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2012 San Antonio Spurs

2012 San Antonio Spurs: A Conference Finals Run

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The 2012 San Antonio Spurs were looking for some redemption. A big regular season in 2011 had crashed hard with a playoff flameout. The Spurs spent much of 2012—and much of the postseason—looking like they would get that redemption. Then a sudden turn of events ended an excellent year on a dour note.

Tim Duncan was 35-years-old, but the great power forward still averaged 15 points/9 rebounds per game. Duncan anchored a frontline that relied on varied contributions from Richard Jefferson to Tiago Splitter to young DeJuan Blair to a rookie by the name of Kawhi Leonard.

The backcourt was ably led by point guard Tony Parker. With a per-game average of 18 points/7 assists, Parker made second-team All-NBA. His production was enough to offset the fact Manu Ginobili missed half the regular season. Danny Green, the long-range marksman, also helped pick up the slack in Ginobili’s absence.

With Parker and Duncan holding down the lineup and head coach Gregg Popovich brilliantly orchestrating the role players, the Spurs ranked 1st in the league in offensive efficiency. The defense wasn’t quite that good, but at 10th in the efficiency rankings, it was plenty good enough to win and make San Antonio a legitimate contender for the NBA title.

Labor strife and a lockout delayed the start of this season until Christmas and the regular season was shortened to 66 games. The Spurs opened on December 26 with a 95-82 win over the Memphis Grizzlies—if nothing else, salvaging some wounded pride after losing to the Grizzlies in the first round of the previous year’s playoffs.

But mediocrity marked San Antonio’s play through the end of January. The Spurs lost two out of three games to a non-playoff team in the Houston Rockets. They were hammered at LeBron James’ Miami Heat. They lost by double-digits to Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Simply gaining a split with the Dallas Mavericks, the defending champ was the high point. San Antonio was 13-9 going into February, in sixth place in the Western Conference.

A win at Memphis on the final day of January kickstarted an 11-game winning streak that got the Spurs moving. One of those wins was a 107-96 triumph over the Thunder. Seven of the victories came on the road. By the end of February, San Antonio was up to 24-11 and sitting on second place in the Western Conference standings.

The Spurs were still four games back of the Thunder, so they went back to work. San Antonio got a win on the road at Oklahoma City and a one-point win on the road in Boston, where the Celtics were en route to a conference finals appearance. San Antonio ripped off another 11-game winning streak. By April 8, the Spurs and Thunder were in a dead heat for the top playoff seed.

There were three games against a contending Los Angeles Lakers team, led by Kobe Bryant, in the season’s final 2 ½ weeks. San Antonio won twice. With four games to play, the Spurs were 46-16 and the Thunder were 46-17. San Antonio closed strong, with four straight wins. Oklahoma City lost three times. The Spurs finished 50-16 and had the best record in the Western Conference.

San Antonio opened the playoffs against the Utah Jazz. Utah was led by two physical forwards in Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. A 21-year-old Gordon Heyward was coming into his own in the backcourt. The Jazz’s 36-30 record was pretty good for an 8-seed and they ranked sixth in the league in offensive efficiency.

But Utah also ranked 19th in defensive efficiency. Parker and Duncan went right to work at exploiting the weakness. Parker dropped 28 points and dished eight assists in Game 1, while Duncan added 17 points/11 rebounds. The Spurs won 106-91.

San Antonio’s famed balanced reigned in Game 2, with seven players getting between 10-18 points. The defense forced Utah into 34 percent shooting and Duncan cleaned up the misses with 13 rebounds. A decisive 114-83 win ensured the Spurs would hold serve at home.

Rebounding slipped in Game 3, but the backcourt picked up the pace. Parker dropped 27 points. A healthy Ginobili came of the bench to hand out ten assists. Stephen Jackson and Splitter had good games in reserve. A 102-90 put the Spurs a game from clinching.

Utah played defense like a desperate team on their home floor and created an ugly Game 4, one where both teams shot under 40 percent. The Jazz also rebounded like a desperate team, controlling the boards. But what Utah could not do was hit the three-ball—the Jazz missed all thirteen of their shots behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Spurs made their three-point shots count. Led by Ginobili and Jackson, they were 10/22 from trey range. It was enough to close out the sweep, 87-81.

