This season of San Antonio Spurs basketball has been a curler coaster. There are excessive peaks just like the Spurs blowout win over the Indiana Pacers of their first matchup throughout the NBA Paris Video games. Then they comply with it up with a weird efficiency in sport two, shedding by 38 factors. These Paris video games had been an instance of the story of the Spurs’ season – in a single stretch, they’re a playoff contender; the following they’re headed to the lottery.
By way of all these ups and downs, a sample has began to emerge. The Spurs have an offensive expertise deficiency. Certain, their protection falters with out Victor Wembanyama on the ground often. They’re a middle-of-the-pack defensive staff, statistically, however when he’s on, they’ll look elite. Offensively, outdoors of Wembanyama, they’re inconsistent at finest.
Credit score the Pacers for being the extra bodily staff, selecting up full court docket, and bothering the Spurs sufficient to make them flip the ball over 24 occasions. Even so, a staff with sufficient playmakers ought to be capable of counter that effort – the Spurs don’t have them. You merely can’t rating simply 12 factors within the fourth quarter and anticipate to win the sport.
Who outdoors of Wembanyama is a dependable, constant creator of offense? Chris Paul has been the reply for a lot of the season, however at 39 years outdated, he doesn’t have the burst to search out his pictures persistently. Devin Vassell has been warming up these days, however the Pacers had been capable of take him fully out of the sport on Saturday. Stephon Fort has proven flashes, however his capturing is an actual problem that holds him again from being efficient on a excessive quantity of pictures.
The Spurs are significantly better than they had been final 12 months. They’ve already received as many video games as final season, and it’s January. They’ve made regular enhancements each internally and by selecting up exterior gamers. Nonetheless, this roster has its flaws and sure tasks as a staff that hovers round .500 for a lot of the season. So buckle in and benefit from the experience, as a result of this curler coaster experience isn’t ending for one more few months.
Takeaways:
San Antonio by no means adjusted to Indiana’s stress on Thursday. The complete-court press bothered them and brought about a ton of turnovers. The Spurs misplaced the turnover margin by 14 and the offensive rebound margin by 1, that means the Pacers obtained 15 additional possessions due to its aggression and physicality. Indiana obtained 17 extra pictures off and knocked them down at a excessive clip (43.6% from three). That gave the impression to be the distinction within the sport.
Fort has been fairly efficient these days, however he’s nonetheless vulnerable to some powerful offensive video games the place he’s forcing the problems. He appears to have the inexperienced gentle from deep regardless of capturing 25.9% from three this 12 months. With no dependable mid-range sport, Fort’s rim ending is his sole scoring weapon. The Pacers took benefit of that, forcing him to get to the rim, the place he was met by Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam a number of occasions. Fort has a ton of potential, however creating his shot must be a precedence if he needs to turn out to be a dependable offensive weapon.
Because the commerce deadline approaches, the Spurs could be finest match to choose up one other scorer, ideally a ball-handler, and most significantly, one other large man. Indiana crushed the Spurs’ small lineup with Jeremy Sochan at heart. Sochan was -30 in his 14 minutes. He’s higher suited at ahead subsequent to Wembanyama, given their chemistry. Bassey and Collins haven’t confirmed they are often relied upon. They want outdoors assist to bolster their depth.
