San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Look who’s fourth place in the West
It is fair to say many observers around the NBA did not know what to make of the Spurs heading into the season.
It is also fair to say, just past the quarter point of the campaign, the jury is still out.
If the question was whether the rebuilding Spurs could fight their way back into the Western Conference playoff bracket after missing the postseason for the first time since 1997, consider this:
If the playoffs began after Friday’s 119-109 victory over Denver at the AT&T Center, not only would the Spurs be in the playoffs, they would have homecourt advantage in the first round.
Powered by 30 points and 10 assists from DeMar DeRozan and 26 points from Dejounte Murray, the Spurs knocked off a surging Nuggets team to move into fourth place in the Western Conference.
The Spurs’ third straight win improved their record to 11-8 and moved them into a tie with Denver.
There is still a lot of season left to be played, and it is still too early to be counting any playoff chickens. If the Spurs — who welcomed Derrick White back from the injured list Saturday against Memphis — can keep this up, they ought to be in the thick of the playoff hunt come springtime.
With that in mind, here are three takeaways from Friday’s win over the Nuggets, who in 2019 ended the Spurs’ last trip to the playoffs with a first-round ouster in seven games:
‘No defense, no win’
That’s how Spurs coach Gregg Popovich described the fourth quarter Friday. He could have been laying out his philosophy for the entire season.
The Spurs beat the Nuggets by ramping up their defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, double-teaming Denver star Nikola Jokic with purpose and using their length and athleticism to clog passing lanes.
As a result, the Spurs held the high-flying Nuggets to seven points in the final six minutes, transforming what had been a nail-biter heading into the fourth quarter into a near-rout.
Denver managed only 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs pulled away.
The Spurs survived 35 points and 10 rebounds from Jokic, his 19th double-double in as many outings to open the season.
They also weathered 20 from Jamal Murray.
The Spurs were able to limit the rest of the Nuggets’ roster and forced 15 turnovers to pull out their first win over Denver since Game 6 of their 2019 playoff series.
Difference-maker
Jamal Murray was the only player with that surname to appear in the 2019 series. He was a problem for the Spurs then.
The Spurs’ Murray missed the entire season recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior
cruciate ligament.
Had the Spurs somehow been able to transport the healthy 2021 version of Murray back in time, it might have been enough to tilt the series.
The 24-year-old point guard has been one of the brightest spots of an increasingly optimistic season for the Spurs. He was again Friday, coming on strong late to produce his second-highest scoring night of the season.
Murray saved his biggest moments for the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points and picking Jamal Murray’s pocket for a late steal and one-man fast break to help put the game away.
It was something of a carbon copy of a play Murray made at the end of Wednesday’s win over Boston, when he stripped Kemba Walker and ran out to a dunk that all but sealed the contest.
There were reasons this version of Murray was not available during the 2019 playoff series. He was hurt, for starters, and not quite as ready for prime
time.
He is now.
DeRozan underrated?
By now, we are all aware of DeRozan’s history with the Spurs.
DeRozan didn’t ask to be here. He was traded here in 2018 for a player who also didn’t want to be here. And he watched Kawhi Leonard go to Toronto and win the championship he could never bring to his adopted NBA hometown.
Things have not always gone well for DeRozan in a Spurs uniform. There was speculation in the middle of last season he would not return in 2020-21.
Give DeRozan credit for this much: He keeps showing up for work committed to being the glue that holds the Spurs’ youthbound rebuilding project together.
And every so often, the 32year-old will come up with something spectacular on his own.
So it was Friday. DeRozan came into the night as the
Spurs’ leading scorer at 20.2 points per game.
Less than two minutes into the second half, he already had surpassed that with 22.
By the end of the third quarter, DeRozan had his second 30-point game of the season. He had six assists at that point, and had missed just two of his 12 field goal attempts.
DeRozan did not score in the fourth quarter, but did not have to. He helped facilitate the Spurs’ fantastic close, with four more assists in the final frame.
It gave him his second game of at least 30 points and 10 assists with the Spurs.
Only one other player in team history has logged multiple 30-point, 10-assist games: Tony Parker.
Underappreciated indeed.