Spurs news and notes: Neal sums up loss to Lakers, a franchise record, and more

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• San Antonio Spurs’ Gary Neal summed up today’s huge loss to the Los Angeles Lakers:

“They hit us in the mouth from the beginning and by the time we realized it, it was the ninth round and we were down on the scorecard,” Spurs guard Gary Neal said. (woai.com)

• Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry relishes the under-dog role while the Spurs get more of the attention:

“People didn’t predict us to do much before the season and they’re not predicting us to do much now. We’ll continue to relish that [underdog] role and play with a chip on our shoulder. That’s the only way to fly.” (cleveland.com)

• RedsArmy.com is keeping an eye on the Spurs as a possible Boston Celtics-Spurs NBA Finals could happen in June.

• Former Spurs’ player Alonzo Gee – now with the Cleveland Cavaliers – had this to say about his former teammate Gary Neal:

“He worked really hard,” Gee said. “He can really shoot the ball. I knew he was going to do really well, especially in the system that he’s in.” (cleveland.com)

Hit the jump to read about the Spurs and advanced metrics, the Austin Toros, trades the Lakers didn’t make and more.

• The Spurs’ D-League affiliate Austin Toros won against the Sioux Fall Skyforce. Click HERE for the recap.

• With many NBA teams looking at advanced metrics in game preparation, the Spurs are installing cameras to study the game more carefully and so far showed how Tim Duncan can impact the game:

Weil’s data was based on cameras installed at three arenas, but Brian Kopp, a vice-president at STATS, told me the cameras are currently in place at five arenas — San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Golden State.

San Antonio players, for instance, shoot 60 percent after receiving passes from Tim Duncan. That’s a very high number, Kopp said, and it’s not entirely unexpected, given how much attention Duncan still draws in the post and on pick-and-rolls. But it’s a higher number than the comparable figure for most point guards. (si.com)

• Express News’ Tim Griffin talks about the trades the Lakers didn’t make.

• The Spurs made a franchise record with 17 three-pointers made against the Miami Heat.