It’s time for Basketball: Spurs at Nets

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The Spurs, coming off a satisfying almost-win* against the Dallas Mavericks, face the Brooklyn Nets tonight who have won 11 games in a row, and still have room for improvement. Beating the Nets in their home arena would be an improbable feat for the Silver and Black, with the superstar cast of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Patty Mills. And don’t forget about Ben Simmons, who is showing signs of returning to the form that had him drafted first overall in 2016.

Interesting fact for tonight: Kevin Durant has 26,565 career points scored, right between Spurs legends Tim Duncan (26,496) and George Gervin (26,595-NBA and ABA combined). If the Slim Reaper can pour in 30 tonight, he would pass up the Iceman. It’s pretty much inevitable that that’s going to happen soon, but with any luck, it won’t happen tonight.

Tre Jones will be looking for a bounce back game after playing well against the Mavericks but missing an opportunity to extend the game at the end. Devin Vassell is still listed as questionable, so we should see a lot of Stanley Johnson, who has really been taking advantage of his opportunity in the last couple of weeks. Jakob Poeltl should have a size advantage on Claxton, but Nic’s quickness and agility might cause Pop to give time for Zach Collins to better contain him. Keldon Johnson’s shot has been looking better lately, and tonight might be a chance for him to let it fly.

* OK, I’m kidding. It was an impressive effort, but losing is never satisfying. What was satisfying is how well the team executed in the final moments and almost pulled out an improbable win, while not adversely affecting their draft position.

Game Prediction:

Jeremy Sochan will prove the earth is round by measuring the difference between vertical at each basket (approximately 0.00025°), and this will cause Kyrie Irving to have to check out of the game to watch some YouTube videos to find a counter proof.

One final word:

Go Spurs GOOOOOO!!

San Antonio Spurs vs Brooklyn Nets
January 2, 2023 | 6:30 PM CT
Streaming: NBA League Pass
TV: BSSW SA

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