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Morning Rehash: Spurs romp over sloppy Sixers

Last night was San Antonio's first meeting with Brett Brown's team since he left San Antonio to take the head coaching position in Philadelphia. It wasn't much of a contest.

By Aaronstampler
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Game 8, @Philadelphia: Spurs 109, Sixers 85    Rec: 7-1  1st in Southwest, 1st in West  Streak: W5

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Standard Pop Quote

(on facing former assistant Brett Brown, now the Sixers head coach):

"It's no fun at all. If you win, you sort of feel bad. If you lose, you sort of feel happy for him. It's a weird feeling because you're supposed to want to win. When I coached against Larry (Brown), we both hated it every time."

By the Numbers:

12,424: Tonight's attendance, (don't the Spurs really pack 'em in on the road?)

5:02: Fourth quarter minutes for Tony Parker, for some reason.

11: Made threes out of 16 attempts for Danny Green the past two games.

5: Turnovers for Boris Diaw. That's too much butter on them croissants.

4: Steals in 19 minutes for Patty Mills, including two (and nearly a third) off an in-bounds after a made basket.

3: Missed dunks by Jeff Ayres, who I'm starting to grow weary of already.

100: Three-point percentage by Manu Ginobili, who sank both of his attempts from down town.

0:00: Second-half playing time by the Argentine.

29: Assists for the Spurs, a season-high.

2-of-11, 4 assists, 2 turnovers: Now that's what I thought a typical Michael Carter-Williams line would be like this season.

4: Minimum number of days the Spurs will retain the NBA Regular Season Championship Belt

Sequence of the Game:

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Already up 24-13 late in the first quarter, the Spurs stole the ball on three consecutive Sixers possessions, the last one an especially cruel in-bounds swipe from Mills, and turned that bit of thievery into seven points on a Ginobili three, a Mills layup and a short Belinelli jumper, to finish off the quarter at 31-13 and essentially put the game to bed.

Random Observations:

Popovich and Brown had a long, warm exchange before the game, but after the final whistle they didn't shake hands or even acknowledge each other, as Brown made an immediate beeline for the tunnel. My guess is he was so disgusted and embarrassed with his team's sloppy play and lack of effort he couldn't even look his mentor in the eye. Also, I didn't see any long twos from Belinelli, so I think somebody got in his ear about not doing that. I really liked how Belinelli and Ginobili worked together in the first half.

Tweets of the Night:

Your Three Stars:

3. Manu Ginobili (3 pts): Led the bench unit that broke open the game, sank both his threes.

2. Patty Mills (8 pts): His defensive energy wrecked the Sixers offense and seemed to demoralize them.

1. Danny Green (13 pts): Back-to-back first stars for Green, who's on fire.

Next Up:

Vs. Washington (2-4), Wednesday, Nov. 13: For once the Spurs will be the more rested team, as they'll host the Wizards on a SEGABABA for them, with Washington having to play at Dallas on Tuesday. Not that they owe the Wiz any sympathy, mind you, after the way they stupidly blew a double-digit lead late at Oklahoma City on Sunday. (Thanks for nothing, fellas.) Second-year man Bradley Beal had a career-high 34 points in the game and Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster are three-point threats as well. John Wall is the kind of guy who Parker will look to torch early and often. The Spurs, and their gross camo unis, by 16.

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