Some Silver (and Black) linings on the road in Philadelphia

After a sequence of long misses by San Antonio in the second period, the venerable Hubie Brown implored the Spurs to exit that highway and head towards the access road of higher-percentage shots. “Hack-a-Simmons” strategy aside, here’s some examples of the Spurs following Brown’s mandate for the rest of the game.

In lieu of long low-percentage twos, the team should head in the direction of layups and threes. They obliged, as the United Nations of Ball Movement (UNBM) made a rare appearance early in the second:

Not to be outdone, Dejounte Murray used an open lane to convert in traffic at the rim:

Are you craving some three-ball? The Spurs got the ball moving from side to side out of a LaMarcus Aldridge post-up to Patty Mills to Rudy Gay for the gutty four-point play:

Bryn Forbes, on an off-night, still got this three the catch-and-shoot way to start the third quarter:

Even DeMar DeRozan eschewed the jumper to execute a Tony Parker spin-cycle layup:

Speaking of re-appearances, the 2018 version of Aldridge that dominated in the painted area showed himself again:

Though there’s been a paucity of defensive stops this season, we saw glimpses of what could be when DeRozan and Murray turned a deflection steal and a breakaway into a Dejounte dish for a DeMar slam:

Despite these great plays, the Spurs could not avoid their first eight game losing streak in over two decades. However, they were not blown out by an Eastern Conference contender, so this is a start. Let’s remain hopeful that they can turn things around tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden!