It’s no secret that the San Antonio Spurs play slow. This season, they rank 27th in the league in pace at 96.56 possessions per game, a lower rank but faster pace than last year’s 26th ranking and 95.7 possessions per game. While they played up-tempo relative to the league for several years at the beginning of the 2010 decade, since the days of Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the Spurs generally have played slow, meticulous basketball. If the philosophy of the mid-2000’s Phoenix Suns was to shoot before the defense is set, then the Spurs’ philosophy has be to run actions until the defense shows a weakness and to not shoot until there is a high-percentage shot to take.
How the Spurs Use Pace
