» White working to improve his 3-point stroke. Long-range issues
With 20 games left in the regular season, Derrick White seems poised for a strong finish on both ends of the court after averaging 15.7 points and 1.1 blocks per game in the previous 20 contests.
But there is one aspect of his game that’s in need of sharpening: 3-point shooting.
“It’s pretty inconsistent right now, to be honest,” the Spurs guard said after scoring 15 points but missing 5 of 6 from downtown in Monday’s 120-97 win at Orlando.
In the six games since he connected on 7 of 13 — both career highs — from beyond the arc en route to scoring a regular-season career-best 29 points in a loss at Atlanta, White is shooting just 20.5 percent from distance on 6.5 attempts per game.
The six-game stretch includes a combined 1-of-13 effort in backto-back losses at Cleveland and Denver last week.
“Everyone is telling me to stay confident and keep shooting,” White said. “I am just going to try to stay in the gym, work with (assistant coach and shooting guru) Chip (Engelland), work with the guys and know that it is going to come around eventually.”
For the season, White is averaging a career-best 14.6 points per game but shooting a career-low 32 percent from deep on a career-high 6.5 attempts. He attributed his struggles from the perimeter on the foot surgery he underwent last August after averaging 18.9 points and shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range on 8.0 attempts in seven contests at the bubble in Orlando, Fla.
“I spent a whole (offseason) not being able to shoot,” he said.
After the surgery, he missed the preseason and the first four games of the regular season. In his first game back on Jan. 1, he suffered another foot injury that sidelined him for the next 14 games.
On top of all that, he missed five games from Feb. 24 through March 4 after contracting COVID-19.
While he’s still working on his shooting touch, his defense remains strong. The 6-foot-4 Colorado native leads the league’s guards in blocks with a per-game average of 1.0 and ranks seventh among guards in total blocks with 29.
“Timing is big,” White said of his knack for rejecting shots. “I just kind of always had that for some reason, just being in the right position. I think it started because I used to play little hoop a lot as a kid.”
Popovich sidesteps play-in controversy
Dallas star Luka Doncic says he doesn’t understand it. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calls it an “enormous mistake.”
So what does Spurs coach Gregg Popovich think about the NBA’S play-in tournament, which features the teams that finish from seventh to 10th place in each conference?
“I give it no thought whatsoever at my age because I have to pick and choose how I want to spend my thinking moments,” he said. “And it wouldn’t matter what I think — the NBA is going to do what they want to do. So you just move forward and whatever you got to do, you do it.”
On the heels of Doncic criticizing the idea of the play-in tourney, Cuban told ESPN on Tuesday the concept is “an enormous mistake,” especially because of this season’s pandemic-forced compressed schedule.
“I get why the NBA is doing it,” Cuban told ESPN. “But if we are going to be creative because of COVID, we should go straight up 1-20 and let the bottom four play in. This is the year particularly to do it since the 10 games cut (from the normal 82-game schedule) were in conference.
“The worst part of this approach is that it doubles the stress of the compressed schedule. Rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get in or stay in the top six since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days.”
Dallas (29-24) is seventh in the West, meaning it would have to participate in the play-in tournament if it can’t move up. The Spurs (26-26) are ninth heading into Wednesday’s game against Toronto in Tampa, Fla.
The seventh- and eighth-place teams face each other, with the winner grabbing the No. 7 seed. The ninth- and 10th-place teams also play each other, with the loser eliminated. The loser of the 7-8 game and the winner of the 9-10 game then play for the No. 8 seed.
Team leads league in wins since merger
Sunday’s win over the Mavericks in Dallas marked the 3,600th the Spurs have played since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
During that span, the Spurs have collected a league-best 2,219 wins.
The Los Angeles Lakers (2,199) are second, followed by the Boston Celtics (2,036), Portland Trail Blazers (2,030) and Oklahoma City Thunder/seattle Supersonics (2,025).