Aldridge rediscovers his groove in L.A.
Silver and Black hopes that power forward’s hot shooting hand carries over to Minnesota
Midway through the third quarter Thursday, Lamarcus Aldridge corralled a loose ball and found himself in a position he had been in approximately 10,000 times in his All-star NBA career.
He had his back to the basket against a smaller defender.
Had the Spurs big man been in the low block, 6-foot-5 Lakers guard Alex Caruso would have stood no chance.
One problem. This was all happening 27 feet from the basket, and the shot clock was winding down.
“Since I don’t get to post up on the block no more, I have to post up somewhere,” Aldridge said later with a chuckle. “If it’s at the 3point line, I’ll take it.”
Aldridge converted the longest post-up jumper of his life, with his wheeling, off-the-dribble, top-ofthe-key prayer somehow finding the bottom of the net as the shot clock blared.
That was just how the 35-yearold Aldridge was rolling on the way to a season high 28 points, propelling the Spurs to wire-towire 118-109 victory over the Lakers.
“It was a hell of a shot,” guard Dejounte Murray said. “We’ll take it.”
The way Murray sees it, the seeds for Aldridge’s miracle shot were planted earlier. In his second game back since missing three contests with a left knee soreness, Aldridge came out firing against the defending NBA champions.
He had 16 points in the first half, already his second-highest scoring night of the season.
“Once he’s confident, he can have some really, really big
nights,” Murray said.
Aldridge did Thursday, and it lifted the Spurs to their second win in as many games at the Staples Center.
Earlier this week, the Spurs traveled to L.A. mired in a fourgame losing streak, fresh off a humbling 130-109 home loss to Utah.
Tuesday night, the Spurs began their two-night residency in Los Angeles, and their redemption tour, with a 116-113 victory over the Clippers.
They departed Southern California for a Saturday-sunday doubleheader in Minnesota riding high after sweeping both Staples Center tenants, including Lebron James and the defending champion Lakers.
With Demar Derozan chipping in 19 points and eight assists and Murray adding 18 points and eight rebounds, the Spurs on Thursday finally got one over on the defending champs.
It was the Spurs’ third against Lakers since Dec. 30, and their last of the season. With a pair of victories the AT&T Center, the Lakers had supplied the Spurs with half of their four defeats this season.
“They are a heck of a team,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team had lost five in a row against the Lakers before Thursday. “With every outing, we are playing hard. It’s just a matter of playing smarter, getting used to each other, executing better. But (the Spurs’) effort, their aggressiveness and their grunt has been really good.”
The Spurs seem to be figuring some things out as they pull out of a four-game tailspin. For the second game in a row Thursday, they were positively aflame from the 3point stripe.
The Spurs made 16 of 35 from beyond the arc against the Lakers, bringing their two-game totals at Staples Center to 36 of 75.
Eight different players converted 3-pointers, including the entire starting lineup. Six Spurs made more than one.
That included Derozan, who swished a pair of looks in the first half, including one that produced a 4-point play with 2:32 left in the first quarter that put the Spurs ahead by 15 points.
The Spurs ended with 28 assists, which is often a magic number for victory for them.
“That’s what we preach, sharing the ball,” said Derozan, who has made as many 3-pointers in eight games this season (nine) as he converted all of last. “The ball finds open guys and guys are ready to shoot.”
Aldridge also got into the longdistance act, swishing 3 of 7 from 3-point land.
He tormented the Lakers from elsewhere, too, ending 11 of 18 from the field.
Aldridge scored 12 points in the third quarter alone, and finished with his top scoring night since notching 33 points in a loss at Denver on Feb. 10 of last season.
Popovich was not surprised the Spurs’ 3-point shooters found room to launch once Aldridge returned to the lineup.
“L.A. gave us great space,” Popovich said. “He scored for us, he worked hard on D. He played a really good all-around game.”
The Spurs are clearly a better team with Aldridge in the mix. They are 4-1 this season when he plays, and unbeaten when he logs more than 20 minutes.
Still, it has been a while since the seven-time All-star produced a night like Thursday.
Offseason shoulder surgery rendered Aldridge unavailable for the Spurs’ run in the NBA’S Orlando, Fla., bubble to conclude last season. Rust accumulated as he went from March to December without appearing in an official game.
It has taken him until January to begin looking like Aldridge again.
Take out the 20 points Aldridge notched in the Spurs’ seasonopening win at Memphis, and the 28 points he scored Thursday equaled his total from the rest of the season.
“We knew it was a matter of time,” Derozan said. “He just needed to get his wind under him, his feel for the game back.”
After two resounding nights in Los Angeles, the Spurs are getting their feel back, too.
Tuesday, they rode Aldridge’s hot hand to victory for the first time in a long time.
It is a performance Aldridge hopes to repeat in Minnesota, with one caveat. He is not sure he wants to try any more 27-foot postups
“It definitely wasn’t a shot I want to do all the time,” Aldridge said. “But when it’s working, it’s working.”