Bucks keep Spurs winless on the road
If I told you the San Antonio Spurs would shoot 60% in a game, have six players score in double figures, and score over 100 points, you’d think it’s a 
win right?
Wrong.
The Spurs lost their fourth straight road game of the season as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated them in a nail-biter 106-103 on Tuesday night. Former Spur Stephen Jackson led the charge for the Bucks with 34 points while the two healthy members of the “Big 3” looked like their vintage selves as Tony Parker finished with 22 points and eight assists, and Tim Duncan finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Duncan and Parker came out scoring in the first quarter as they had combined for 20 of the Spurs’ 33 points in the quarter. Duncan started the game by shooting 6-of-6 before missing a shot. T.J. Ford went down toward the end of the first quarter and never returned to the game after being diagnosed with a strained left hamstring. The Spurs led 33-25 after the first quarter.
The Bucks got hot in the second quarter as they scored 34 points while the Spurs also poured in 26 points. At halftime, both teams were tied at 59, Jackson had already scored half (17 points) of his points, while Parker had a strong half with 15 points.
Carlos Delfino started the third quarter with a surge as he provided the Bucks with eight points in the quarter. The Spurs’ defense finally held the Bucks to 20 points in the quarter, while their offense wasn’t as efficient with 22 points. The Spurs went into the final period with a narrow lead, 81-79.
The fourth quarter was a battle until Milwaukee was able to go on a run and get a seven-point lead late in the quarter. The Spurs went on their own 8-2 run to close the Bucks’ gap to one point, but then disaster struck.
The Bucks missed a shot and the Spurs had a chance to take the lead. Parker tried to dribble past Brandon Jennings, Jennings tipped the ball and Parker lost control. Jackson picked up the loose ball and fed Jennings for the wide-open layup. The Spurs’ 16th turnover of the game couldn’t have come at a worst time with 51 seconds remaining.
The Spurs did what they could to make a comeback but on the last play, the offense rushed the possession as no timeout was called to get a set play inbounds. Instead, Parker rushed the ball up the floor, stopped his dribble, and passed it to a well-defended Richard Jefferson. Jefferson hoisted a desperation three and missed.
With the loss, the Spurs move to 6-4 on the season. They’ve lost all four of their road games and will look to keep their undefeated home streak alive as they face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday in another back-to-back game at the AT&T Center. The Rockets also played on Tuesday night as they defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 82-70 in Charlotte.
Analyzing the Loss
- No practice sessions being available in this shortened season is really showing its effects of the Spurs’ defense. Too many times, players are caught missing rotations, or defending the wrong assignment. The numbers don’t lie either as the Bucks torched the Spurs’ defense with a 34-point second quarter, and 27-point fourth quarter. Not to mention, the Bucks shot 52% from the field in the game.
- Though the Spurs shot well from the field (60%), one major part of their offense that was missing was the three point shot. The Spurs only made four of their 14 three point attempts. The three point shot was only worth 12% of their offense; outside shooting is one of the strengths of this perimeter shooting team.
- One woe the Spurs have seen on the road is the amount of turnovers. There were 16 in the Milwaukee game but the worst one was the last one when the team could have taken the lead, instead Milwaukee scored their final points with the free points.
- Parker finally looked a little bit more aggressive as he attempted 18 shots in the game, he connected on 10 of them and there were a bit more shots in the paint as opposed to the outside jumpers he’s been shooting this season.
- Jefferson had a solid game with 12 points, but the Spurs really needed two big three’s from him in the fourth quarter that didn’t fall. He shot 3-of-7 in the game from distance.
- In the loss, Jefferson, Duncan, Parker, and Leonard all logged over 30 minutes of playing time. This will be something to watch for Wednesday as the Spurs face the Rockets.
Rookie Watch
Danny Green only saw six minutes of action while James Anderson only logged nine minutes in the game. Why? Rookie Kawhi Leonard had a career high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting alongside three rebounds and four steals, plus one block. Leonard showcased a multitude of ways he is able to score. He hit outside jumpers, made a floater, finished on the fastbreak, and even dunked the ball by cutting behind the defense. He was the only player off of the bench to play 33 minutes in the game.
The Spurs once again look like a lottery team. With Manu out, the only Spurs play ok are Neal and RJ. TP plays awful, should trade him ASAP. TD plays like he is older than Dice.
