Rudy Gobert's revenge: New-look Clippers stun Spurs at buzzer: 104-102.

There was .5 left on the clock and a pin could drop in the AT&T Center. A series of errors had culminated in a put-back dunk by new Clipper acquistion, Rudy Gobert, that finalized a valiant comeback.

The Spurs were stung by their first defeat at the earliest regular season timing in recent memory. "That's why they went out and got him over the summer. Gobert's prowess down low is something all 30 teams would kill to have. We let this game get to that point, and we got a L to show for it," Coach Popovich said in low spirits. When asked if the Clippers wanted the win more badly, he said, "Maybe. We were the only team between them and the NBA Finals last June. All I know is we sure didn't play like winners tonight."

Dejounte Murray did tie the game after a dunk by Kawhi Leonard swiped a 2-PT advantage in what a 34-22 fourth quarter rally by the Clippers, but even that did not come easy. Andre Drummond closed out on new Clipper James Johnson's floater attempt, unfortunately leaving Gobert free to nab the fatal rebound. Johnson finished with 8 points (4-11). Gobert starred with 17 points, 17 rebounds.

This was a close game, too: the Spurs edged LA, 31-29 in the first, getting more spread 21-14 in the second, but the 3rd Quarter went 27-28 in San Antone's favor before the collapse. Kawhi Leonard played very well with 26 points (11-19) & Paul George was right there with him for 25 points & 7 assists. Patrick Beverley dished 12 assists. 

 In the crushing loss, Brandon Ingram nearly willed the Spurs to a win with 29 points (12-18, 3-5 3PT) but did not have much help. Andre Drummond had 12 points, 10 rebounds with 4 blocks, but missed a lot of gimmies down low, clearly bothered by Gobert (who wasn't there to do so in the Western Conference Finals last year). Evan Fournier had his first solid showing with 12 points, hitting two threes with 3 assists also, but Dejounte Murray stayed quiet with 10 points, 9 assists. Fred VanVleet shot 3-7, with Joe Harris going 2-6 from long range. Cold, Kent Bazemore & Thomas Bryant shot 2-10. Luka Samanic briefly rallied the team, hitting two nice shots to stay the lead, but it was not to last, despite 9 points by P.J. Tucker (though he only went 1-5 from long range).

San Antonio bests rival Suns, 96-86.

 

 

The Spurs dominated Phoenix, 26-8 in the first quarter and it took a rough night shooting the ball for Phoenix to get back into the mix, only losing by ten at buzzer's call. DeAndre Ayton continued last year's campaign with more of the same strong play, 25 points & 21 rebounds. Ex-Spur, Patty Mills, had 11 points. Devin Booker did not play well, six points on a 3-12 shooting night (0-5 3PT), with all eyes on his lack of consistency (after not playing well against the Spurs in the playoffs last year).

In the win, Dejounte Murray had 17 points and P.J. Tucker had a standout performance, signaling his worth after a financial increase on his latest new contract with the Spurs, scoring 17 points with 5 assists & 3 steals (3-4 3PT). Brandon Ingram contributed 16 points & 8 rebounds. Fred VanVleet had 10 points, 7 assists.

Spurs receive championship rings and banner, en route to 93-104 win over Mavericks.

The mood was jovial as the Spurs were honored with championship rings once again, as a banner joined the rest in the rafters. They found themselves in a game, reliably due to the timeless rival Mavericks being on the court. 

The Spurs won the first quarter, 28-17 but Dallas stormed back in the 2nd, 28-16. The Spurs recovered to win the 3rd, 30-15 with the Mavs edging them out in the 4th, 33-30.

Drummond had his second nice game of the season, dropping 21 points & 8 rebounds with 4 blocks. Brandon Ingram had 18 points, 7 rebounds with 3 steals. Dejounte Murray scored 13 with 5 assists. Fred VanVleet chipped in 13 points, hitting 3-5 from long range. Thomas Bryant showed promise with 11 points. Evan Fournier went 1-7 in a cold night.

For the Mavs, it was a scoring struggle: Kristaps Porzingis hit on just 5-12 shots (14 points) with Deni Avdija's 13 points, 9 rebounds & 6 assists spoiled by a 5-13 night of his own & the leader, Luka Doncic, had 12 points, 6 rebounds & 6 assists on a 5-13 clip. Dwight Powell is back in action and contributed 9 points, 9 rebounds.