A resurgent Los Angeles Clippers team that had acquired Chris Paul before the season was up in the second round. The matchup between Paul and Parker was a good subplot underneath what had the potential to be a very good series. The Clips also had Blake Griffin at power forward. They had reliable vets in Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler. They had a rising young star in DeAndre Jordan.

The heralded point guard showdown fizzled in Game 1, with Parker and Paul both having off nights. That was fine with San Antonio—Duncan rolled to a big 26/10 line while Ginobili came in off the bench to drop 22 points. The Spurs cruised to a 108-92 win.

San Antonio’s defense forced Paul into eight turnovers in Game 2. Combined with 53 percent shooting from the floor, it was enough for an easy 105-88 win. Once again, the Spurs not only held serve at home, they did it with ease.

On the road in Los Angeles, San Antonio dug themselves a huge 33-11 hole after the first quarter. This series looked ready to get competitive again. Except that Duncan went for a 19/13 game. Parker scored 23 and dished ten assists. And the Spurs kept making Paul’s life miserable, forcing him into 5-for-17 shooting. In a stunning turnaround, San Antonio wiped the lead out over the second and third quarters and then took over down the stretch. A 96-86 win all but sealed this deal.

Duncan and the reserves took over in Game 4. The Big Fundamental posted a 21/9 line, while the Spurs bench outscored the Clipper reserves 43-31. It was the most competitive game San Antonio had faced yet in the playoffs, but it still ended as a 102-99 win and a second straight sweep. The conference finals and Oklahoma City were at hand.

The Thunder were an emerging power making their first real run in the playoffs. Durant was supported by Russell Westbrook. And another young star, James Harden, was the Sixth Man of the Year. It was the battle of OKC’s up-and-comers and San Antonio’s old guard.

The old guard again held serve in Game 1 at home. The defense held Oklahoma City to 42 percent shooting. Ginobili went off for 26 points, another great playoff performance off the bench for the veteran. The Spurs won 101-98.

Some more stringent defense, again holding OKC to 42 percent from the floor, followed in Game 2. Even with a bad night for Duncan, Kawhi stepped up with an 18/10 line, the best performance of his young playoff career. Ginobili had another 20-point game. And Parker? Parker just went off, scoring 34 points on 16-for-21 shooting. A 120-111 win put the Spurs up 2-0 in the series.

San Antonio was now 10-0 in the playoffs. At the start of the postseason the focus had been on LeBron’s push for his first title in Miami. But right now, the Spurs looked every bit the team to beat for the championship. But as it turned out, they would not win another basketball game this season.

Poor shooting and sloppy care of the ball led to a 102-82 blowout loss in Game 3. In Game 4, it was rebounding and defense that failed in a 109-103 loss.

Even so, San Antonio still held homecourt advantage. No serious person really thought they were going to undefeated through the entire playoffs. They simply needed to get home for Game 5 and get back on track.

To some extent, they did. Duncan’s 18/12 night keyed a rebounding edge. Manu kept right on rolling, pouring in 34 points. But Parker was struggling and the turnovers were coming—21 for the team as a whole. Combined with more soft defense, the Spurs lost at home 108-103.

The stars shined on the road in Game 6. Duncan posted a big 25/14 line, while Parker knocked down 29 and handed out twelve assists. San Antonio led 34-20 after the first quarter. If they could just get this road win, a home Game 7 could still make everything all right. But Durant and Westbrook were rising to the occasion. The Thunder were getting to the foul line, while the Spurs were not.

A 25-14 difference in free throw points was the difference. OKC closed the gap in the third quarter and then knocked out San Antonio with a 107-99 loss. The Spurs were going home.

The sudden turnabout after the strong finish to the regular season and the scorching run through 2 ½ rounds of the playoffs was clearly a disappointment. In the moment, it was hard to look past that.

But with a broader historical view, we know that San Antonio’s proud veterans kept coming. The 2012 season is just one part of a strong four-year run that had started in 2011 and saw the Spurs go progressively further in the postseason each time.  In 2013, they made it back to the NBA Finals. And in 2014, they finished the job and won the fifth championship of the Duncan era.

Are The San Antonio Spurs Still An Elite Team?

