Spurs had their first back 2 back game of the season in Madison Square Garden tonight. This was not only a pain in the ass for them... it was also a pain in the ass for anyone who got home just before tip off and then had to figure out dinner during the first quarter of the game.
I will always remember this game because I had a small grease fire on my balcony that required me to use the fire extinguisher on my electric grill.
STARTING LINE UP
Popovich startled no one again with this starting five...
- PG - Parker - 16 efficient points. Hit a clutch 3 pointer in the second half.
- SG - Green - quietly scored 4 points and missed 2-wide-open three point attempts...
- SF - Kawhi - 18 points and 14 rebounds
- PF - LaMarcus - 19 points
- C - Duncan - 16 points/10 boards/6 assists - he could have had a triple double if teammates hit their shots
GAME 4 OBSERVATIONS
I was pretty distracted tonight... so I really couldn't assess how the team did on a back to back game. I was surprised to see the number of minutes by some of the starters. The Knicks had won 4 of the last 6 meetings so I believe Pop wanted to get an easy win in November so that he could afford a loss in early March. The team shot close to 50 percent tonight... they couldn't hit shit from beyond the arch for a good part of the game. I recall them going something like 2 for 11 before hitting 2 big threes in the second half. Kawhi continues to assert himself on the offensive end of the court. LaMarcus also had a good game, only missing one shot in the paint. He seems to get a lot of open looks above the key - but he can't seem to hit a shot from 13 to 15 feet out. If he can find that stroke at some point of the season, he's gonna drop 30 points on someone.
Not sure if this was a quality win tho'... the Knicks are a hot mess. Carmelo scored 19 points on 17 shots. This my friends is Kobe'esque. The team consisted of players and names I had never heard of with the exception of 7'3" Kristaps Porzingis. He got a monster dunk on LaMarcus in the 2nd quarter and if time permitted, I could totally see myself wanting to watch him play if the Knicks were on TV. Porzingis left the game in the 4th when he appeared to get kicked in the back of the head.
Real Talk: Robin Lopez looks like the guy who ballz with insane Body Odor