To make it worse, Dallas had 16 turnovers and gave up 17 free throws to the Spurs.

Spurs win opening night clash on the road over Kuzma & Pistons, 104-85.

Kyle Kuzma's debut for the Pistons could've gone better as he scored just 14 points, with Detroit led by John Wall (19 points, 5 assists) instead. Rookie of the Year, Cole Anthony, had 11 points but shot 5-12. New Piston, Hassan Whiteside, had a strong showing with 17 rebounds & 16 points.

The Spurs, however, won every quarter in the scoring column, cruising to a first victory on the new NBA season. The Big Penguin, Andre Drummond, had 19 points & 16 rebounds with 6 blocks against his old team. Brandon Ingram looked familiar with 18 points. The Spurs were boosted by 14 points & 5 dimes from Dejounte Murray, with Fred VanVleet combining with Luka Samanic & Kent Bazemore for 30 points.

In his own debut, Evan Fournier scored 9 points for San Antonio. Jaemyn Brakefield hit his first NBA shot attempt, a corner three and also nabbed a block on defense.

Detroit made just 3-16 from the perimeter, whereas the Spurs connected on 11 shots from deep and shared 30 assists as a squad.

Prelude: Spurs choose Brakefield, meticulously refine championship-caliber roster.

Kicking off this summer with another championship run in mind, the Spurs selected Duke forward, Jaemyn Brakefield, with the #30 pick in the NBA Draft. The hustle-driven lefty slasher should develop well with Brandon Ingram around to shadow, as Brakefield has shown flashes of similarity to Ingram's game along with looking the part at 6'8", 210lb. Brakefield is a student of the game, a devout Christian and has exemplified the integral character necessary to catch San Antonio's eye with his performance only holding its gaze. Citing his favorite biblical passage, Jaemyn will wear #45 in honor of Matthew 19:26.

Being part of a championship-caliber squad will definitely be a silver-and-black platter for Brakefield to prosper from. For others, being a Spur last season paid off. Johnathan Williams proved himself as a playoff-worthy third-string center and even outperformed Thomas Bryant at times, who had a rocky half-season with San Antonio after being acquired for Jarrett Allen. Williams left the Spurs for the Memphis Grizzlies with much appreciation for the opportunity to showcase his talent on the biggest stage, securing a two-year deal worth 5.5 million.

In other departures, Allen Crabbe had an inconsistent time with the Spurs and was not retained, opting for a one-year pact with the Miami Heat. Rajon Rondo revived his career backing up Dejounte Murray, but couldn't stop the improvement of Fred VanVleet's playmaking abilities, shipping off with his second championship ring to the Houston Rockets, where he will definitely take pressure off the ball-handling duties of Russell Westbrook & James Harden. Trey Lyles also did not return to San Antonio as the former lottery pick showed off his shooting ability and solid rebounding skills, earning a two-year, 9.76m deal with the Indiana Pacers. Lastly, Iman Shumpert got another ring as reward for taking the Spurs up on their reunion offer and will play for the rival Clippers this coming season.

The first veteran player acquisition came in Alex Caruso, who was nearly nabbed by Coach Pop & R.C. Buford last summer before the Lakers re-signed the savvy play-making Texas A&M alum. This time, the Spurs dished their bi-annual exception at Caruso to gain his talents on a two-year agreement worth 7.4 million. Regarding higher figures, the Spurs were not finished this summer and obtained the Ginobli-esque skills of Evan Fournier. The 6'7 French SF/SG hybrid earned his stripes in Europe and grew up watching Mike Bibby spearhead plays for the Sacramento Kings, slated to don #10 this next season in honor of Bibby, a request obliged by deadly Spurs marksman, Joe Harris. Harris will instead wear #8, harking back to Spurs alum Patty Mills, the Australian sniper, who Harris surpassed last season by hitting twelve 3PT shots in a single game to set a new Spurs record. Caruso isn't quite as gifted from long range as Joe, but will easily slot in behind Spurs floor general, Dejounte Murray and make up for the loss of Rondo, who is 7 years older with far more wear on the tires so to speak. Plus, Alex is happy to return home to Texas, a College Station native.

