Whoever was involved concerning the Spurs having “an excessive amount of guard expertise” can relaxation assured, it’s not a nasty drawback to have. A lot ado was made concerning the Spurs giving De’Aaron Fox a max contract extension this summer season, which was an anticipated transfer after they traded for him final February, however the Spurs lucking into the 2nd general choose, which became Dylan Harper, within the draft had many rethinking that strategy, as they already additionally had reigning Rookie of the 12 months Stephon Fortress to think about.
This led some to imagine that there might not be sufficient minutes to go round, and egos may get in the way in which for whoever needed to come off the bench, however relaxation assured, this trio is all in on one another.
Whereas it’s solely a two-game pattern dimension to this point, these three have proven that they’ll take turns dominating. Of their video games in opposition to the Pelicans and Lakers, Fox has performed the position of chief, selecting his spots and realizing when the group wanted him to step up in huge moments whereas additionally recognizing when one in every of his fellow guards is scorching. In New Orleans, that was Harper, and final night time in Los Angeles, it was Fortress, who dominated with 30 factors on 10-14 taking pictures (3-6 from three), 10 rebounds and 6 assists. (He had his traditional blemish of 4 turnovers, however the Spurs did such a great job of caring for the ball with solely 10 whole that it didn’t harm them too badly.)
Regardless of some complaints concerning the trio sharing related strengths, particularly driving to the basket, that was no drawback in opposition to a protection as inept because the Lakers’ (naturally with the assistance of some immaculate screens from Luke Kornet, maybe his biggest attribute).
After which, at any time when issues started to look a bit dicey, Fox would step up and hit huge shot after huge shot to suck the vitality proper again from the Lakers, together with throughout their final ditch effort within the closing minutes. Having somebody who’s unafraid of massive moments and capable of calm his teammates within the clutch is one thing the Spurs have lacked since at the least DeMar DeRozan, if not Manu Ginobili. It’s so good not having to fret if the Spurs aren’t forward by 20 with 7 minutes to go after they grew to become infamous for blowing double-digit leads a few seasons in the past.
One other huge motive for the extraordinarily profitable night time for the Spurs was the play of the bench. Together with Harper’s contribution of 13 factors and 4 assists, Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie have been each enormous. Johnson — who has the added motivation of with the ability to purchase a llama if the Spurs win the Cup — was enormous in serving to the Spurs pull forward early with 13 of his 17 factors within the first quarter, together with 3-3 from three, and eight rebounds. Champagnie stayed scorching all through, with 16 well timed factors on 6-8 taking pictures and seven rebounds. Total, the Spurs’ bench outscored the Lakers’ 48 to 31, 26 of which got here from Marcus Good after the Spurs had already constructed a large lead.
Lastly, listed here are the complete highlights. The Spurs will tackle the daunting job of taking down a 24-1 Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder group in Saturday in Las Vegas for the Semifinals, they usually might need Victor Wembanyama again (I received’t maintain my breath, although). Within the meantime, I’ll simply get pleasure from this satisfying victory.
