The San Antonio Spurs began their quick two-game road trip on a rocky start on Tuesday, falling to the lowly New York Knicks 104-100 in overtime.
The game started out with the Spurs taking early control, leading by four points after one and 10 points at the break.
San Antonio was unable to sustain momentum coming out of the break, however, allowing New York to cut the deficit to seven at the end of the third and tie the game at the end of regulation.
The Spurs had a chance to win the game with the final possession and 5.5 seconds left in the game, but unfortunately, Kawhi Leonard missed the jumper that would have given San Antonio the lead and the win.
Now that the game is over, let’s take a look at our studs and duds of the game, along with key statistics.
Studs of the Game
San Antonio Spurs
It’s only fair that the San Antonio Spurs award for stud of the game in this surprising loss goes to a surprising standout. Tiago Splitter receives the award for his great 12 point, 13 rebound effort in only 28 minutes. Splitter finished 5-of-10 from the field and also picked up two assists and a blocked shot.
New York Knicks
The New York Knicks stud of the game goes to Alexey Shved. Shved was a big reason the Knicks were able to come away with the win, contributing 21 points, three rebounds, and seven assists. He also did a great job getting to the charity stripe where he attempted 12 free throws, eight of them being makes.
Duds of the Game
San Antonio Spurs
This one is pretty easy to give and it goes to Danny Green. Green contributed greatly to the Spurs shooting percentage in all the wrong ways going 3-of-12 from the field, 1-of-5 from deep. In addition to only being able to muster up eight points and four rebounds, Green’s defense was absolutely atrocious, allowing the Knicks starting back-court to have a field day with a combined 43 points.
New York Knicks
Lance Thomas was basically non-existent in his start for New York and for that he earns the Knicks dud of the game. Thomas finished with eight points but only one rebound, a number you would like to see more of especially for a power forward. He also was below average from the field, connecting on only four of his 10 attempts.
Key Numbers
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38.3: That’s the shooting percentage for the Spurs in this game. It is hard to win in this league regardless because of the amount of talent each team has, but, you are only making it harder when you shoot that poorly.
10: That’s the lead San Antonio had entering the second half of the game. The Spurs were 34-8 entering this game when leading at the half and 38-5 entering this game when leading after three. The fact that they lost to a 13, now 14, win team makes this loss all the more difficult to swallow.
5: That’s the seed the Spurs would be in the Western Conference had they won this game. Instead, San Antonio is slotted as the seventh seed behind by a game for both the sixth and fifth-seeds.