San Antonio has lost two straight defeats to the Shaptanded Raptors and Dameless Trailblazers. And while the path to the playoffs has become more complicated as the tenth seed, the Spurs are facing a brutal final phase of their regular season schedule.
Silver and Black have to shake off the disappointing loss in crunch time on Friday night and recalibrate for a matchup with the sizzling Suns in second place. Phoenix has dramatically flipped its franchise behind the veteran leadership of perennial all-star Chris Paul, the ongoing rise of Devin Booker, and a complementary cast of fantastic role-players.
San Antonio encourages (26-28) @ Phoenix Suns (40-15)
April 17, 2021 | 9:00 p.m. CST
Observe: BSSW | Listen to: WOAI (12.00 p.m.)
Spore Injuries: Trey Lyles (Out – Ankle)
Sun injuries: Abdel Nader (from the knee)
What to look for
- The Spurs are 9-10 in a row this season and Phoenix faces an irreconcilable obstacle as they attempt to regain a foothold in the Western Conference playoffs. Not only are the Suns 25 games over .500, but they also list the nightly winners of 14 of their last 16 competitions. As if the momentum weren’t already in their favor, Phoenix also has the luxury of a practically blank injury report and a few days off. So far there has been no sign of Devin Booker, Chris Paul or Deandre Ayton going to suspend this game, so San Antonio must bring their A-Game to the Silicon Desert if they are to put an end to their latest slump. Not to add to the bad news, the Spurs are only 3-6 in SEGABABAs so far, with their only wins against the Knicks, Magic and Pistons. The suns are miles ahead of these teams. So don’t be surprised if the good guys don’t improve their bottom line.
- In my previous preview, we discussed the issue of balancing the protocols of the second unit veterans and the last two San Antonio first round draft selections. And we’ll go into it further as long as it remains a relevant topic. The Spurs are unfortunate enough to have an incredibly busy schedule and something has to change if they are not to continue to slide down the Western Conference rankings. Whether some fans will admit it, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay undoubtedly have some use within an NBA rotation, but that shouldn’t preclude them from seeing the bank every now and then. And if Rudy and Patty aren’t playing well, there’s no reason Gregg Popovich can’t make an in-game adjustment to get Devin Vassell and Luka Samanic a few minutes. The former was a staple of the rotation when San Antonio was its prime season at 22-16 in mid-March. The same cannot be said for Samanic, although he played admirably for Rudy Gay and Keldon Johnson in the five games leading up to the All-Star Break. There’s not much to suggest that there will be a lot going on on Saturday too, though it’s always possible if this meeting gets out of hand.
- There’s no denying that the three-pointer has become an integral part of the NBA, and while it isn’t necessary to throw 40 threes a night to pitch a winning team, it becomes increasingly difficult to fight without multiple elite ground spacers . While you can mitigate the need for a variety of snipers with superstar offensive talent and elite defense, San Antonio doesn’t own either. The Spurs are neither a large volume nor a highly efficient long range ball racket, and their numbers from outside the arc has only recently deteriorated. Silver and black rank 27th on three-point attempts (28.2) and cast their limited glances on the eighth worst clip (33.5%) in the last nine games. However, Phoenix is in the NBA top ten in both categories (35.7 3PA at 40.5%) over the same period. And when teams that outperform their opponents by the edge get a win most nights, it’s hard to imagine that Patty, Rudy, Lonnie, and Derrick would be enough to outperform the Suns.
For the Suns fan perspective, visit Sunny side of the sun.
PtR’s gamethread is available tonight for those who want to chat about the game. You can also follow the action Twitter feed from PtR.
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