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The San Antonio Spurs have come rolling out of the gate in this NBA season and are sitting at 12-3 with the top record in the Western Conference. The Spurs mostly disappeared from championship discussions after their meltdown against Oklahoma City in last year’s playoffs. Is this strong start a sign San Antonio has to be re-inserted into conversations about the elite teams in the NBA, or is that jumping the gun? Let’s take a closer look at this year’s Spurs as they get set for a nationally televised visit to Miami on Thursday (8 PM ET, TNT).

Gregg Popovich is as good a coach as there is in the NBA and it shows with the way this team executes offensively. They were first in the league in offensive efficiency a year ago and they sit at fifth in the early part of this season. Tony Parker’s performance has held steady, with his 17 points/7 assists per game pretty close to last year’s pace. Tim Duncan keeps churning out the numbers, at 19 points/10 rebounds and mixing in a couple blocks per game. Around these two core players, Popovich then fills in the blanks with a deep supporting cast.

There have been some minor tweaks to playing time, all of which have had the effect of making San Antonio a little bit younger. 25-year-old Danny Green is getting more minutes and averaging 11 ppg. And prior to Kawhi Leonard’s knee injury that will keep the young power forward sidelined for a month, he was getting increased minutes. The playing time came at the expense of veterans Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw. It’s not a dramatic shift by any means, but anything Popovich can do to keep this mostly veteran team’s legs fresh will help.

What the Spurs aren’t doing well right now is shooting the three-ball. Manu Ginobli is sub-30 percent from behind the arc, while the rest of the backcourt is a few percentage points off last year’s norms. If I’m San Antonio, I’m looking at this as a positive—Ginobli shot 41 percent from three a year ago and will come around. There’s nothing more fickle in basketball than shooting from the outside and the fact the Spurs have won 12 of 15 without doing it to previous standards tells you good things about this team.

The concern for San Antonio is defense. It’s not that they’re a bad defensive team—they ranked 11th in defensive efficiency a year ago and are seventh this year. If they can hold that #7 ranking and maybe increase it by a bit, it can be championship-quality. But right now this is not a team that’s as good on the defensive end as Miami and probably won’t be as good as Oklahoma City.

Its possible San Antonio could fix the problem—to begin with it, it’s a “problem” only by the standard of winning games against elite teams deep in the playoffs. The defense as is can still you win you 55 games in the regular season. Whether it’s tactical adjustments or whether it’s the need for some new personnel, the Spurs can fix it. Defensive help can be acquired prior to the trade deadline.

And the other issue is going to be age—Parker and Duncan are both at the tail-end of their careers and they were run over by a young and hungry team in last year’s Thunder. The age factor and the defense are almost certainly related to each other. That’s why I believe this Spurs roster needs some tweaks if they’re going to compete for an NBA title. But while Popovich and the front office make those decisions, let’s enjoy a well-coached basketball team that’s going to win a lot of games along the way.

The San Antonio Spurs Move To The Top Of The West

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It was just last week that the Oklahoma City Thunder looked to have control of the NBA’s Western Conference. They were featured in TheSportsNotebook last Monday with the thought being that the #1 seed in the West was all but theirs. Talk about jumping the gun. Because the San Antonio Spurs just refuse to lose. They’ve now won 11 in a row and as of Monday morning it’s the Spurs who have nudged ahead of the Thunder in the West, are even with Miami and San Antonio has pulled even with Chicago in the loss column for the best record in the NBA overall (though the Spurs are three back in the win column). TheSportsNotebook takes a closer look at the Spurs—who they have, how they’ve got here, what they’re doing well right now and what lies ahead.

San Antonio is built around offensive execution and depth. Their efficiency with the ball (measured by points adjusted for tempo) is the best in the league and no less than eleven players draw significant minutes. No other contender even comes close. San Antonio rebounds the ball well, ranking seventh and the defense is above average, at 13th in the efficiency standings.

