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Tony Parker, who seems to have fallen to the third or fourth most important player on the team, is still doing Tony Parker things. Bledsoe, even going under the screen, can't get to Tony's reaching layup.
Tim Duncan, Western Conference player of the week, has had the luxury of back-to-back games against an undersized front court and he's made the most of it. It's almost like he's trying to add another (slowish) shake to the Dream Shake lately. It's somewhat comical, but we can't say it's ineffective. A right-block banker is always a welcome sight from Big Fun.
It's NOT a Kawhi Leonard poke-and-score. Tony does his best impression of Kawhi here.
In case you were wondering, Tim Duncan did get an assist for his tap out to Manu. #FullyEarned
Sure, Boris Diaw wasn't particularly good in his last outing, but he's kind of taken over the Robert Horry role lately. I'm not worried about the big Frenchman, as I think he'll be the Bobo we know and love when it counts, and I won't miss a chance to celebrate him in the post.
This didn't result in two for the good guys, but the pass that Manu makes here is unquestionably worth another look.
Must Reads
I'm sure that Spurs fans have not forgotten that the Spurs picked up Kawhi Leonard at the cost of George Hill. What I do think most fans have forgotten, or have failed to realize, is that the Spurs flipped the 26th pick in the 2008 draft (Hill) into Kawhi plus the rights to Erazam Lorbek and the 42nd pick in the 2011 draft (Davis Bertans.) So, while it's not quite accurate to say that Kawhi is the greatest 26th pick ever, it's not exactly wrong. Just so we're on the same page, that brings the Spurs late-pick grand slams to Manu (57th,) Tony (28th) and Kawhi (15th or 26th depending on how you look at it.) You could call that luck, or you could recognize that the Spurs were looking in places that the rest of the NBA wasn't. Tony and Kawhi have benefited from starting in the Spurs culture and blossoming there with the help of their amazing staff, but Manu, well, Manu is a true original. The Spurs did nothing for Manu. His magnificence is singular, but that's another story.
Tim Duncan isn't going to displace any block leader in the last game of the season, he trails D Rob by 13 on the regular season all-time list, but he already has the more impressive stat: Tim is the all-time leader in playoff blocks, aka the real season.
It's hard not to love Cory Joseph, but if he had somehow missed this one, well, at the least it would have ruined this pretty GIF of his drive. #FreeCoJo
Tim may not jump so high but that's been true for like 14 years. He's smarter than your guy, assuming Tim isn't your guy, and his feel for the game makes this an easy score from the Gino feed.
For posterity, the three (191 on the year) that gave Danny Green the Spurs record for made threes in a single season. Congrats, Danny! How about a little home-town discount in July?
Bonus GIF:
Well, how's this for a team in sync? A good friend of mine, who is a Mavs fan, told me he hopes the Spurs are their first round matchup. I don't understand that thought. I mean, I remember the first round last season, but why would anyone want the hottest team in the league? Perhaps I'm over-selling this team, but they've killed the entire league for the past seven or eight weeks. THIS is the team I'd like to avoid if I wasn't a Spurs fan.
This team is so easy to root for.