Bonner continues to imitate a traffic cone on defense, his rebounds are 90% big bounces outside the paint on poor shots and he looks like he does not want the ball anymore - zero confidence. Why the heck Pop thinks Tiago can't play 30 minutes a night is beyond me. He is young and in good shape. We have no "atttitude" on defense...you can just see it. On the positive side, we are a lot better on the offensive end than I expected. Shame we can't find even a mediocre defensive posture to match. Pop has to own this...
Please get rid of Bonner and Blair. and We need to get big guys who play like big man. They are so terrible defenders. To add Malcom is not solution. I don't understand coach Pop's thinking. There are so many typical bigs in FA Market. Fresenko, Barron, Przybilla.
Ike Diogu to be waived. How come? The fellow hadn't proved anything yet. 2 games and away he goes. It's unfair. With no practice sessions, how were the coaching staff knew Diogu will nor perform well? Anderson was supposed to take the place of Manu. He is performiong miserably. Why not waive him? Now comes Malcolm Thomas. How long will he last? What is the spurs looking for? Good luck Spurs! Ha!
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@rtesoro440 ike scored 2 points in the 7 minutes he played which was ALL garbage time. its called garbage time for a reason. because even the garbage can make a showing. he hit 2 FTS and grabbed 1 rebound while committing a foul and a turnover. the dude has the same amount of turnovers and fouls as he does points. he showed no IQ in the little bit we saw, and we have no idea how he looked in practices.
waive james? a guy who has played a grand total of 36 games? crazy talk. the guy is supposed to replace manu, yes BUT how many years did it take manu before he was even in the nba much less a viable option consistently.
your hate of the spurs is showing through man, better go back to your mavs or what ever team it is you actually like.
Come on, the spurs lost fair and square. Much is expected of Anderson, Green and Splitter. They were the missing links in last night's lost. Bonner was rebounding and still expected to shot. And they missed too many free shots. Coach Pops keep on using the same lineup. He has 13 in the lineup, use them. Newcomer Jon Leuer was doing good. The coach of the bucks has confidence in the newcomers. Should Coach Pops have the same attitude? Anderson is supposed to take the place of Manu. What happened? Pay attention to Diogu and Thomas. Take them into the rotation. They must learn the system or else get rid of them. Its not good for them just to be sitting on the bench. Here's too much potential wasted.
Get rid of bonner!!! That's all I have to say. What's the point of having a situational player on the team if he doesn't even fulfill his situation?! I think he made one three pointer last night and that was it. He playef more minutes than splitter (probably cause pop is saving splitter for tonight against scola is what I'm thinking). I just don't see him ever helping the spurs. And everybody needs to stop saying we need more big guys cause we don't, but we need more natural playing big guys. Bonners a big man but doesn't play big. He definitely needs to go cause I'm blaming the OKC loss and last nights loss a lot on him. I kinda blame tony too though. Yes he had a good game and shot well and stuff but in those last few minutes he tried to do eeeeverything himself and got the ball stolen and messed up the last play. He was playing selfish and trying to be the hero
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defense was once again TERRIBLE. i have been asking why pop doesnt bring in bowen kind of in a defensive coordinator position kinda like the celtics did with tom t a couple years ago. the spurs out played the bucks in every aspect except 3 point shooting and free throws. the story of the game right there, spurs couldnt get a stop when they needed it, couldnt hit a 3, and nobody could make their free throws. its pretty bad when leonard and TIM DUNCAN are you 2 best ft shooters! outside of his OK defense, we are not really missing manu for anything more then the man can knock down a damn free throw!
Bonner, Blair and Neal’s team defence is disgraceful. They constantly lose vision o0f their man and Bonner and Blair’s reaction time and anticipation on defence is extremely slow. Bonner definitely has to go, he will never improve on defence he is getting worse each season and I have no idea why Pop still persists with him.
I believe Blair can play defence but he is lazy and if he continues like this he has to go to. Parker also shows a lot of laziness on defence.
The Spurs need to have players who take pride in defence and Bonner and Blair just don't have it and their positional responibilities are way more important than what they can provide offensively.
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@Buckets50 blair drives me nuts when he has the ball in his hands. he does 1 of 2 things, 19 up fakes while standing to close to the basket (he usually gets blocked when he doesn that), or that crappy spin dribble drive to the basket. one trick pony. if the guy wasnt such a good rebounder i say he has no use on the team. he needs about a year training with oberto or scola to learn how to play the role he is hired to play. manu needs to take him to argentina this summer and let him work out with those guys all summer long.
