Spurs 'Unselfish' Ways Lead to Win in Offensive Bonanza vs. Magic

The San Antonio Spurs' offense had arguably its best game of the season Tuesday night against the Orlando Magic.

Jeremy Brener | Mar 15, 2023

Spurs 'Unselfish' Ways Lead to Win in Offensive Bonanza vs. Magic /

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San Antonio Spurs

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.

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Published Mar 15, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.