Vintage Spurs

by Ea34

Looking at some NBA box scores over the weekend, I came across one in particular that struck me as particularly interesting. Friday night in San Antonio, the Spurs defeated the Sacramento Kings, 96-80, winning their third straight game to open the 2007-08 season. The truth is this game will have no historical impact on the NBA and no impact on the Spurs season beyond ranking as one of their 55-60 regular season wins. What’s interesting about this box score is how the Spurs did what they did. Despite scoring a very respectable and offense-friendly 96 points, hitting 12 3-pointers and outscoring the Kings 33-13 in the second quarter, at a glance, the box score doesn’t really suggest that the San Antonio Spurs dominated the game, scored a lot of points or, hell, even won the game.

Only one member of the Spurs played as many as 30 minutes ( Tony Parker, 31 minutes). Parker and Tim Duncan led the Spurs in scoring with just 15 points apiece. Three other Spurs scored in double figures ( Ime Udoka, 14; Matt Bonner, 13; Manu Ginobili, 10), but frankly put up rather pedestrian numbers. Finally, San Antonio turned the ball over 19 times and shot just 41.3% from the field!

Yeah, yeah, I know why they won. Defense (38.7 FG% allowed), rebounding (outrebounded Sacramento 50-35, including 11-6 on the offensive glass) and 3-pointers (12-27, vs. 2-12 for the Kings). The observation I’m making here is strictly a visual one. Go ahead, look at this box score for just a second. Do you see anything to suggest that the Spurs scored 96 points and dominated the game?

To be clear, I am not implying that the Spurs did not deserve the win. Actually, I am saying the exact opposite. There is a perverse beauty to this win for the Spurs. This is what they do! Games like this are exactly why the Spurs are inside the head of every team in the NBA.