For Murray and the Spurs, the battle starts at the point of attack
Herb Jones and the Pelicans will be hellbent on keeping San Antonio out of the paint, but there are cracks to be found
Because of various injuries, transactions, and just the general development of these teams as the season progressed, each of the four games between the Spurs and Pelicans has been flavored a little differently from both a schematic and personnel standpoint. But during the last two matchups, New Orleans has made its defensive game plan abundantly clear.
Do not let Dejounte Murray beat us.
Back on Feb. 12, Murray sliced through the New Orleans defense on its own court, racking up 31 points and 12 assists on 59.1-percent shooting. The Pelicans mostly played him straight up that day, with man defense and a traditional drop coverage out of the pick-and-roll. Murray got to all his spots with relative ease, and by the second half was firing on all cylinders. At that point, it was already too late.
But in the two games since it’s been a different story. New Orleans has thrown the kitchen sink at the Spurs’ point guard and largely abandoned the drop coverage with Jonas Valanciunas and Jaxson Hayes, opting instead to level up with San Antonio’s screen-setters and aggressively deter any penetration. Whether they were hedging, switching, trapping or outright doubling out of the pick-and-roll, the goal was to get the ball out of Murray’s hands and force other Spurs to make plays.
To make life even more difficult, the Pelicans have made it a point to plaster Herb Jones all over Murray as often as possible. The former teammate of Joshua Primo at Alabama is nowhere near a household name, but even as a rookie he’s emerged as one of the best all-around defenders in the NBA. At 6’8 with a seven-foot wingspan, his size, length and athleticism create problems wherever he is on the court, and his ability to guard any perimeter position and player archetype makes it damn near impossible to keep him away from your offensive focal points.
Only one player in the NBA has spent more time defending Murray this season than Jones (Mikal Bridges), and in that nearly 18-minute sample, he’s held Dejounte to 4-for-14 shooting and only given up four free-throw attempts, per NBA tracking data. But he may be even more dangerous as an off-ball defender.
We rarely see individual, one-on-one matchups dominate NBA games anymore. With all the pick-and-rolls, switching and defensive changeups used to counter and confuse offenses, it’s unlikely Jones even spends half his time on defense defending Murray. Besides, his presence in the passing lanes is one of the elements that allows the Pelicans to deploy the aggressive defensive tactics they’ve used in the previous two matchups against the Spurs. And it also allows them to get a little weird.
New Orleans won’t simply go man or zone at all times — they’ll often blend the two, creating a sort of hybrid space-eating amoeba that can just as quickly close down the painted area as it can shift out to 3-point shooters. When they’re really playing on a string it can seem like there’s always a guy in the way no matter the action or situation. For a team that likes to play fast in the half-court the way San Antonio does, it can be nightmarish.
And much of that is thanks to Jones, who leads the league (AS A ROOKIE!) in combined steals, blocks and deflections, per NBA Stats. When he’s away from the ball he has the freedom to cover that space, rather than stay glued to one individual. So while his effectiveness in the matchup with Murray is quantifiable and obvious, using him as a general disruptor in the middle of the floor may prove even more useful against the Spurs, who depend on a never-ending stream of player- and ball-movement.
Still, San Antonio can combat that if the offense remains patient. The Spurs operated at the third-quickest offensive pace this season at 14.08 seconds per possession, according to PBP Stats, but this is the time of year where things slow down and execution becomes vital to survival. If New Orleans continues to harass Murray, there will be opportunities for the Spurs to take advantage elsewhere. Whether it’s Poeltl operating out of the short roll, quick-hitting weakside actions exploiting an overloaded strong side, or secondary playmakers and shooters taking advantage of a scrambling defense, there will be openings.
But being patient, swinging the ball from side to side when the drive isn’t immediately available, and taking care of the ball will be of the utmost importance. If San Antonio allows New Orleans’ chaotic defense to dictate the pace, it could mean early trouble. But if they play with patience, pace and efficiency, they’ll be able to break down the Pelicans’ 18th-ranked defense at some point along the way.
As dangerous as they are forcing turnovers and mucking things up on the perimeter, New Orleans is not a team that scares you around the rim. It’s just a matter of getting there. Only three teams (the Nuggets, Rockets and Wizards) cough up a higher field-goal percentage to opponents in the restricted area, but the Pelicans give up the ninth-fewest attempts from inside that precious dotted line. They will do their best to clog up any and all avenues into the paint, but with the right approach that zone can be taken.
The two-big wrinkle
Over the last month or so of the season, the Spurs began to tinker a bit with a big-man lineup featuring Jock Landale at the ‘four’ alongside either Jakob Poeltl or Zach Collins. While it may be a little clunky, and against certain teams it may be borderline unplayable, San Antonio found something juicy with it in the team’s final regular-season matchup with New Orleans.
Down by two points with 1:51 remaining in the third quarter, Pop inserted Landale in the lineup next to Collins in place of Josh Richardson. The Spurs would go on to outscore the Pelicans by 12 points over the next eight minutes and flip the game on its head before New Orleans made a final run to make things a little too close for comfort. But the damage was done.
That lineup, paired with a few adjustments from Pop, flummoxed New Orleans. San Antonio used several different high-low looks to create mismatches near the basket, moved Landale around the floor from the dunker spot to the 3-point line to lure Pelicans bigs away from the paint, and just generally inverted the floor in a way that screwed with the Pelicans.
On defense things got even weirder. Pop switched to a zone defense with Landale and either Poeltl or Collins patrolling the back line, which forced New Orleans — not a good 3-point shooting team overall at 34 percent on the season — into playing a perimeter game. The Pelicans did not score during a nearly four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, as the Spurs not only forced tough shots, but rattled turnover-prone New Orleans into giving the ball away. And they rebounded well to boot.
That last part is critical against New Orleans, the best offensive-rebounding team in the NBA by percentage. San Antonio’s struggles on the boards have been well-documented this season, and in a game where every possession is critical, limiting second-chance points for a Pelicans team that will be hunting them might be the difference. Furthermore, Valanciunas has been a handful for the Spurs this season. Poeltl has done an admirable job battling him, but his strength and physicality have often forced San Antonio to send a double-team or extra help to crash the glass. If he gets going quickly again, the thought of bringing in a little more beef up front will trickle into the thought process.
Given the Spurs’ general lack of size among the regulars in the forward rotation, Pop may be inclined to bust out the big lineup sooner rather than later anyway, especially if the gang-rebounding approach isn’t working. It’s probably not a pairing with which you’d like to push the limits, but it’s hard to ignore the impact it had on the previous game between these two teams.
In short…
You’re not going to find many people picking the Spurs to win this game. And it’s understandable. The Pelicans have multiple star-level shot-creators in C.J. McCollum and Brandon Ingram, as well as a big man in Valanciunas capable of beating you in the post and from the 3-point line if left open. They’ve got the type of rangy, lengthy perimeter defenders that give San Antonio problems, they’re relentless on the offensive glass, and they’ve also been a better team in the clutch this season (though it should be noted the Spurs have a positive net rating in clutch situations since the All-Star break, a major leap).
But, with the exception of the mid-March disaster that saw Popovich get tossed with a wink, San Antonio has played New Orleans pretty well despite not having particularly good shooting nights. And while it may sound oversimplified, the main factor in the Spurs’ three wins over the Pelicans was their 11.7 turnover percentage. If they stay patient, continue to punch away at the New Orleans interior, take care of the ball, limit transition opportunities and hit a few big shots, they will be afforded opportunities to steal this game.