost every game on that journey- to return home and play a back to back against one great team and one that was having a hot night of shooting.
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I watch the games and I pay attention. Yall make it seem like Wemby is the first player in the history of the league to play both sides of the floor. I would say 2016 Kawhi exerted much more energy running around the perimeter on both sides of the floor, compared to Wemby who's basically playing zone and staying close to the basket the whole time. I'm not even hating, I love Wemby's 100% effort on both sides of the floor, but that's how it is, tbh.

If Wemby is really as tired as he's making out to be, the problem obviously comes from his unique physical build, and that sucks because I don't know that there's a solution to that. Although, I still hold hope that he's just being overly expressive, as he tends to be sometimes, and that he's just overselling normal regular season grind.
 
DAF86 said:
I watch the games and I pay attention. Yall make it seem like Wemby is the first player in the history of the league to play both sides of the floor.
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He might be the first to play at this high of a level consistently at both ends. Even the great 2 way guys usually ramped up defense for crunch time but rested a lot on that end. Jordan, Kobe, etc. The great defensive bigs who manned the paint anywhere close to this level weren't the offensive force Wemby is.
 
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