Scott Wachter-Imagn Images Charlotte’s avalanche of 3-pointers destroyed the Spurs. No matter the level of competition, this San Antonio team is capable of allowing obscene offensive performances. It’s easy to imagine other teams talking about the Spurs as a squad to get season or career high against. These types of games are frustrating because the Spurs’ fight was not there the whole night. One would think, counting the major absences to the starting lineup, that more of them would like to step up so they stay around when this team finds prosperity. Maybe in the future to close out the year, but the coaching staff will have a field day in the film room after this one. Takeaways The slow defensive starts are getting old. Nothing can be done about the other side with the team’s two best players out for the rest of the year. But they could show a higher attention to detail when covering shooters. They allowed the Hornets to set a franchise record of 26 trifectas. It’s time for coach Mitch Johnson to step on some necks to get his point across. LaMelo Ball catches a lot of smoke for being a looter in a riot, but he was living up to the hype on Friday. He dissected the Spurs’ help defense, finding open shooters and rollers, barely feeling their presence as he dribbled inside. His 3-point shot was on target early and then he went on a heater. He made seven three-pointers in nine tries, and Castle had difficulty guarding him. Opposing bigs have no fear of San Antonio’s front line, and more evidence was revealed in this game that the Spurs need a backup big man. It’s not Jeremy Sochan because he is too small and lacks polish. Bismack Biyombo is a zero on offense and is wearing cement shoes on defense. On top of that, when the team used its size to pressure the dribble outside, Mark Williams and Jusuf Nurkić scored easily against the smaller help defenders. Devin Vassell’s productive night on the dribble and curling around screens shows he can do more. He also led the team with five deflections, but his biggest issue was staying attached to his man at the arc. Furthermore, Stephon Castle’s close-range finishing is improving and it’s getting easier for him to get downhill each game as well. While the team is without its star point guard, it could use Chris Paul more for this stretch of games for organization and helping guys like Vassell and Castle get the ball promptly via guard-to-guard screen roll. Maintaining good defense while playing quickly is not easy to do. The pace of the first and third quarters was the highest of the night, but it’s worth mentioning that the Spurs found their groove offensively in the latter. They guarded poorly in both. Sandro Mamukelashvili enjoyed garbage time, making three jump shots and a layup, helping the score look a bit more respectable at the end. Considering his per 36 minute numbers (makes 37.8 percent of threes, 8.4 attempts per game), perhaps he should get more of an opportunity ahead of the inconsequential minutes. ...read more read less