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The Spurs relied on an unusually active and committed defense to extend their best run of the season at 6 games by defeating the Mavericks on Tuesday night. With 19 deflections and 11 steals, the Spurs have repeatedly disrupted the Mavs offense.
DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge and Derrick White each had incredible nights on the other end, combining 84 points out of a total of 112, but their defense work was just as important. DeMar led the team with 7 deflections and 4 interceptions, while Derrick was second with 3 of each.
DeMar's deviations and interceptions came mainly from jumping overtaking lanes and playing safely on the weak side. He was constantly in the right position and knew all the players on the field, which allowed him to get a lot of balls that he was not used to.
This kind of activity is quite normal for Derrick, but he ruined everything for only 35 seconds of playing time. Derrick finished the 3rd quarter by pushing the ball away from Luka Doncic, and then opened the scoring. 4th by signing his first two passes. The second of these, which ended with the rejection of LaMarcus in transition, was a beautiful read.
It's the Spanish pick and roll of the Mavs (again). But unlike previous team meetings, the Spurs are everywhere.
As Dwight Powell moves to project Derrick White on the right side of the ground, LaMarcus goes deep into the paint so as not to be masked by Tim Hardaway Jr. open three, but the Spurs perform perfectly to perfection. guard switch, while Bryn Forbes runs towards Doncic and Derrick steps back to take Hardaway as he heads to the left wing.
The most impressive part is Derrick's supernatural awareness as he recovers. He knows exactly where Hardaway is going and he knows exactly how Doncic reads the ground. He looks more like a large receiver making a course than a defender seeking to intercept a pass.
For its part, LaMarcus had only one volley and a deviation at night, but this deviation was one of the most important games of the game.
Doncic followed from 5 to 1:30 of the end, Doncic uses a Powell's drag screen to try to break through the defense.
Derrick fights through the screen and recovers before Doncic can capitalize. Take a look at his footwork. Derrick turns his lower body to run with Doncic, but keeps his torso as straight as possible, then stops abruptly once Doncic has changed direction. LaMarcus, too, was on her way to the restricted area when Doncic decided to withdraw her.
Maxi Kleber waits at the top of the key to set another screen for Doncic and pulls the switch. Derrick does not seem very happy about this, apparently wishing that Davis Bertans return to Kleber after protecting himself and that Doncic dribbles to the half-court. But that's the safest answer and despite Derrick's admirable desire to control the other team's most dangerous offensive player, Davis is doing a pretty good job.
Davis stops the penetration to his right and stays close enough to Doncic to prevent the step back from three, but that leaves him open for a drive to the left. Davis then bumps to stay in a position to challenge if Doncic shoots. Fortunately, Derrick is in an excellent position to help after leaving Kleber in the weak corner.
Doncic could have tried to hit Kleber, but DeMar has been wreaking havoc on the weak throughout the match by just going that way. With a half-step behind Doncic on the right hip, the free kick shot by Dorian Finney-Smith on the right wing would not have been safer either. That leaves the task to Powell and, to be fair, it should have worked.
LaMarcus is far enough in the painting and far enough forward that if Powell succeeds in taking this, he probably dunks it, or at least commits a shooting foul. But LaMarcus uses the 7'5 "range to touch the ball with the fingertips, deflecting the trajectory. He ricochets with the right hand of Powell and out of the ground, the ball of the Spurs.
Derrick quickly drilled a jumper back on the next possession, giving the Spurs a 7-point lead and scoring what would become the winning points of the match.
This version of the Spurs is not renowned for his defense, and they did not play their best in this regard in this match, yielding 110.53 points for 100 possessions. Compared to the usual efforts of the team outside San Antonio, it's not bad. The team gives up 116.1 points for 100 possessions on the road this season.
There were still many mistakes and too many easy baskets, but at least they were active and engaged, which has not always been the case this season, especially far from home. But they played the games they had to do, and when the offensive hums as in this game, it will usually be enough.
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