Easily the best game I’ve attended since covering this team. The Toybox was absolutely electric, hitting levels this year only reached during the Hayes-Garnett altercation. I’ve been saying this practically after every game, but this felt like a playoff game; imagine how the playoffs would feel with this team.
The drive to end regulation that saw Ginobili drive the parting sea not unlike Moses so many years ago – time momentarily froze. Everybody in the building saw the lane the second it materialized and there was a collective gasp. The season on the line, I don’t think I’ve felt that since Stockton in ’97.
Courtney Lee – what else can be said? He’s a championship level player. He’s one of the rare guys in basketball who has both the physical assets and a good head on his shoulders. The ‘D’ he put on Manu to close the game was awe-inspiring. We should thank the heavens that the Asik deal did not materialize at the deadline.
My final thought is on what I still struggle to believe and find absolutely amazing: the Rockets’ offense since the break, a statistic that should serve as complete validation of Morey’s methods. I myself was perhaps skeptical but it appears it works. Target individual players with certain specific attributes (propensity to draw fouls, eFG%) and enjoy impact in the aggregate. Fundamentally, it made too much sense to be practical. Now will it work in the playoffs? That’s a different question.
