This isn’t the first time Pop has purposely sat out the Big Three, for injuries or otherwise. Earlier in the season, Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili were sat for a nationwide broadcast against the Miami Heat, which caused Stern to discipline Popovich, citing that the fans were being deprived of the value they paid for. In that game, the Spurs’ lesser known names played above expectations and almost took out the superstar-laden Heat on their own.

In today’s game, however, the Spurs were able to get the win over the Bulls, who have been dealing with the loss of Derrick Rose due to an ACL tear all season long.

The Silver and Black were led by second year man, Kawhi Leonard, as he poured in 26 points on 11-18 shooting from the field, while also playing some solid defense on Luol Deng, forcing the Bulls’ All-Star to go 4-13 from the field. Nando De Colo, a rookie PG for the Spurs, started in place of Tony Parker and played well. He did not shoot well, but he was able to find his teammates very well, racking up 7 assists on the night.

In the second quarter, the Spurs made their first key run, as Gary Neal and Kawhi Leonard took care of the scoring load, and the defense tightened up, forcing turnovers and denying the Bulls throughout the quarter, leading to a 51-42 lead for San Antonio at halftime.

As the third quarter got going, Nate Robinson of the Bulls started to heat up, scoring 11 of his 20 points in the quarter, and scoring 7 straight for the Bulls in one run to get them back in the game. Robinson would finish with 20 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals on the night.

That run continued into the fourth quarter, with the Bulls getting as close as one point down before the Spurs pulled away for the final time behind a barrage of scoring from Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter.

This game puts the Spurs at 3-1 on the Rodeo Road Trip. The Spurs’ next game on the trip is on Wednesday, February 13 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:00 PM. The game against the Cavaliers arks the last game for San Antonio before this weekend’s All-Star break in Houston.

Game Notes

• Kawhi Leonard has continued to play amazingly. He has found his scoring touch in the past 4 games without Tim Duncan, Leonard has picked up his scoring and averaged 17.5 ppg in his absence. And what’s impressive about this is not exactly how much Leonard has been scoring, but the fashion in which he does it. He has become capable of handling the ball on his own, putting it on the deck well for a multitude off pull-up jumpers from midrange. As I’ve said before, this is far from what he was doing   last year when he was mainly a floor spacer and slasher on offense. Now, he is a featured offensive weapon. This continued consistency on offense is very encouraging for the future of the franchise, as Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili continue to age.

• A backup point guard has emerged in first year guard, Nando De Colo. In just his second start of the year (his first one coming in the aforementioned gae against the Miami Heat) he again showed that he was able to lead the San Antonio Spurs offense when Tony Parker isn’t around. Although De Colo did not score the ball very well, he was able to distribute well, getting the ball to the shooters in their spots. On defense, he was ok enough, and helped force turnovers by crashing the paint and swiping the ball away from the Chicago big men a few times. All of this means that we will probably not have Gary Neal play backup point guard again.

• Danny Green is still hot. In the past four games, as Duncan has been injured, Danny Green has been pouring in three pointers at a scathing rate. In those four games he has shot 19-32 from beyond the arc, good enough for 59.3% from there. There’s no telling how long this will keep up, but perhaps next year the Spurs fanbase will be forced to start a “Let Danny Shoot” campaign for the three point contest, just as they did for Matt Bonner this year with “Let Bonner Shoot” sweeping the nation. Green is on fire right now, and he has been one of the keys to the Spurs success on the Rodeo Road Trip.

• Gary Neal is working my last nerve on this team. Admittedly, when he gets hot, like he did in the first half of this game, he can be a very helpful asset to the Spurs. However, this year, those times when Neal has been hot have been few and far between. He is having his worst year shooting, and yet, he continues to shoot. He is used primarily in pick and roll sets, where he is far from efficient  He takes and misses many ill-advised midrange jumper early in the shot clock when no one is around to rebound, and even when he misses he just keeps shooting. This was best illustrated early in the fourth quarter, while the Bulls were coming back. Neal took, and missed, three consecutive horrible shots for the Spurs. This forced Popovich to call a timeout and put De Colo back at point guard for him. And, as soon as Neal got back on the bench, the Spurs offense started to rev back up again and they pulled away for good. Neal is a terrible ball handler, and often gets trapped and forces passes, which lead to turnovers. This has been problematic because for a bulk of this season, and for his entire time with the Spurs, he has been used as a backup point guard. Wit the emergence of De Colo at point guard, hopefully we have seen the last of Neal playing big minutes whenever the Big Three come back. In spurts, as a spot-up shooter, he can be a lot more efficient, and a lot better of a fit for this team.