Personnel-wise, the lineup is still founded on Tim Duncan in the post, who averages 15 points/9 rebounds a game, and Tony Parker at the point, with his 19 points and 8 assists per game. Then the waves of veteran talent comes at you in role spots. Manu Ginobli is a lot more than a role player as long as he’s healthy, and the 34-year-old is lights-out from behind the three-point line. Kawhi Leonard is a very good perimeter shooter at small forward, while DeJuan Blair can occupy the post. Daniel Green comes off the bench or plays in Ginobli’s stead and is a 40 percent shooter from three-point range himself. Then let’s shift over to power forward, a spot the Spurs use for three-point shooting. Matt Bonner connects 44 percent of the time from behind the arc. One problem at this spot is that Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw, who also get 20-plus minutes per game, attempt their threes, but are none too successful. Backing up Duncan at center is Tiago Splitter, a solid rebounder who can chip in some shotblocking. And behind Parker at the point is Gary Neal, who kicks in 10 ppg.

The first thing we need to do is give a salute to head coach Gregg Popovich for putting all these pieces into the right places. There’s no clear star here—Duncan has the reputation, but he’s also 35 years old, Ginobli isn’t healthy enough and Parker isn’t quite at elite levels—and in a league that’s usually star-driven, Popovich has found the right formula for another big year. And starting on March 21 the year started to get even bigger. Let’s run down the games that comprise the 11-game win streak…

March 21: Minnesota (116-100): San Antonio owned the boards, 56-41, with Duncan delivering a 21/15 night. The defense on Kevin Love, who was “held” to 17/12 is just as noteworthy.

March 23: Dallas (104-87): Another big rebounding effort, 54-34, with twelve rebounds from Duncan. But while the future Hall of Famer is always the leader in rebounding, there’s consistent effort in this area up and down the lineup.

March 24: at New Orleans (89-86): The backcourt won this one and in non-sexy fashion. They won the turnover battle 16-7 and Parker dished 10 assists.

March 25: Philadelphia (93-76): Perimeter defense helped here, as Philadelphia only hit one trey. Parker got 21 points, and with Duncan taking the night off to rest his veteran legs for the playoffs, Leonard stepped up with ten rebounds.

March 27: at Phoenix (107-100): Rebounding delivers again, 48-38 and a rested Duncan goes off for 26/11, while Parker scores 24.

March 28: at Sacramento (117-112): Ginobili steps up with 20 points, while Duncan and Leonard combine for 37.

March 31: Indiana (112-103): San Antonio’s always going to win bench points, but 52-29 in a close game like they did tonight? That’s depth.

April 3: at Cleveland (125-90): When you shoot 59% and attack to the glass to the tune of a 46-27 edge you aren’t going to lose. Lesser-used point guard Patrick Mills got to be the lead scorer tonight with 20 points.

April 4: at Boston (87-86): Duncan delivered in the Garden, as his 16 rebounds keyed a 53-39 team advantage against one of the NBA’s worst rebounding teams.

April 6: at New Orleans (128-103): Another hot shooting night, this time 61 percent. With a 27-point lead at halftime, the starters got even more rest than normal. Duncan was the only one in double figures, while four bench players scored 10-plus.

Aoril 8: Utah (114-104): The Spurs spent last night at the foul line, with a 38-16 edge in free throw points, 14 from Ginobli. Duncan owned the glass with 16 rebounds.

The biggest positive that jumps out at me from this is how many different players contribute. That may seem obvious in light of the emphasis placed on the Spurs’ depth, but when we reviewed this team back in February they were still playing a lot of people, but there was a tendency for the team to need Duncan and Parker to lead the way if they were going to win. We see in this 11-game run that the rest of the team is no longer just using up minutes, but showing themselves capable of winning games. The concern would be defense. Usually when you a go through this kind of sample of successful games, you come across situations where the winning team has big edges in shooting percentages from the floor and holds the opponent under 40 percent from the floor. That’s not the case with San Antonio and I have to question whether they can beat a great defensive team like Chicago or Miami in a seven-game series.

An NBA Finals scenario is still a long way off, and the regular season has to be closed strong. The schedule favors San Antonio, as there’s only two road games with playoff contenders. One of them is tonight at Utah, and the other is next Tuesday at the Lakers. Otherwise its home games or winnable road games. Last week, TheSportsNotebook relegated San Antonio to the #2 seed a bit too quickly. I won’t get carried away to the other extreme this time, but the race for the Finals is clearly more than the Oklahoma City/Chicago/Miami trifecta that’s getting all the attention.