Meanwhile, Fournier possesses a scorer's court vision and is great at off-ball execution using screens to his advantage, averaging 37% from 3PT territory. With potential to win sixth man of the year in the vein of Manu, Fourier will begin the season behind Kent Bazemore, who hit a high point after a streaky start to last season. Fournier is a passionate slasher and has defensive chops that surely will only sharpen with the Spurs. He is joining the Spurs on a 40m, four-year pact using San Antonio's mid-level exception as they remain under the luxury tax, but over the salary cap line.

Filling out the rest is big man, Mike Muscala, a stretch five that will wear #33 as Spurs fans are reminded of Boris Diaw, another bigger but invaluable contributor to title runs. Muscala is the replacement for Williams, with the rest of the roster staying intact with P.J. Tucker re-upping on a two-year deal after a much better three-point shooting percentage last season. The star trio of Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray & reigning league MVP, Andre Drummond now set their eyes on leading a fine-tuned Spurs squad toward the Larry O'Brien trophy yet again for the 12th consecutive occasion.

Prelude: Hayward to Pacers, Fox to Magic, Kuzma to Pistons; Ball to Kings.

After his terrible opening-night injury with his new team, Gordon Hayward has struggled to be effective for the Boston Celtics. Despite a Eastern Conference Finals appearance last season, the ex-Jazz star has opted for a fresh start with the Indiana Pacers, who've also re-signed Victor Oladipo earlier this summer. Hayward parts ways with his beloved coach, Brad Stevens, as roster tension and lineup inconsistency continues to plague the Celtics having re-signed Jayson Tatum to a max salary contract, with Jaylen Brown in tow along with Marcus Smart.

Down south, the Miami Heat have signed ex-Lakers 'flash-in-the-pan' center of last year, Marc Gasol, to a two-year pact with Bam Abedayo & Jimmy Butler ready to ball. Up north, the Magic gambled and won, snatching point guard prospect, De'Aaron Fox, away from Sacramento after a down year riddled by injury woes for the speedy playmaker. Orlando is moving on from Markelle Fultz, hoping that Fox will mesh well with the likes of DeMarr DeRozan, Zach LaVine and a score of young players like himself acquired in last season's trade that sent Nikolai Vucevic to the Pelicans. Speaking of whom, Lonzo Ball will not be returning to the Big Easy, opting for the Kings as they continue to claw toward the playoffs, whereas the Pelicans chose to draft #1 pick point guard, Cade Cunningham, along with Jonathan Kuminga.

Last year's Houston Rockets did little to convince Houston management of renewing Coach D'Antoni's contract at the helm. It didn't take long for Luke Walton to be dismissed after a down year for the Kings win/loss record in a year that saw the team trade away Buddy Hield and acquire Arron Gordon, the flying forward that will likely pair nicely with Lonzo Ball's excellent court vision--a clear upgrade over Fox, given some but still less injury concerns. The Kings will commit fully to D'Antoni's "7 Seconds" offensive strategy led by Ball's quick up-court passing, definitely upping the tempo of the team from last season.

Lastly, Kyle Kuzma has left the Kings on top of Fox in favor of the Detroit Pistons, who finally found themselves with financial freedom after more than a decade of trial and mostly error of roster development, hoping for success with promising Rookie of the Year, Cole Anthony.

Prelude: Lakers & Clippers swing hard, vying for Los Angeles superiority.

Despite news of a new arena coming under construction in Inglewood, the long-since-bullied lil' bro, the Clippers have made a big swing with their eyes set on repeating this season with a Western Conference Finals appearance, with a dominant 4-0 sweep of the rival Lakers in the rear-view mirror.

Defensive stalwart and rim-running sensation, Rudy Gobert, has left the Utah Jazz after reportedly a falling-out with star volume scorer, Donovan Mitchell, forming a defensively-titanium starting lineup with Kawhi Leonard & Paul George, two established marquee talents that have also chosen to stay with the Clippers (both superstars had player options and have since secured longer re-ups this summer). They can practically taste the gold lure of the NBA Finals, if they can only topple the Texan titan that is the dynastic San Antonio Spurs, towering above the league's other 29 teams with eleven consecutive NBA Championship runs as the league's dominant superpower of this new era.

