Spurs 109, Lakers 87 - Dec 11, '15

There's not too much to learn from this one as the Spurs bested the Lakers in literally every facet of the game. 1, 2 and 3 point shooting percentage: check (technically the Spurs merely tied on FT%, but did so on 2.5x the number of attempts, so I'll call that a win). Assists, steals, turnovers: check. Rebounding, Points in the Paint, Fast break points: check. ESPN Insider profile declaring your franchise player's career superior: check.

With a solid A performance from just about every Spur, there's really not much to nitpick. I'll try to anyway.

The Spurs are still shooting too few threes to (IMO) ever boast a top 5 offense in today's league. They have to figure this one out before the playoffs come. I'm sure Danny Green's historic cold streak is contributing, and despite widespread expectations that he'd shoot a career high number of threes, Aldridge has made exactly zero this season to date. Whatever the cause, Popovich just has to find a way to generate more deep looks if they want to compete.

The Spurs' starters once again failed to create distance from the get-go. In fact, they managed to fall behind by 6 before Popovich called on the bench unit (plus Aldridge) to straighten things out. Granted, Tony Parker's spot was taken by  Ray McCallum, but you'd still expect more from a star-studded starting lineup. Still waiting for that group to figure out how to maximize - or even medium-ize - their offensive potential.

Of course, their falling behind early probably had a lot to do with Kobe's unsustainably hot 4-4 start. Bryant quickly cooled off, going just 1-8 the rest of the way to finish with a 41.7% FG percentage that's still more than 10% higher than his season average. This game marked the astonishing 26th straight game Bryant has hit 50% or fewer of his field goal attempts. In a game where efficiency is king, you have to go back to December 30, 2014 to find the last time Kobe put up a FG% over 50%.

But enough about Kobe. The Spurs got some great individual performances from Leonard and Aldridge, who scored efficiently and grabbed 11 boards apiece. But the greatest performance definitely came from Patty Mills, who was absolutely on fire, knocking down 9 of 11 from the field including 3-4 from deep and single-handedly salvaging an otherwise poor 3-point shooting night for the good guys.

San Antonio also got some solid minutes from players further down the bench. Jonathan Simmons attacked the rim relentlessly, showcasing an elite athleticism Spurs fans simply aren't used to seeing and finishing with an efficient 9 points on 3 shots (5-5 from the charity stripe goes a long ways). However, he once again struggled with turnovers and fouls, tallying 2 and 3, respectively. Simmons leads the team with a 15.8 Turnover ratio (TOs per 100 possessions), and this is clearly a factor limiting his playing time. Hopefully more experience and mentoring from players like Kawhi Leonard and Rasual Butler (6.4 and 5.7 respectively) can turn this around for the talented Simmons.

Fan favorite Boban Marjanovic had another excellent outing, going 3-4 from the floor and grabbing three boards in his 5 minutes of play. Whenever Boban plays, the Spurs are determined to get him the ball, as evinced by his team-high 30.9% Usage Rate. Incredibly, he also leads the team in eFG%, at 60.7%. 

You may recall a chart I shared in my piece on Kawhi's development, showing player's Usage Rate versus their eFG%. Well, here's that same chart with Boban Marjanovic's 2015-2016 numbers penciled in:

So there you have it: Boban is the equal, if not superior to 2014-2015 MVP Stephen Curry. I'll leave you on that note. Go Spurs Go!

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Spurs Index: 101.6 (def.)

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