The Spurs led the NBA in assists during the 2013-14 season, averaging 25.2 per game. They only trailed the Dubs and Clippers for assists per game in the playoffs, but their team-first mentality has continued in the postseason. They finished with 21 dimes last night, but the ball never got sticky in a single player’s hands. Let’s watch some of their incredible ball movement during a historic night.
This was more of a breakdown on the Heat defense when Danny Green — not noted for his ability to put it on the floor — took advantage of an off-balance Ray Allen to scoot by him into the open lane for the layup. Except, there’s no way this happens if the Spurs aren’t whipping the ball around, putting the Heat on their heels.
This next one, via reddit, was probably the best sequence of Spurs passing on the night. The ball just flies around the perimeter before Tony Parker takes the handoff, dribbles under the basket — a la Steve Nash — and finds a cutting Manu Ginobili:
Here we have another Heat breakdown on the side pick-and-roll, but Parker doesn’t see the fact he drew both defenders and instead finds Boris Diaw under the rim when the defense collapses on him in the lane. Then, Diaw — simply a revelation when it comes to setting up his Spurs mates — finds Ducan with a little scoop pass along the baseline. It’s simply a beautiful sequence to take in time and again.
This one wasn’t exactly in line with the others we’ve recounted, but with the Heat cutting the earlier 25-point Spurs lead to just seven with under a couple minutes left in the third, the unselfishness of Diaw — who had a brief window for a three at the top of the key, sets up a wide-open Marco Bellinelli three-pointer on the wing to push San Antonio’s lead to double-digits yet again.
A few tweets also summed up the excellent ball movement from San Antonio.
"You seen the first quarter? How the ball was like, tik-tik-tik-layup? It was like college basketball!" – guy on the bus, blowing the finish
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) June 11, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The Spurs passed the ball 359 times last night, 93 times more than the Heat.
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) June 11, 2014
The @Spurs' passing has been incredible. They've assisted on 9 of their 13 FGs so far tonight, 65 of their 89 (73%) for the series
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) June 11, 2014
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
What do you think?
Follow Spencer on Twitter at @SpencerTyrel.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
