Spurs follow a familiar trend in clobbering of the Magic

Maybe it was jitters from this being the first game with fans in the AT&T Center in over a year. Or maybe it was getting used to yet another jumbled rotation, with Trey Lyles starting in place of DeMar DeRozan, who was away from the team to attend his father’s private funeral. Whatever the reason, the loyal fans who showed up expecting the San Antonio Spurs to come out on fire and give them a treat right off the bat were just going to have to wait a bit because that’s how this team rolls.

The final score may not indicate it, but that first quarter was really rough. With the Spurs returning home on a two-game losing streak, things didn’t look promising at the start. Despite facing a severely short-handed Orlando Magic team, the Spurs spent the first quarter looking jittery, unsure of themselves, and just not ready to play. Derrick White had two fouls in the first two minutes. Dejounte Murray had another cold start, going 1-6 from the field during his first stint on the floor. The defense was horrible, the shot selection left much to be desired, and just like that the Spurs were down 29-16 at the end of the quarter (and frankly fortunate it wasn’t more after a late Magic three was removed between quarters once video review ruled it a shot clock violation).

However, if this squad has taught us anything this season, it’s not to judge a book by its cover — or in this case, a game by its first quarter. It’s gotten to the point that you almost expect this team to get down in the first, and as the previous games showed, if they don’t something will go wrong later. If it’s a typical Spurs win, the game goes something like this: bad first quarter, world-beating second, meh third, and a good/great fourth, and that’s exactly how this one played out.

The Spurs finally started fighting back once the clock was reset to 12 minutes, and that was pretty much the ball game. White — who as mentioned two nights ago typically needs a game or so to find his footing after long layoffs — was desperate to see something fall, and it finally did in the form of two straight threes as part of 10-0 run to tie things back. Murray came out of his funk with 10 straight points and 13 overall in the quarter. The defense tightened up, forcing 6 turnovers, and overall they outscored Orlando 31-10 to take a 47-39 halftime lead.

Then comes the “meh” third quarter. The Spurs stayed hot to start the second half and stretched their lead to as much as 14, but a SIX-point play (you read that right) swung the momentum back in the Magic’s favor, and they got within three points on a 22-7 run. But the Spurs bench did what they do, thanks to two threes from Devin Vassell and one a piece from Rudy Gay and Patty Mills, and the Spurs stretched the lead back to 74-64 leading into heading into fourth.

And now the good/great fourth quarter. The Spurs opened things up on a 9-0 run, including seven straight from Gay, and they never looked back or needed any crunch time miracles as they outscored the Magic 30-13 for the comfortable blowout and allowed Gregg Popovich to empty his bench relatively early. Here’s how the four quarter splits came…