On the first night of a FOGASINI, the Spurs were missing several of their best players, but had no problem cruising to a win against the historically inept one win Philadelphia 76ers basketball club. Tim Duncan was taking a rest day, resplendent in a blue sports coat, while Kawhi Leonard was out with gastroenteritis. Matt Bonner and human hot-take machine Kyle Anderson took their place in the starting lineup, and played well, but LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker were the stars of the game as they scored easily and kept the Sixers from getting anything going on offense. The game was out of hand by halftime, but just for good measure, the Spurs unleashed Boban Marjanovic in the second half and he was able to build on his experience in the D-League to continue to dominate against the similar level of competition offered by the Sixers as he showed off a series of sweet jump shots and thunderous dunks.
The first quarter started pretty slow for the good guys as the Sixers surged to an 11-7 lead, but then the ineptness of Philly came to the fore, and Lamarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker were able to step to an all you can eat buffet of easy scoring opportunities as the Sixers would become confused and lose their man after a pass or screen or two. Meanwhile, the Sixers became stagnant on offense, and even when they got to the basket, they missed bunnies. The Spurs outscored the Sixers 26-6 for the rest of the quarter and ended up ahead 33-17 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was more of the same, as the Sixers continued to demonstrate their lack of familiarity with the game called 'basketball.' Again and again, simple movement and screens got just about anyone on the Spurs fantastic looks at the basket, and they hit them at a very high percentage. The Spurs went into the locker room leading 65-29. Lamarcus and Tony were the high scorers for the Silver and Black but just about every player on the team made a positive contribution, ending with Rasual Butler's buzzer beater to close out the half. Jonathon Simmons showed off his athleticism and got to the basket time after time.
Whether the Sixers would decide to come out of the locker room after the half was in doubt, but Brett Brown, no doubt hoarse from yelling at his team, led them out to begin the third. The Sixers actually started off the third with a bit more effort on offense, but not any more skill. Jerami Grant hustled and had a putback on a missed free throw, and Nerlens Noel played with more intensity, but somehow forgot about the 24 second clock. Meanwhile, the Spurs had wide open shots on offense, and Aldridge continued to sink his shots as the Spurs continued to stretch their lead. Once they got it up to 40, Boban Marjanovic came in and the Sixers went on a little run to cut the lead to a manageable 32 points. Pop, confident as ever, didn't even bother to call time out, and the team responded, behind a quick little jumper for Boban followed by a monster dunk over two Philly players who had no chance to stop him.
7'3 ...290 lbs. https://t.co/VTs7phMXrw
— Matthew R Tynan (@Matthew_Tynan) December 8, 2015
At the end of the third, the Spurs were up 96-52, but there were still 12 minutes left in the game. Apparently, there is no skunk rule in the NBA. The Spurs continued to stretch their lead, and the Sixers offered only token resistance as the Spurs won this one going away, 119-68.
Notes:
- The Spurs outscored the Sixers in each quarter. They have won all of their games this year when they have done that.
- Boban scored 18, easily his best game in the NBA.
- HOT TAKE: Kyle Anderson had a good game.
- Manu Ginobili was dressed and available, but he couldn't talk Pop into putting him into the game.
- The 51 point win is the biggest margin of victory ever for the Spurs.
Music for a FOGASINI:
The Spur record is now 18-4, second in the Western Conference, behind some other team from California. No, not the Lakers, one of the other ones. Next game for the Spurs is at Toronto on Wednesday at 6:30 PM CT. For the 76er point of view, visit Liberty Ballers.