Rudy Gobert had a dismal end to last season, as the Utah Jazz bowed out to the broom, 0-4, against the Spurs, one year removed from taking San Antonio to the brink in a seven-game spectacle, injuring his wrist and being unable to play the final game of the Jazz's underwhelming playoff run. Returning to Utah unlike Gobert is Mitchell, having signed a max salary contract as Utah's #1 option moving forward, along with veteran point guard, Mike Conley. To accomodate Gobert's new near-max contract, the Clippers wound up orchestrating a sign-and-trade agreement with the Jazz for Montrez Harrell, former Sixth Man of the Year, along with Ivica Zubac & Landry Shamet.

Losing Gobert will taint the Jazz's defensive presence of years past, but the Jazz have reached agreements with competent big men, Aron Baynes & Jahlil Okafor. Meanwhile, the purple-and-gold squad led by LeBron James & Anthony Davis have latched onto Steven Adams, formerly of the OKC Thunder. With the departure of Kevin Durant and trade of Russell Westbrook in recent memory, Adams was the last vestige of that fierce unit as the Thunder chose to not renew the 7'0" Tongan's contract. Swooping in was GM Rob Pelinka, anxious to pair King James with a star-caliber center, a strategy not deployed since James' time spent with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and what seems like ages ago, with the Miami Heat (who are licking their wounds from losing out on The Greek Freak in what-could-have-been).

Not too sore, though, the Heat have re-signed Kendrick Nunn and Bam Adebayo, but decided to forego Duncan Robinson's qualifying offer, as the streaky shooter joined the Warriors in a sensible choice.

Imagining the pick-and-roll potential between LeBron & Adams, Jrue Holiday & Davis promises a lot, but only one LA representative can potentially meet the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals this year, with the Lakers just two seasons past from relenting the crown to San Antonio in a seven-game showdown. Adams, the new #12 for the Lakers, will also help the Lakers contend with Gobert in at least three regular-season face-offs, lest we forget a potential playoff grudge fight, whilst alleviating stress from Anthony Davis needing to otherwise claim every rebound off the glass. Together, they should be able to match the glass-smashing hands of reigning league MVP, Andre Drummond, of San Antonio. Clearly, Adams is an upgrade over the centers of the last two seasons for the Lakers, who were not done making power moves this summer. They went out and signed Derrick Rose to back up LeBron James at the point guard slot.

JJ Redick, famed alumnus of Duke University, and somewhat of a journeyman in the NBA, left the 76ers at the very worst time as Philly went on to face the Spurs in back-to-back seasons for the NBA Title, leaving the stellar marksman without a first taste of the NBA Finals. Redick made great shots for the 76ers before his departure, and didn't look too shabby in New Orleans before trying his luck with the Nuggets (who were eliminated from playoff contention in the last game of the season). With LeBron James dishing him the ball in just the right spot, Redick poses a deadly threat that surpasses the likes of his predecessors, Danny Green (now with the Mavericks) & Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Redick will don his Duke jersey number, #4, and stay tuned, dear reader, to see why that number was available again. Hint: the Spurs also made some retaliatory moves in this offseason.

Prelude: Warriors achieve bombshell success with superstar swap for The Greek Freak.

BREAKING NEWS: The Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks have agreed on a blockbuster seven-player trade that includes a league-record 5 year, 253 million new contract for the league MVP of just three seasons ago, Giannis "The Greek Freak" Antetokounmpo.

It was long feared and rumored that the Warriors would make a play for the superstar forward and they got the job done. Three years removed from the second of repeat NBA Finals appearances, Antetokounmpo told reporters at the Warriors jersey reveal for #34 how, with all due respect to the organization that drafted him after several teams had passed him by, he failed to see as bright of a future for the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that had not even made the Eastern Conference Finals in the last two seasons after bowing out to the Spurs, 4-1, in their second NBA Finals encounter that had been Antetokounmpo's MVP run.

To convince Milwaukee to accept the offer and to honor the salary cap rules, the Warriors parted with several future draft picks, including some from the New York Knicks in exchange for the services of Draymond Green, whose contributions to the Warriors have slipped in recent years since their era of contention with the Spurs. Green will form a rough-rider trio with Mitchell Robinson & DeMarcus Cousins, fresh off an impressive rookie campaign for LaMelo Ball at the helm that took the Knicks not only to the elusive post-season but also the second round before losing to the Celtics.

