Before the game, I saw a picture of the media blowing Murray, placing him in the second echelon of the best point guard in the active campaign, in the same echelon as the predecessors such as Paul and Lillard.
Considering Murray's steady performance this season and his role in the Spurs, I personally feel that this ranking is quite reliable.
After all, the 18+8+8 average is indeed unprecedented - the few games in which Murray was absent, the Spurs were beaten to the teeth.
After seven away games, the Spurs finally returned to the familiar San Antonio to meet the Rockets, but in fact, the home field is not an advantage for the Spurs - after all, the Spurs' home is like an away game, and the road is like a graveyard. The good news is that the quarantined Johnson and Vassell can also return to play today, which is really good news, the shortage of manpower is getting more and more tidy, and we can play more cards - but Bobo did not rank Johnson first, still maintaining the starting lineup of the first few games.
After the opening, the two teams implemented the three-point tactic quite thoroughly, the Rockets used a powerful dunk to go to the next city first, Walker was not to be outdone, 45 degrees of raising hands is a three-pointer, and then the two sides began a three-point war, but the Rockets' accuracy was a little higher, and the score was pulled to 27-12 in less than half a quarter. Bobo did not look good, quickly changed Ah Fu to fight the fire, Ah Fu lived up to expectations, taking advantage of the rocket's lack of concentration, set up a turret in the two bottom corners, brush brush hit 4 three points! Trail the score to 36-39 to end the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Spurs' offense after Afoo's game was a bit lost, Randell failed to hit four three-point shots, and the team's defensive focus also decreased, and the Rockets seized the opportunity to pull the score to 56-48. At the crucial moment, Johnson stepped forward to stop the bleeding, and he firmly bit the score with consecutive mid-range shots. After Ah Fu came up, he made another three-pointer, 61-58, and successfully reversed the score. In the final half minute, the Rockets sent the Spurs a malicious foul and a technical foul, the Spurs did not waste a chance, Murray's last difficult layup, 67-63, the Spurs led by four points to end the first half.
In the half, Ah Fu shot 6 of 9 three-pointers, and the firepower was quite good, which can be said to be the biggest contributor to the pursuit of points! After the easy side, the Spurs still maintained a high degree of concentration, Walker scored a three-point dunk, and Pollertl picked up the front court and handed the empty-cut Murray Murraysson a layup to score, 81-72, stopping the Rockets. The Rockets created a foul for Peltel, and he had to rest with 4 fouls on his back, after which the Spurs' offense was a bit chaotic, and Bobo could only call a timeout to slow down. However, after the suspension returned, the Spurs' offense still did not improve, the biggest reason is that Murray also rested off the court.
It was Murray's break that determined the final trend of the game. The Spurs began to lose power, the Rockets followed the trend of a wave of counterattack, Gordon two three-pointers, the score back, the Spurs side until Afu a throw, only to break the scoring drought, the third quarter was over, the Spurs 90-91 behind a point.
In the fourth quarter of the bayonet fight, the Rockets suddenly strengthened the pressure on the defensive end, and the Spurs' own offense failed to adjust back, and the Rockets played a wave of offense, which widened the point difference to about 10 points. The other side can defend, the Spurs have not been able to find a way, seeing that the game is about to fall on one side. At the crucial moment, Kelden Johnson, who had not hit a three-pointer in the whole game, stepped forward, and he made two consecutive three-pointers to pull the Spurs back from the edge of the mountain collapse, one of which was still a difficult shot against the people, which was too angry! However, the Spurs' offensive problems were still not completely solved, Johnson and Murray attacked without success, and Rocket Porter contributed two murderous three-pointers, and the point difference reached 12 points. Seeing that the game was about to take, Murray stepped forward and began to take over the game with more than 3 minutes left.
First a three-pointer on cover, then a 2+1, a 3-pointer in Vassell, then another 2+1, and the score came down to 116-119! But the Rockets will be possessed by the gods today, scoring six points in a row to stretch the score to 116-125. At this time there are 51.8 seconds before the end of the game, the Rockets shot not in, Murray dribbled over, directly an unreasonable three-point shot, there are 23.4 seconds, or Murray, outside the three-point line continues to be unreasonable, 3 points hit, the Rockets also lost a foul, 124-128, but Pearl tried his best, 6 fouls left the court, and then Murray's 3 points failed to score, regrettably swallowing the bitter fruit of failure.
Murray has no idea how to blow, and today he scored 32 points,10 rebounds/11 assists/3 steals/0 turnovers, especially 15 points in the last 3 minutes! When we were all ready to turn off the live broadcast, he played with a thirst for victory, played bloody, played toughness, if it were not for the pit dug in the third quarter, he might have won the game with the team, he is the king of this Spurs! The backcourt of the All-Star Game deserves his place!
The turning point of this game is that in the third quarter of Murray's rest, there is no one on the field who can organize, Primo is still too young, or need to go through the trial walker, proving that he can only be a terminator and not an organizer, at this time, we miss White immensely. White's presence, we can not only have one more organizer, he will bring something different to the entire Spurs offense and defense, the good news is that he is also released from isolation, if nothing else, the next game he can return. Afu played a good half-time goal today, in the first half he shot 6 of 9 three-pointers, bombed down 19 points, in the second half, the Rockets began to focus on him, Afu's lack of independent offense shortcomings were exposed. He only scored 2 points in the entire second half, and several three-point shots were uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Johnson and Vassell, who have been on the bench for a long time, performed quite well, Johnson had 18 points, Vassell 12 points, both of them had three-pointers in the account, and each grabbed 5 rebounds. Walker's performance was a bit less than satisfactory, shooting 3 from 11, 1 from 5 from three-point range, and scoring 11 points. Indeed, during this period of time, the Spurs are very tormented, and it is a continuous road trip, and it is a tight schedule and back-to-back, and the ravages of the new crown, so that the entire team is suffering from uneven personnel, physical exhaustion, and lack of tacit cooperation. Since entering 2022, the Spurs have conceded an average of 115 points per game in 8 games, higher than the previous average of 110 points per game.
It turns out that Murray, White and Peltel are indispensable, these three people have built up the Spurs' defensive system, and any one of them will have a fatal impact on the Spurs' defense. Like today, The pressure on Pelter's defence on the inside is immense, and he often loses the other and ends up losing fouls. Halfway through the season, the current Spurs record is 15 wins and 26 losses, and indeed lost several games that are almost a breathless, and we still have hope at the same time: if the follow-up personnel are neat, with the combat effectiveness of these lads and the cohesion of the team, 26 wins are not unattainable, and the playoffs are not unattainable - the premise is that there will be no more injuries and new crown troubles.