Spurs 'Unselfish' Ways Lead to Win in Offensive Bonanza vs. Magic
After the San Antonio Spurs' loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this week, head coach Gregg Popovich called his team "not a great offensive show."
But the Spurs did a 180 on Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic, knocking down 22 threes and shooting 56.5 percent from the field in a 130-112 win, the team's second-highest scoring total of the season.
But Popovich was even more impressed with the team's assist totals.
"If you make 22 threes you are going to have a pretty good night," Popovich said. "That's just how the rules are. We don't do that very often, but we did it tonight. It was fun to watch. More importantly, we had 39 assists."
The Spurs are one of the better teams in the NBA when it comes to assists, ranking fifth in the league with 27 per game. Tuesday night was a great showcase of the team's identity.
"I think we were moving the ball a lot. We were moving the ball. I thought we got to the paint and got a lot of shots," Devin Vassell said. "That's just how we got to play. That's really the Spurs' way. Moving the ball and getting great shots."
For a team like the Spurs, who plays most of their games as the inferior team in terms of talent, playing an unselfish brand of basketball is important in order to win games. The opponent may have the better player(s), but a team can sometimes overpower a great player.
"I want to keep it like this. It feels great," Doug McDermott said. "We've had a lot of injuries this year. A lot of guys had opportunities and they all stepped in and they know how to play. Pop [Popovich] and the staff preach unselfishness."
The Spurs return to the court tonight against the Dallas Mavericks at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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