Offensive woes reared their ugly head for the San Antonio Spurs as they suffered a 106-103 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks (39-34) at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday afternoon.
The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Silver and Black and extends a road losing skid to four games, moving San Antonio to a 14-23 record away from the AT&T Center. Kawhi Leonard missed the game as the saga goes on, leaving just eight games for him to make his return.
Here is what went good and bad for the Spurs, as well as three standout players: LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, and Danny Green.
The Good:
- Pau Gasol turned back the clock on the offensive side of the ball, more on that in a moment.
- LaMarcus Aldridge still put up solid numbers despite a tough Milwaukee defense.
- Danny Green managed to make his mark in the game despite poor shooting numbers.
The Bad:
- San Antonio drops a game they should have won. Given their upcoming schedule, this game could come back and bite them.
- Manu Ginobili struggled offensively, going 1-for-5 from the floor and scoring just two points.
- The Spurs struggled against a lengthy Bucks lineup, particularly in the paint.
- Dejounte Murray struggled late as shot a three-pointer to force overtime but it fell short. It looks like the second-year guard may have panicked with his team not set to run the play Coach Pop wanted.
Three Standout Players:
LaMarcus Aldridge: Another game, another day for LaMarcus Aldridge to dominate. He led the Spurs in scoring and managed to nearly grab the win.
Aldridge scored 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. While most of his teammates struggled offensively, it was LaMarcus who kept San Antonio in the game down the stretch.
The Spurs are working on clinching a playoff berth in a tight Western Conference and it looks more and more like Aldridge will be the one to lead them there if he continues to pour out games like he has done over the past week.
Pau Gasol: The veteran NBA center turned back the clock on Sunday afternoon, doing his best to help out Aldridge in the scoring column.
Gasol finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, working on the defensive end as well to keep Milwaukee’s John Henson off the boards. It is likely to say San Antonio cannot expect games like this from the older Gasol but can expect his veteran leadership. That just might be his most important contribution to this San Antonio team.
Danny Green: Despite him getting flak from his critics, Danny Green continues to prove them wrong on both ends of the floor.
Sunday afternoon saw him do it on the offensive end. He finished with 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting and went 3-for-8 from three-point range. Ever since his record NBA Finals performance back in 2013, Green has done most of his damage on the defensive end.
However, Sunday just reminds us all of the dangerous offensive side of his game.
UP NEXT:
The Spurs are now 43-31 on the season and will return to the court on Tuesday night when they travel to D.C. to face the Washington Wizards (40-33) at 6 p.m. CST at Capital One Arena.
“Manu Ginobili struggled offensively, going 1-for-5 from the floor and scoring just two points.”
Yep, the Spurs lost because of Manu.