Spurscast Ep. 536: San Antonio Spurs vs Denver Nuggets Round One Playoff Preview

April 12, 2019

In episode 536, Spurscast host Paul Garcia and Project Spurs writer Collin Reid preview the upcoming San Antonio Spurs vs. Denver Nuggets playoff series in detail. From individual player matchups to strengths and weaknesses on both ends of the floor, their conversation goes in all sorts of directions for this series.

As mentioned in the episode, here are the statistics that were used. The stats were collected from NBA.com/stats and CleaningTheGlass.com.

Rotation Lineups – Spurs

1	2	3	4	5
White	Forbes	DeRozan	Aldridge	Poeltl
Mills	Belinelli		Gay
			Bertans

Rotation Lineups – Nuggets

1	2	3	4	5
Murray	Harris	Barton	Millsap	Jokic
Morris	Beasley	Craig		Plumlee

Spurs Scoring

Category	Season	Rank	Rating
Points Per 100 Possessions	113.5 PP/100	5^th	Elite
Halfcourt Points Per Play	100 PP/100	4^th	Elite
eFG %	53.8%	6^th	Elite
Rim Accuracy	65.6%	5^th	Elite
All Mid-Range Accuracy	44.2%	2^nd	Elite
Corner 3PT Accuracy	46.5%	1^st	Elite
Non-Corner 3PT Accuracy	38.4%	2^nd	Elite
Bench Points Per Game	38.3 points	11^th	Good
Fast Break Points	10.4 points	28^th	Improvement

Nuggets Scoring

Category	Season	Rank	Rating
Points Per 100 Possessions	112.9 PP/100	7^th	Elite
Halfcourt Points Per Play	95.3 PP/100	14^th	Average
eFG %	53.1%	12^th	Good
Rim Accuracy	63.2%	14^th	Average
All Mid-Range Accuracy	42.9%	6^th	Elite
Corner 3PT Accuracy	39.6%	9^th	Good
Non-Corner 3PT Accuracy	34.5%	20^th	Improvement
Bench Points Per Game	37.9 points	13^th	Average
Fast Break Points	12.6 points	15^th	Average

Where do the Spurs frequently take shots from?

Area	Season	Rank	Rating
Frequency at Rim	26.5%	30^th	Ouch
Frequency All Mid-Range	46.9%	1^st	Elite
Frequency All Threes	26.6%	30^th	Ouch
Free Throw Rate	19.4 P/100 FGA	18^th	Improvement

Where do the Nuggets frequently take shots from?

Area	Season	Rank	Rating
Frequency at Rim	35.3%	21^st	Ouch
Frequency All Mid-Range	32.3%	14^th	Average
Frequency All Threes	32.4%	15^th	Average
Free Throw Rate	17.7 P/100 FGA	26^th	Ugh

Spurs Ball Movement

Category	Season	Rank	Rating
Turnover %	12%	1^st	Elite
Assisted Made Baskets	58%	22^nd	Improvement
Passes Per Game	280.8 Passes	27^th	Ouch
Secondary Assists Per Game	3.2 assists	11^th	Good

Nuggets Ball Movement

Category	Season	Rank	Rating
Turnover %	13.8%	13^th	Average
Assisted Made Baskets	65.3%	2^nd	Elite
Passes Per Game	309.4 Passes	7^th	Elite
Secondary Assists Per Game	3.7 assists	4^th	Elite

Spurs Defense

Category	Season	Rank	Rating
Points Per 100 Possessions	111.5 PP/100	20^th	Improvement
Opp Halfcourt Points Per Play	95.3 PP/100	19^th	Improvement
Opp eFG%	53.2%	20^th	Improvement
Opp Offensive Rebound %	24.2%	5^th	Elite
Opp Free Throw Rate	17.4 P/100 FGA	2^nd	Elite
Opp Frequency Off Live Rebounds	28.9%	16^th	Average
Opp Points Added off Live Rebounds	+1.2 PP/100	19^th	Improvement
OPP Fast Break Points	14.1 points	20^th	Improvement

Nuggets Defense

Category	Season	Rank	Rating
Points Per 100 Possessions	109.2 PP/100	11^th	Good
Opp Halfcourt Points Per Play	94.5 PP/100	14^th	Average
Opp eFG%	52.4%	14^th	Average
Opp Offensive Rebound %	24.6%	8^th	Good
Opp Free Throw Rate	19.5 P/100 FGA	15^th	Average
Opp Frequency Off Live Rebounds	26.9%	7^th	Good
Opp Points Added off Live Rebounds	+1 PP/100	13^th	Average
OPP Fast Break Points	12.2 points	6^th	Elite

Where do opponents shoot from and how accurate are they against the Spurs’ defense?

Shot Locations	Season	Rank	Rating
Opp Frequency at Rim	32.7%	3^rd	Elite
Opp Accuracy at Rim	63.3%	18^th	Improvement
Opp Frequency All Mid-Range	34%	25^th	Elite
Opp Accuracy All Mid-Range	43.2%	29^th	Ugh
Opp Frequency Corner 3PT	7.1%	10^th	Good
Opp Accuracy Corner 3PT	39.6%	20^th	Improvement
Opp Frequency Non-Corner 3PT	26.2%	20^th	Improvement
Opp Accuracy Non-Corner 3PT	35.6%	19^th	Improvement

Where do opponents shoot from and how accurate are they against the Nuggets’ defense?

Shot Locations	Season	Rank	Rating
Opp Frequency at Rim	37.6%	24^th	Ugh
Opp Accuracy at Rim	63.1%	16^th	Average
Opp Frequency All Mid-Range	28%	6^th	Ugh
Opp Accuracy All Mid-Range	40.3%	16^th	Average
Opp Frequency Corner 3PT	9.8%	30^th	Ouch
Opp Accuracy Corner 3PT	38.4%	17^th	Average
Opp Frequency Non-Corner 3PT	24.6%	12^th	Good
Opp Accuracy Non-Corner 3PT	32.8%	1^st	Elite

The ratings were a system I created early in the season in my Spurs Evaluation series.

Elite – Rank near Top 5
Good – Rank near Top 10
Average – Rank near 15^thImprovement – Rank near 20^th
Ugh – Rank near 25^thOuch – Rank near 30^th

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