Two Forward
2015 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 3
Deliver - ¡Viva la Fiesta! Going into the AT&T Center in San Antonio as the road team and winning a playoff game is a difficult proposition. Going into the AT&T Center as the road team and winning a playoff game during Fiesta? There are few things harder in the NBA. Obviously, it is not impossible. Last year, the Dallas Mavericks came into our home during Fiesta and stole Game 2 of the 2014 Western Conference First Round series in convincing fashion winning 113-92. The Mavericks, however, had experience on their side. Dallas had been playing road playoff games in San Antonio during Fiesta for years. They knew what to expect. Last night, the same could not be said for the Los Angeles Clippers. Unfortunately for the Clips, not only was last night a road playoff game in San Antonio during Fiesta, but it was a road playoff game in San Antonio on the 2nd Friday of Fiesta and a young Spurs superstar was accepting the Defensive Player of the Year trophy from the greatest player in franchise history before the game. Poor L.A. never stood a chance. The San Antonio Spurs annihilated the Los Angeles Clippers 100-73 in front of 18,582 Fiesta-rowdy Spurs fans last night at the AT&T Center. The entire team seemed to feed off of the energy of Tim Duncan presenting Kawhi Leonard with the DPOY trophy before the tip-off. It was a spectacular team defensive performance. The Spurs held the Clippers to 34.1 percent shooting for the game (29-85) and bottled up Chris Paul (7 points [3-11], 6 turnovers) and Blake Griffin (14 points [6-15], 3 turnovers). It was a complete dismantling of the best offense in the NBA and the fewest points scored by LAC in a playoff game in franchise history.
The Defensive Player of the Year was determined to make sure and remind us that he plays both sides of the court. Forget Bruce Bowen and move over Scottie Pippen because last night the Claw was trying to reincarnate the way a young Michael Jordan played both sides of the ball early in his career with the Chicago Bulls. Kawhi was sensational on the offensive end, scoring a career high 32 points (13-18 from the field). He added 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks for good measure. It wasn't just the scoring proclivity or efficiency, it was the types of shots Kawhi was taking to score the basketball that harkened back to his Airness in his prime. Leonard destroyed the Clippers on multiple occasions with turn-around fade away jumpers over the double team. Who else in today's NBA has that patented Michael Jordan weapon in their offensive arsenal? Kobe Bryant, and that's pretty much it. It was a strange site to see. A young superstar playing the game of basketball like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in a San Antonio uniform and while staying within the flow of the Spurs' offensive system, no less. Utterly incredible. Not only was the player of the game being like Mike with the fade-away mid-range jumpers, but he went 3-5 from deep (Bulls vs. Blazers, 1992 Finals anyone?), oh... and this happened.
Because of the spectacularly embarrassing performance last night, the Clippers could prove to be an extremely dangerous wounded animal come tomorrow afternoon. I fully expect the same type of bounce-back performance from Los Angeles in Game 4 as San Antonio put together for Game 2. If the #BlackAndSilver are prepared for the desperation that is sure to come from our opponent and we are able to play the same type of focused team ball tomorrow that we played last night, I'm hard pressed to see how the Clippers (as a team) could play at a level that could add their names to the short list of teams who have come into the AT&T Center and beaten the Spurs in the playoffs during Fiesta. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin can play at the necessary level, but who else can join them at that level on the road? While it is hard to see the scenario where DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick, and Jamal Crawford all play at the necessary level tomorrow to beat the champs in our building, I'm certainly not ruling it out. As I've said before, there is no doubt that the Clippers are a talented and dangerous group. Even after last night's performance, I'm still sticking to the notion that this is the best first round opponent the Spurs have faced in the Gregg Popovich/Tim Duncan era. We must come out tomorrow afternoon with a sense of desperation and play like we are the team in this series that is playing from the 1-2 hole on the road. But with Kawhi Leonard's superstardom currently feeding off of the energy of Fiesta and erupting like Mount Vesuvius to rain scorching lava down on the NBA city of Pompeii...I mean L.A., I think I like our chances in Game 4.
Featured Image Source: Street Khemistry
Headline Image Source: San Antonio Express-News
Seven Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 5
The Show Goes On - Last night, for the first time in this hard fought second round series with Golden State, San Antonio played Spurs basketball consistently for 48 minutes en route to a 109 to 91 blowout victory over the Warriors. Mark Jackson's self-proclaimed "greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history" was completely locked up by Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson managed a combined 13 points on 6-22 shooting, their lowest combined point total of the season. Thompson could not even get free to attempt one three pointer. Funny, I don't remember ever hearing about that happening to Jerry West and Gail Goodrich in the playoffs and I don't remember seeing that happen to Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars either. Part of being great shooters, is having the ability to get and make your shots no matter how ferocious the defense or how intense the playoff pressure. By the way, my pointing out the ridiculousness of Mark Jackson's statement is not intended as a slight on Curry and Thompson. They are an amazing backcourt and have clearly earned the complete respect and attention of the Spurs. Maybe they will eventually earn consideration as the best shooting backcourt in NBA history, but to anoint them as such after they have only won one playoff series is disrespectful of the history of the game and Jackson should have more perspective than that as a great NBA point guard in his own right. I know that this statement can be chalked up as a motivational tool. Part of Jackson's approach to coaching is to attempt to give his team a psychological edge by instilling irrational belief in their collective abilities. It has clearly been quite effective, helping the Warriors to dispatch the more talented Denver Nuggets and giving them the confidence to compete with the Spurs, but eventually reality will set in. I'm not suggesting, either, that that eventuality has already occurred. I'm fully aware that Golden State is still capable of winning this series and that the Spurs need to treat the next game like we are the team facing elimination. However, I do think that the massive outpouring of adulation regarding Jackson's coaching ability is overblown and sooner or later the psychological motivational tools will lose their evangelical ability to elevate the team's level of play and when that happens, it is yet to be seen whether he actually has the chops as a basketball tactician and game manager to compete at the highest level. Time will answer that question. Anyway, I digress.
Last night's player of the game was Danny Green. Danny was an efficient 6-10 from the field but more importantly his defense was spectacular on Curry and Thompson. He was clearly a difference maker on both ends of the court. There is not a whole lot else to say about last night's game other than it was by far the best performance by the Spurs so far in this postseason. They need to keep it up. If we play with that type of defensive intensity and share the ball on offense with that type of surgical precision (30 assists on 40 made field goals) the #BlackAndSilver will have a lot more basketball ahead of them this postseason. Luckily, for San Antonio, we have a coach that sets quite a different tone than his Golden State counterpart. While Jackson is busy campaigning for his backcourt to be given their rightful place in the annals of NBA history, Greg Popovich has only one thing on his mind; the next game. In response to a question at the post game press conference last night asking him about the prospect of getting this series over with in Game 6, Popovich's response was as follows: "Nobody talks about getting this over with like you've got a rash...like you can take a pill or put some cream on it, it's going to be gone. This is a war. They're a class team; they bust their ass at both ends of the floor. It's not about getting rid of anything. It's about going and playing and that's about it." Coach Pop is not writing off the Warriors, he is preparing to try to beat them one more time. If we play the same 48 minutes of basketball tomorrow night that we played last night, the Spurs have a golden opportunity to leave the state of California with a trip booked back to the Western Conference Finals. Should we make that happen, then the Warrior's backcourt will have plenty of time to work on that shooting ability in an empty gym. I say forget shooting. Defense wins championships and the San Antonio Spurs are finally starting to get back to black.
Featured Image Source: San Antonio Express-News
Headline Image Source: Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.Net