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•  Without LeBron, Wade, and Chalmers, the Heat still looked pretty damn good. (Sidenote: How ironic was it that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra held out his best players against the Spurs, just like the Spurs did against the Heat early on in the season? And both games were great. These teams prove that in today’s NBA, coaches and systems are equally important as the players who execute their roles.) So many players stepped up tonight and played well for them. Rashard Lewis played defense like he was back in Orlando in All-Star form. Shane Battier made plays. Mike Miller went 4-6 from three and had 5 assists. Norris Cole looked comfortable running the show. Hell, James Jones (JAMES JONES!) even made an impact, and it wasn’t even shooting-wise, his defense was good. The underlying theme tonight for Miami was team defense, and they executed it perfectly. They played terrific help defense, and had each other’s backs all night long. They played the gaps perfectly whenever a Spur tried to penetrate. Maybe their most impressive feat was taking away Tony Parker’s ability to make plays out of the pick-and-roll, which is something the Spurs rely heavily on. Chris Bosh also played amazingly, hopefully giving him some more confidence after being a bit shaky after the All=Star break. Early on he was able to get going, hitting 4-5 shots in the first quarter for 10 points. He finished with 23, nailing a heavily contested three in the final seconds to give Miami a two point lead. At the end of the day, you can’t do much else but applaud Erik Spoelstra and the Heat. They devised a great gameplan, and executed it perfectly.

• It’s important for Spurs fans to remember that this is just one loss, and it’s nothing to fret over. Miami played a hell of a game, and got the win. That doesn’t mean San Antonio played badly. The Spurs were forced into bad shots for most of the night, and were able to hit them at a good enough rate to fight back into the game late. They actually had the lead in the final minute, but then Chris Bosh (A 28.3% career 3PT FG shooter) hit a three on a pick-and-pop that the Spurs played perfectly. Sometimes great players just make great shots. Keep in mind that against 3 of the top 5 other teams in the league, the Spurs went 2-1. Also, they have another tough game against Memphis tonight, making it a back-to-back against 2 top teams. The Spurs are being tested right now, and even if they lose they aren’t playing badly. Keep your head up Silver and Black fans, don’t complain about anything, the San Antonio Spurs are still a top 3 team in the league. You’ve got it good.

Tim Duncan was the star of the show, scoring 34 points on 19 shots, including a game-winning 3 point play with 2.2 seconds left. Duncan’s 34 points is his highest mark since 2009. He also gathered 11 rebounds and had 3 assists.

Tony Parker also had a good game for San Antonio, scoring 24 points on just 15 shots, and he also distributed well, getting 8 assists.

For the Clippers, Chris Paul had 14 points on the night, and also racked up 12 assists. Blake Griffin had a bit of an off night, scoring 18 points on 20 shots. Jamal Crawford got hot off the bench in the second quarter, going 4-5 in the quarter. He finished with 16.

Manu Ginobili left the game in the first quarter due to some tightness in his right hamstring, the same one he has had a lingering injury with for a large part of the season. After the game, Coach Popovich said he would most likely be unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat.

The next game for the Spurs is Sunday, April 1st, at 7:00 PM ET.

Game Notes

• Tim Duncan was amazing yet again in this win, posting one of his best stat lines of the year. The 36 year old posted 34 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks; and he dominated the Clippers all night long. He scored 19 points in the first half, dropping in 10 straight in the second quarter after briefly yelling at an official because of a missed call. That call pushed Duncan to the end, as he remained fiery all night long. Duncan ended up being the go-to guy tonight, getting a tough and-0ne jumper to fall late in the game. Friday’s performance was just the latest great game from Duncan, who has averaged 25.1 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 3.1 apg, 3.0 bpg, and .580 FG in the past 7 games. He’s been rejuvenated lately, and no one can stop him.

• This is a bit of shameless self-promotion, so please just deal with me for a minute. The final play that the Spurs ran for Duncan, one they ran 3 times total in the game, with each one resulting in a basket, was a play that I’ve broken down before. I love this pindown screen for Duncan in the post, and he knows what to do with it. Alright, that’s enough patting myself on the back, let’s move on.

• Normally, I try not to bring attention to officiating. Even if there are a few bad calls in a game, I still try and concentrate on whatever the players did in the game, because no matter what happens they should play through it. But, even with that said, some attention has to be paid to the referees in this game. There was spotty officiating all the way around tonight, especially at the end of the game. The first issue was on the Clippers second to last possession. Before the ball was inbounded, Tony Parker was issued a dead-ball foul that gave the Clippers one free throw when the game was tied, and they kept the ball. The Clippers hit that free throw, and then missed their next shot. But, that play could have effectively decided the game, and a game being called on a dead ball foul because of holding onto a jersey should never happen. The other big questionable call came on the Clippers final possession after San Antonio took the lead. Chris Paul went up right after he got the ball, and it looked as though Tony Parker may have fouled him, but there was no call. In my opinion, it was probably a foul but I understand that it wasn’t decided because of the time remaining. Nonetheless, those are just two examples of a horribly officiated game. Hopefully next time the refs get it right.

• Coach Gregg Popovich did it again. He made a genius coaching move that may have swung the game for the Spurs. In the third quarter, when DeAndre Jordan checked in, every time the Clippers had the ball, the Spurs fouled him. The old Hack-A-DeAndre trick worked perfectly, as he missed his free throws, disrupted the flow of the game, and let the Spurs take a 6-2 run in a tightly contested matchup. While some consider the intentional fouling of a bad free throw shooting cheap (it’s very ugly to watch), I like it because of the strategy involved. In related news, I’m also a fan of flopping because I think it’s always a heady play by someone. I know, I’m weird.

• The Spurs bench was pretty bad tonight. They shot a combined 8-21 from the floor, totaling only 22 points to the Clippers 40. With Manu Ginobili out, there was a lack of playmaking from the bench, and the offense looked a bit stagnant, as everyone was standing around. While the starters were on their game and taking it to the Clippers starting five, the reserves kept leaving the door open for the Clippers to stay in the game. As we enter into the final stretch of the season, a good bench becomes a hot commodity as teams will choose to sit and rest their best players some more. Based on what happened tonight, and what’s happened recently, it will be an interesting storyline to see what will happen when San Antonio starts to do this.