The Spurs’ starters dug the team into another deep hole in their Monday night loss to the Mavericks. That they nearly dragged themselves out of that hole is both another sign that there’s more to this team than their 5-9 record would suggest, and a clear indication that the five man grouping that has started all but 2 games is not working.
Last night, the starting group was outscored 24-8 in 8 minutes of action, which, while extreme, is essentially what has happened every time they’ve been on the floor. The five man lineup of Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes, DeMar DeRozan, Trey Lyles and LaMarcus Aldridge has played 312 possessions together, per Cleaning the Glass (CTG), and gotten shellacked pretty much the whole time.