The San Antonio Spurs snapped a two-game losing streak with a 111-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers (11-8) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday in the first game of a back-to-back post-Thanksgiving stretch.
The game is the second of a four-game road trip for San Antonio, who had lost two of their last three games coming into Friday’s contest. LaMarcus Aldridge dominated early and often to lead the Spurs to the victory.
“LA looked much more confident with his shot today,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He posted up and got inside very well. He did a good job.”
Here is what went good and bad for the Spurs, as well as three standout players: Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, and Bryn Forbes.
The Good:
- Aldridge finally rebounded from a few poor shooting nights and showed why RC Buford and Pop wanted him in Silver and Black, to begin with.
- While we never praise injuries, San Antonio is fortunate the Pacers were banged up on Friday. Who knows how the game would have gone if Victor Oladipo would have suited up.
- Rudy Gay had a standout night but on a much more quiet basis. He had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
- The Spurs were hot from three-point land, going 10-for-21 (48 percent).
The Bad:
- The Spurs still had trouble controlling the ball, committing 15 turnovers on the night.
Three Standout Players:
LaMarcus Aldridge:
As Pop said, Aldridge did look much more comfortable with his shot as he hit from the inside, outside, and banged down low with Indiana’s bigs.
He finished with 33 points, one shy of his season-high, and added 14 rebounds. Aldridge went 13-for-24 from the field (56 percent) and looked much more confident on the floor. With such a quick turnaround, Pop will hope LA saved some of his performance for a massive game tomorrow against Milwaukee.
“It was a good win,” Aldridge said. “I thought we came in and played good defense. We stuck to the game plan and came out with the win.”
DeMar DeRozan:
DeRozan did his best to help out Aldridge in the scoring column on Friday as he sliced and diced his way to the basket on more than one occasion.
He had 16 points on 54 percent shooting from the floor and continues to find his teammates on the floor as he dished out six assists on the night.
Bryn Forbes:
The former Michigan State standout continues to show confidence on the court, particularly in the offensive side of the court.
He finished with 13 points and shot 50 percent from three-point range. Forbes has been a surprise early on in the season for his offensive skills and there is little doubt he will get better as the season goes on.
“When your star players play well it makes things better,” Popovich said. “When one has an off game you hope that someone else will pick up that slack.”
UP NEXT:
The Spurs are now 9-9 on the season and will return to the court on Saturday when they travel to Wisconsin to face the Milwaukee Bucks (13-5) at 7 pm Central Time.
