I must admit that I didn’t have high hopes entering yesterday’s game. After all, both Castle and Wemby were sidelined, and the Spurs weren’t really playing for anything (the chance of them getting the first seed is now officially zero). In contrast, a Portland win tonight would have matched their record with the Clippers, giving them an excellent chance to finish the regular season with an improved position in the play-in. Even so, the shorthanded Spurs came out firing and won each of the first three quarters, showcasing impressive depth and versatility. While I hate to see injuries, especially this late in the season, it is heartening to know that this iteration of the Silver and Black can beat a motivated opponent without two of its best players.
Another piece of good news is that — while the box score for this game was pretty vanilla in some respects — it did produce some highly unusual combinations related to free throws, as you will see below. I’m testing out a slightly modified format for the highlights today; first, I’ll outline the key box score factors that determined the game. Second, I’ll identify any notable rarities contained within the box score. These posts are still new and evolving, so please let me know what you think!
Factors that Decided the Game
What are Team Graded Box Scores?
Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).
Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.