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In case you may have been watching parts (or all) of the AFC Championship game Sunday and missed a fun and frenetic rematch between the Spurs and Heat, here are highlights worth seeing after the Spurs encouraging victory over Miami. After Heat guard Duncan Robinson started the game hot and watched San Antonio come back to beat his team, he shared “I have a ton of respect for this organization and how they do things.”
LaMarcus Aldridge - This confident shot seems to be just the adrenaline that the starters’ offense has needed all season long:
pure pic.twitter.com/ZgkOChBrOT
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 19, 2020
Since opponents are starting to respect his corner three, it will be this kind of savvy move that LaMarcus will have a chance to make to capitalize on scrambling defenders:
This was so satisfyingpic.twitter.com/ALe04HKvAv
— Pounding the Rock (@poundingtherock) January 19, 2020
DeMar DeRozan - The swingman continues to make a convincing case of his all-star candidacy with his most efficient statistical regular season thus far. Even on the rare plays that broke down, DeRozan adroitly found his teammates:
"DEJOUNT3. Somehow."pic.twitter.com/Vs3UXkqBag
— Pounding the Rock (@poundingtherock) January 19, 2020
Since you probably want to see the entirety of his excellent plays from the game, here they are:
@DeMar_DeRozan's near triple-double of 20 PTS, 9 REB, 9 AST helps the @spurs top Miami! #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/WRcx8kaL3j
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2020
Marco Belinelli - Though the oft-maligned shooter lost his touch for a stretch, he still gives us moments of 4-point madness as a reminder of what he is capable of:
MAMA MIA!@marcobelinelli with the 4 POINT PLAY!#GoSpursGo | @FOXSportsSW pic.twitter.com/exu2swMTxG
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) January 19, 2020
This late dagger is the type of dish that Marco needs to start serving HOT (rather than cold) so that the team can benefit during its second-half push:
"THAT'S A SPICY MEATBALL!"
— FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) January 19, 2020
Great 3 from Marco, even better call by @BillLand!#GoSpursGo | @FOXSportsSW pic.twitter.com/y3N6l7Jb1q
Patty Mills - The man honored by a bobblehead made all of our heads turn and bounce with his repertoire of sheer hustle and timely shooting, which we have needed in this inconsistent year, including this all-out effort that might as well been the play-of-the-game:
Patty! Patty! Patty! Patty Mills with the great effort here to save this ball! #GoSpursGo #PattyMills pic.twitter.com/YdeWVc6Dud
— Ty Jäger (@TyJagerRadio) January 19, 2020
And of course, nearly every single one of his threes like this one in transition were needed to catch the Heat and eventually fend them off:
"Get outta here!"@Patty_Mills with his third triple of the game pic.twitter.com/AcN1PvEt11
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 19, 2020
As a result of Patty’s embracing and modeling of the Spurs team culture in the last eight years, he is now the owner of this national honor:
Patty Mills just hit his 1,000th career three-pointer.
— Jordan Howenstine (@AirlessJordan) January 19, 2020
Mills is the first Australian in NBA history to reach 1,000 threes.
Lonnie Walker IV - Though we are growing accustomed to seeing him making highlight-reel memories for us, the increased playing time today was encouraging to see:
Look at the elevation Lonnie Walker gets on this layup pic.twitter.com/1XfHGB11U3
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 19, 2020
Trey Lyles - The Spurs bigs continues to add new and sometimes unnoticed wrinkles to their respective games - with Lyles being no different. Here he demonstrates the show-and-go fake and drive towards the basket as opponents respect his shot more:
attack mode
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 19, 2020
cc: @TreyLyles pic.twitter.com/5yIQ8EnQnz
If he continues to improve his court vision and passing, opportunities may open up for teammates more often:
this connection #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/eHBgQqpX34
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 19, 2020
Derrick White - White quietly yet assertively served notice of the need for his inclusion in closing line-ups due to plays like this that pushed the team up after some difficult possessions:
DEFENSE 2️⃣ OFFENSE#GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/wJRpuAH3Lb
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 19, 2020
This drive and kick action late in the shot clock with Walker IV showed what end-of-game execution could look like going forward:
D3RRICK! pic.twitter.com/wx1tEGPVAY
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 19, 2020
Finally, the big dump:
Pounders - here’s to a day of commemorating and honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the gift of the freedom to watch more Spurs basketball later today against the Phoenix Suns!