Game 69: Spurs hold on to defeat shorthanded Sixers

(1) Stephon Castle's career high 14 assists (2) Jeremy Sochan's season high scoring night (3) Chris Paul from three (4) Sixers scored inside efficiently and in transition to test Spurs' defense

Photo credit: Reginald Thomas II, Spurs.com

With 6:55 left in the third quarter Friday, the San Antonio Spurs looked like they were on their way to a blowout win over the heavily injured Philadelphia 76ers. Philly responded though, by putting together a 29-9 run fueled by their zone defense, to end the quarter, and the Sixers went into the fourth with a 4-point lead. In the fourth, the Sixers would lead by as many as 8 points, but the Spurs started to make plays and eventually got the game to crunch time. The Spurs retook the lead with 3 minutes left, and after both teams went back and forth, Quentin Grimes (25 points) made a three with 01:16 left, as the Spurs led by just 1 point. On the next Spurs possession, veteran Harrison Barnes made a crucial corner three, and from there, San Antonio held on in the final minute to win by 8 points.

With the win, the Spurs improved to 30-39 overall, remaining 13th out West. It was the first time the Spurs have won consecutive games since January 3. By getting wins, the Spurs are still technically within striking distance of the play-in tournament. They’re now just 3-games behind the Phoenix Suns, who moved up to 10th, with the Dallas Mavericks struggling due to injuries. If the Suns finish with 39 wins, the Spurs would need to go 10-3 in their final 13 games of the season to finish with a better record than Phoenix.

If the Spurs can’t get into the play-in, their current place in the lottery order got a little worse with tonight’s win. They’re now 10th, being 0.5 games ahead of the Chicago Bulls (9th), 1.5 games ahead of the Miami Heat (8th), and 6.5 games ahead of the Toronto Raptors (7th). The Spurs will play the Raptors on Sunday in Toronto.

By getting the win in crunch time, the Spurs are almost back to being .500 in crunch time, now with a 14-15 record (19th) in those final five minutes of a game.

Though the Sixers did end up erasing the Spurs’ 16 point lead, by coming back and winning, the Spurs improved to 20-4 when leading by 15 or more points in a game this season. Post All-Star break, the Spurs have built leads of 15 or more points in 8-of-17 games, going 6-2 in those 8 games.

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Outliers on Offense

In the math game, the biggest scoring difference came from the 3-point line, where the Spurs outscored the Sixers by 15 points. The Spurs made 19 threes (57 points), while shooting 49% from distance.