I don’t care what the pro-tank crowd says or wants, that was a fun game. And not just because it was a win or because Devin Vassell went scorched earth for a career-high in points and three-pointers made, but because the Spurs played a relatively normal basketball game. Define normal? For starters, they played a solid first half against a team in a similar state as them, leading most of the way (but never by double digits) while overcoming a little sputter to start the second quarter for a halftime lead of five points. Not much to complain about there.
But as we all know, the Spurs have not been a normal second half team. It has hardly even mattered how much they get ahead by in the first half or who they’re playing; they’re bound to blow it, having lost 33 games when leading by double digits over the last two seasons. That is unacceptable regardless of the record, age or talent level of the roster. If they can get up by that much, they can play just good enough the rest of the way to not completely blow it. (J.R. Wilco says I’m obsessed with this stat, but what can I say? It’s an ongoing problem, possibly a mental or adjustment issue, that needs to stop for the Spurs to go to the next level.)
We have watched them get up big in the first half many times, but then that sinking feeling that they’ll inevitably blow it persists. I’ll even be texting with my fellow PtR writers how we know the good vibes won’t last. Sometimes, the Spurs hold on, like they did in Memphis last week, but often times they blow it, even to bad teams like the Hornets and Pelicans. Somehow, I did not get that sinking feeling last night against the Nets. Maybe them not getting out to a big lead that they could blow helped, but it proved prophetic.
After playing well in the first half, but not to the point that they felt too comfortable coming out of the locker room, the Spurs actually did something that normal basketball teams do, especially at home: come out with a purpose and squash the opponent. Maybe a lack of comfort at halftime is their current recipe for success. Of course, we don’t want it to be their long-term recipe for success — that would be keep having great first halves without letting up in the second — but for now, if we can only expect one great half per game from this team, then they’re better off with it being the second while playing just well enough in the first that they aren’t too comfortable. Is that too much “normal” to ask for?