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On a night where San Antonio transported us to the mid-2000s with peak defensive effort and timely shooting, their effort and execution netted them their most important and complete win of the year so far. Let’s be grateful for these positives from tonight’s win:
The most impactful players with the letter ‘K’ in their names were Jakob Poeltl and Derrick White (and not Kawhi Leonard). Poeltl in particular asserted himself in the paint in a manner that kept Ivica Zubac off the court and rendered Montrezl Harrell’s usual contributions moot. The “walking rejection” blocked four shots, including this momentum shifter in the fourth:
Starting the 4th! "He's [Jakob Poeltl] a walking rejection"#GoSpursGo | @spurs pic.twitter.com/ujYSSXeCOA
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) November 30, 2019
Jakob’s work on the offensive boards also kept several Spurs’ possessions alive:
Jakob Poeltl going to work in the paint. pic.twitter.com/BHa8czpIJI
— Joe Garcia (@twoshotspodcast) November 30, 2019
So this is his new career path, right?
Duncan 1997-16
— Bruno Passos (@bouncepassos) November 30, 2019
Ginobili 2002-18
Parker 2001-18
Poeltl 2018-DID YOU SEE THOSE BLOCKS ON KAWHI
His counterpart, White, went 5-for-7 from distance and looked confident in doing so despite seemingly tweaking his ankle in the early second half.
DeMar DeRozan with the strip starts the fast break as Derrick White finishes with the three! pic.twitter.com/e5obUYFYoO
— Joe Garcia (@twoshotspodcast) November 30, 2019
DeMar DeRozan hit his first 3-pointer of the season and how beautiful it looked:
DeMar DeRozan knocks down his first 3 of the season
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 30, 2019
Spurs are ROLLING pic.twitter.com/1O7i7ieri0
It was also encouraging to see LaMarcus Aldridge chip in four blocks of his own to counter an off-night shooting:
That's an @aldridge_12 BLOCK on @MONSTATREZZ!
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) November 30, 2019
https://t.co/eJjkYOYVEi#GoSpursGo | @spurs pic.twitter.com/ohM98c2Yb6
Trey Lyles seems to be getting more used to coming off the bench, especially on catch-and-shoots:
dialing in from deep @TreyLyles | #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/DcWPL0IWL3
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 30, 2019
Lyles also ran the floor well and played one of his better two-way games this season:
.@marcobelinelli to @TreyLyles for the Transition Slam! #GoSpursGo | @spurs pic.twitter.com/JOHbXB1uXD
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) November 30, 2019
San Antonio also held its first opponent in this young season to under 100 points. Lastly, for those of us who have forgotten what it’s like to win consistently at home, Jordan Howenstine reminded us just how successful the franchise has been in the barn:
Tonight is the 700th game played in the AT&T Center since it opened in 2002.
— Jordan Howenstine (@AirlessJordan) November 30, 2019
Spurs currently have 564 wins in the building, the most home wins of any team in the NBA (Dallas second with 479). San Antonio’s .807 (564-135) win percentage is the best in the league.
In fact, let’s just see the whole game’s worth of highlights:
Despite 13 losses in their 15 games, the Spurs still sit less than a handful of games out of the eighth spot with three quarters of the season left to play. Let’s see if they can take this momentum into Detroit on Sunday.