• In this last note, I would just like to personally take responsibility for Nate Robinson heating up in the third quarter. You see, usually Nate Robinson is not this good of a scorer. But, in the past two weeks Nate has been on a tear since he’s baeen able to shoot as much as he wants, as there is no one to bench him for. I had not realized this, and stupidly tweeted out the following:
  

  Stacey King is calling for Thibs to “let Nate loose.” I dare you. I double-dog dare you.

  — Ian Dougherty (@EeyoreWolfDough) February 12, 2013

  After that tweet, Nate went on to rip off 9 points to end the quarter. I apologize, and it will never happen again.

By sheer attrition, the Warriors started four rookies — Mickell Gladness, Charles Jenkins, Klay Thompson and Jeremy Tyler — that, for all intents in purposes, couldn’t stand a chance against the much more experienced, savvy Spurs starters.

The Warriors’ elder statesman was Dorell Wright, sitting at 26 years and 136 days old.

As it would turn out, the Spurs starters and Warriors starters wouldn’t engage in a very pronounced struggle. The struggle — if you would call it that — was painless considering no Spur started logged more than 20 minutes. As a unit, they combined for a plus-69. The Spurs began the game on a 16-5 run that set the tone for an otherwise uneventful game.

With the win, the Spurs were granted the inside track at home court advantage after the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder by 15 points. The Clippers defense prevented Russell Westbrook (nine points on 4-of-16 shooting) from beating them, instead forcing Durant to led the team in an otherwise fruitless effort.

The Warriors, as everyone that follows an inkling of the NBA knows, are doing their best to tank and earn a better draft pick, as evidenced by their 4-16 record since the trade deadline. Winning, in essence, is a unnecessary evil for the Warrior fans who could be deprived of another lottery pick if the Warriors actual start winning basketball games.

April 12, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors shooting guard Brandon Rush (4) dunks the ball against the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter at ORACLE Arena. The Mavericks defeated the Warriors 112-103. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Instead, basketball fans are subjected to starting lineup composed of a one-dimensional 3-point sniper, a lottery pick, two second-rounders and a former D-leaguer. This isn’t necessarily right, promoting losing that is, but it’s necessary given the context of today’s NBA landscape.

Behind Thompson’s 29 points on 12-of-22 shooting, the Warriors’ starting lineup accounted for 59 points. Thompson, however, actually turned out to be the second banana tonight.

The Warriors began the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run, due in large part because of Thompson and Nate Robinson. Robinson made a tough floater and drained one 3-pointer assisted by Thompson himself.

For the game, Robinson scored a team-high 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting and three 3-pointers. The 5’9″ point guard has benefited significantly in his role as a proficient scorer off the bench, as the role perfectly suits his erratic, yet dangerous, nature. In 10 games this month, Robinson is averaging 14.4 points, six assists and 2.2 3-pointers.

As we’ve come to expect the Spurs moved the ball well and parlayed that ball movement into a lot of perimeter shots. The Spurs assisted on 27 of 36 baskets and found nylon 12 times from behind the arc. The Spurs also helped their case with a consistent dose of free throws to piece the Warriors’ resistance. San Antonio went 36-for-43 from the line, the 43 attempts serving as a way to assuage any stretch of inefficiency.

As it would turn out, everything and anything worked.

But that’s just the price you pay for a high lottery pick.

Game notes
Manu Ginobili poured in 12 points on 2-of-3 shooting in 14:35 … Tony Parker poured in eight points on 2-of-7 shooting in 14:32 … Tim Duncan scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 11:18 … Duncan led the team with a plus-20 … The Spurs grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, their second highest mark of the season … The Spurs 55 rebounds, overall, is their highest total since Mar. 21 … The Spurs assisted on 77.1 percent of their baskets … The Spurs converted on 54.1 percent of all their shots; Golden State converted on 49.3 percent … Klay Thompson and Nate Robinson combined for 59 points on 23-of-42 (54.8 percent) shooting … The Spurs got to the line 43 times tying their season-high set on Apr. 8 against the Jazz … The Spurs converted on 83.7 percent of their free throws … Stephen Jackson and Tiago Splitter went 17-for-21 from the line (81 percent) … The Spurs had six players in double figures; the Warriors had four … Jeremy Tyler was the sole player with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) … In addition to Nate Robinson’s 30 points, he also recorded seven assists … There was one lead change all night …