In hostile territory with momentum turned and yet another large first half lead having dwindled to a single point in the fourth quarter, the San Antonio Spurs abandoned execution and rode the individual brilliance of Manu Ginobili to a 98-93 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Clinging to an 86-85 lead with four minutes remaining, a series of dribble hand-offs failed to gain the Spurs any traction against an active Hornets’ defense. With less than 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock, Matt Bonner flipped the ball back to Ginboili, curling from the top of the key to his right towards the rim.
With Cody Zeller in his path and the ever looming Bismack Biyombo forming a wall behind him, Ginobili lofted a hanging, twisting prayer with his left hand and all momentum fading to his right, salvation found as the ball settled to the bottom of the net.
And so it was that every Hornets run was answered by one of Ginobili’s patented exaggerated Euro steps, knifing drives, or back-breaking three-pointers. In nearly 24 minutes Ginobili provided 27 points on 14 shots, yet it almost wasn’t enough.
No game has come easy for these Spurs, whose vaunted system has sputtered in fits and starts all season. Depth and execution have failed to carry San Antonio through various injuries as it did last year, but those disappointed fail to realize that both factors are still driven by star players. The Spurs are not immune from the need for elite talent.
For most of his 23 minutes and 43 seconds on the court Ginobili managed to maintain those levels, even if the strain sometimes leads to careless turnovers (four for the night) at this stage in his career. With an engine in place, the Spurs looked like the Spurs, as reflected in Ginobili’s leading +15 in the plus/minus department.
Managing minutes once again, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started yet another different lineup (Tony Parker, Cory Joseph, Danny Green, Matt Bonner, and Tim Duncan) and used the hockey-style five-for-five substitutions.
With Parker still not fully up to speed (10 points, five assists in 23 minutes) and Kawhi Leonard still working on his return, the starting lineups have been a train wreck at times. Tonight’s edition had a negative 30 Net Rating (Team Net Points +/- per 100 possessions) in nine minutes,
The difference in the game is Popovich maximizing the time the Foreign Legion bench unit–the lone available lineup with extensive continuity from last year–spends together on the court. It’s a lineup built specifically to work around Ginobili’s strengths, with Patty Mills providing space and tempo, Tiago Splitter’s hard dives to the rim collapsing the defense in place of Ginobili’s lost steps, and Boris Diaw functioning as more spacing and secondary creator. Looking at the per 100 possession ratings, the bench carried the day:
| Lineup | MIN | OffRtg | DefRtg | NetRtg |
| Starting Lineup | 9 | 78.9 | 109 | -30 |
| 2nd Unit | 9 | 102.3 | 69.3 | 33.1 |
The disparity is unsettling, and reflective of how much the starting lineup needs Tony Parker operating near the top of his capabilities. On a positive note, there were glimpses from the Spurs point guard. A burst here, a teardrop floater there. It was a night, finally, to build from.
Assuming that Parker can approach the levels of play he reached a year ago–and he had such a stretch before the hamstring injury flared up–this is a team that isn’t as far off as it’s standing in the Western Conference would suggest.
Lost in this winter malaise are the incremental individual improvements that have been made across the roster.
Danny Green may never be a dynamic offensive threat, but he’s rounding into a more complete player, capable of putting the ball on the floor and driving when defenders closeout too quickly and making quality decisions on the move. Against the Hornets he scored 18 points, hitting three three-pointers and providing his usual solid defense–including his customary nullification of at least one seemingly easy transition basket.
Cory Joseph is now a viable rotation player, providing energy and competing on defense even on nights when defenders were destroying him near the rim (he finished 1-for-9).
Bonner is inexplicably playing some of the best basketball of his career, scoring eight points, knocking down a pair of three-pointers, providing a funky off-the-bounce threat, and underrated positional defense, translating to four blocks(!) against the Hornets.
Duncan (14 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals) may no longer be the singular force that can carry the team offensively for stretches at a time, but he’s quietly holding everything in place, keeping things steady until the Spurs can find that spark that ignites them.
All that’s lacking are the catalysts that set all these individual pieces into the motion that ultimately ties the entire team together. It’s that extra bit of dribble penetration that collapses a rotating defense one step too many, or the additional size on the wings that can dig in on dribble penetration and still recover to kick out passes.
Around Ginobili, for moments, everything made sense once more. Without him the offense fell into the mud, possessions ending in inefficient attempts at the end of a shot clock, or worse, in turnovers. Every player is being asked to do a little bit more; for a night Ginobili was able to provide it.
Indubitably Hoops 