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This is Tim and Tony's 13th season playing together. That's incredible. Here Tim and Tony run a give and go, and we see Tim start to hand the ball off to Tony, but Jeff Teague is all over Tony. So Tim does a 180 and Teague is hung up just slightly on Timmy, which gives Tony just enough room to catch the excellent pass from Big Fun and finish with a layup. They make it look so easy.
Our favorite Aussie steals the ball, because that's what he does, and the fast-break is on. Boris flips the ball to Patty Mills, who immediately gives Tony the ball with a bounce pass. Tony attacks Patty's man before finding Patty in the corner for a wide-open look. Nothing but net.
This was probably my favorite play of the game. Belinelli feeds Tim in the post, and Duncan finds himself being double-teamed. There is no one in the league that has more experience handling a double-team than Timmeh. Not that this one presented much of a problem for the big man. The wise Boris Diaw sees no one between himself and two points. He cuts to the basket where Timmy finds him with the simplest of passes, and Bobo finishes the play with a nice little flip through the hoop.
Here we see Tony Parker doing his thing. He uses a couple of screens as he works his way from the Hawks' logo at midcourt to the left block, where he fakes right and goes left in between two defenders. Tony then scoops a layup off of the glass for two.
Here's Baynes setting a screen for TP. He rolls to the basket, fumbles the ball a little, gets the handle, and then proceeds to hit a 10-foot hook shot. Hey, it went in. This is Baynes doing a good thing.
This is Baynes doing not so good things. I just...I mean...wow...
Let's finish this GIF Breakdown with a Tim Duncan block. In and of itself this is just a routine block, nothing but an excellent understanding of the game and great timing. But, it was the one that tied him with Shaquille O'Neal for seventh all-time on the career blocks list. Tim now has 2,732 blocks during his regular season career. In case you didn't know, he is already the all-time postseason blocks leader. It's not over yet, but it's been fun big-fella.
Bonus GIF:
Here's the situation. Tim Duncan is a four-time champion, 37-year old veteran. The Spurs are leading by 22 points late in the third quarter. The shot clock is winding down.
Timmy does a good job of not putting himself in position to get injured. He knows there is no loose ball in the regular season that is worth hurting that knee. This though, this is one of those things that make Tim Duncan one of the greatest of all-time. He didn't really need to give maximum effort and close out on decent at best long-range shooter Paul Milsap when the Spurs were up by 22 and in complete control of the game. In fact this play would be forgotten and no one would have thought anything of Duncan had he boxed out his man and prepared to secure a rebound instead of closing out. But no, Timmy came to play on Friday night, and he forced the 24-second violation, and absorbed the impact with his right leg. This play makes me happy.