The big ticket item that sealed the deal was Klay Thompson, as the separation of powers saw the split of the Splash Bros in Golden State. One season removed from tearing his left ACL that saw Thompson show flashes of his pre-injury star talent, the deadly sniper will surely make some noise in Wisconsin. Many fans have pondered over Klay having his own team to lead forward, and now we'll see it happen. He joins Khris Middleton in Milwaukee, along with Brook Lopez, but not with point guard George Hill (who's agreed to join the rising Mavericks). The Warriors also parted with sophomore stud center, James Wiseman, a promising big man that will help soften the blow of losing Giannis. Also going to the Bucks is Eric Paschall.

Golden State's return for Draymond Green was two second round draft picks, along with Danuel House and divisive prospect Kevin Knox, III, who'll look to enter the next phase of his development with Coach Kerr and hopefully console the sad Warriors fans in Klay's stead. Keeping Andrew Wiggins--who'd long been rumored to be the one leaving--will also help the Warrors make a strong starting lineup. Golden State will be boosted by the well-known kinship of Giannis & Steph Curry, the bonafide leader of the team. Parting with Thompson is definitely a sore move, but it has necessarily secured the future of Golden State. As Curry begins to exit his prime years, the Greek Freek is just now entering into his own with stellar production.

Prelude: League approves rule changes, reassigns divisions & reseeds playoffs.

The NBA's Board of Governor, at whose helm is Commissioner Adam Silver, in cooperation with the Players Assocation, had a busy summer with plenty of exciting changes to show for it. "We always want to offer a product on the basketball court that is most competitive, exciting and fair to all teams. Parity is the goal," Silver said. The first announcement of new division reassignment took effect as team organizations soon on-the-move received official notice of the positive vote. The vote is believed to make for more competitive divisions.

Secondly, teams will now only have six seconds to cross the half court boundary before being whistled for a violation. This rule change is expected to increase tempo of the product to hold fans' interest better and reward the opposing team's defensive effort and penalize the offense for not being able to advance the ball in what the league describes as "a timely manner", as in recent history on several occasions there has been countless near-violations, were it not for the eight-second duration bailing out the offense due to a desperate long heave of a pass. The next rule change will revert what has become the "World vs USA" rookie/sophomore players during All*Star Weekend back to being "Rookies versus Sophomores" as the league has cooled on the idea of foreign talent matching up against American talent, given the prevalence of foreign talent in today's game. Going back to basics on the concept will also re-focus on the development of two-years players against promising rookie talent.

Finally, and most exciting of all, is a restructuring of the playoffs. The noise finally got too loud to ignore any longer, as re-seeding the playoffs for competitive balance over viewership concerns has been a hot topic for years, given the ebb and flow of the eastern conference. Who wants to see the Lakers or Clippers knock the other out before the NBA Finals? Push will naturally come to shove, but we could potentially see the Spurs against the Lakers/Clippers for the NBA Title--not just for the Western Conference crown. Moreover, it would eliminate a one-sided, usually four-game sweep of a mediocre #8 seed by the dominant #1 seed. This rule change resonates as a timely move, honestly, given the bombshell news of Giannis Antetokounmpo heading to a western conference team.

The rule change will instead honor win/loss records of the top 16 highest-performing teams, with relative advantages in bracket placement like we've had so far (i.e. we won't see the #1 & #2 win/loss teams squaring off in the first round). It almost guarantees that if the best teams play well, they should meet at the end--not somewhere in the middle like in years past. It could also showcase cross-conference match-ups, as we could wind up seeing a total of 9 contests between two teams that normally only see each other twice in the regular season before seeing potentially seven more cross-conference games in the NBA Finals. The division reassignment will also alleviate travel burden on teams far away from the other that wind up facing each other. Moreover, the NBA Finals (usually a travel-heavy affair) could possibly have both the Lakers/Clippers or Knicks/Nets or Mavericks/Rockets staying home for seven games, eliminating most home court advantage and travel altogether. It is also believed the re-seeding decision will encourage teams in the running for a playoff spot to compete even harder, and for those teams that may have given up, to enter the fight since there is now a chance to face an inner-conference opponent, or perhaps a rival team out west. And who doesn't love rivalry games?