El Conclusion: Game 3 AKA Kawhi’s night

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Los Angeles Clippers 73 FinalRecap | Box Score 100 San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan, PF 31 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-2 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +23 +/-

Not needed on offense, brilliant on defense.

Kawhi Leonard, SF 29 MIN | 13-18 FG | 3-3 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 32 PTS | +20 +/-

I’m running out of words. The midrange was working, then when they tried to take that away he was able to attack the basket. He’s probably a top 10 player in the league now and that’s definitely the case if he consistently can break down a defense like he did tonight.

Tiago Splitter, C 17 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | +9 +/-

Seems to just be playing himself out of the calf injury and he looks fine. Keep doing what he’s doing and please don’t get hurt.

Tony Parker, PG 26 MIN | 3-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | +23 +/-

Not a great shooting night, but he was aggressive and did a good job getting into the paint. He looked relatively healthy and guys were hitting shots at a better clip.

Danny Green, SG 29 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 11 PTS | +33 +/-

Call it home cooking on offense. He just shoots better in San Antonio. What I’d really like to talk about is his defense on Chris Paul. Paul had shredded the Spurs the first two games and Green did such a good job forcing him left and not giving him a ton of space on that midrange jumper.

Jeff Ayres, PF 8 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0 +/-

No dunk, no A.

Marco Belinelli, SF 16 MIN | 4-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | -3 +/-

Keep shooting, buddy.

Aron Baynes, C 7 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | -3 +/-

It was good to see him out there after hearing he probably wouldn’t play. Hit a couple of nice shots and got a nice shout out from Jeff Van Gundy.

Matt Bonner, C 16 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | +1 +/-

The Red Rocket might be a tad bit rusty. Still, the effort’s there and I’d rather him shoot a ton and miss then not shoot at all.

Boris Diaw, C 23 MIN | 5-8 FG | 5-6 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 15 PTS | +18 +/-

Aggressive Bobo came out to play. And he’s what I like about what Boris is doing this series: It’s very easy to get intimidated by DeAndre Jordan around the basket. Boris doesn’t get scared. He’s used to being smarter than defenders around the basket, so he’s shown zero fear in this series so far.

Patty Mills, PG 15 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +7 +/-

Not exactly Game 2 Patty, but it looks like his shot is back. Huge news.

Cory Joseph, PG 8 MIN | 3-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -3 +/-

I’m going to miss CoJo when he gets a nice contract from someone else to be their back up next season.

Manu Ginobili, SG 17 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 6 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | +10 +/-

Didn’t need to score but really filled the box score in every other way. And he did it in 17 minutes. Bonus.

Gregg Popovich
Everything worked tonight. Everything.

Three Things We Saw

  1. This is pretty much the opposite of what happened in Game 1, so don’t get carried away thinking Game 4 will be another blowout (though it wouldn’t be shocking either, right?)
  2. Best part about this game, besides Kawhi’s overall brilliance, was the fact that no one got overtaxed minutes wise.
  3. Four points tied Tim Duncan’s career playoff low. Spurs won by 27. That’s fun.
  • GlassofOrangeJuice

    Great conclusion!
    GO SPURS GO

  • DorieStreet

    Stop the presses: we get a legitimate Matt Bonner grade on his performance!

  • The DRWOLFF

    “The Klaw” in BEAST MODE….behold the carnage. We take a look at the clippers and their answer is??? They just simply don’t have one. Watch out for the Barnes Cheap shot on Kawhi next game.

  • DorieStreet

    Don’t leave out Paul doing the same to Tony (again).
    And don’t be surprised if Griffin and Jordan go bush-league if LAC falls behind quickly.

  • Bussman

    I’m expecting The Margin about this game…. =D

  • td4life

    “I’m going to miss CoJo when he gets a nice contract from someone else to be their back up next season.”

    The Spurs drafted and developed CoJo as a first round pick, though he was a consensus second-rounder. The Spurs aren’t getting Lamarcus or Marc Gasol, and will have cap room. Therefor, SA will match on Cory and retain him as a trade asset or give him Manu’s minutes after Ginobili retires. SA is a small-market team facing a rebuild and there’s no reason to let Cory go for nothing, when he has value and someone will at least give up a draft pick to acquire a proven young player.

  • TD BestEVER

    I agree with SA being a small market, but to add to that it not like TP is getting any younger. His game hasn’t aged very well and when his contract is over in 2 years i think he is done. So CoJo/Patty can be developed into a good PG combo especially if we can land another FA at sometime, and if not we really can’t afford to let him walk for nothing, we need to package him for picks or something.

  • Kristian Holvoet

    Was it just me, or did Manu and Marco play hard, effective defense for significant stretches while on the floor? Wow. steals, deflections and in position without gambling. Pop deserves an extra plus just for coaching that up.

  • Kristian Holvoet

    Blake has been surprising low key. Almost a tragic hero. Still a bit too much beefing to the refs, but hardly above the NBA average, much less full diva. Since the Spurs don’t play unnecessarily physical, I think he is more even keeled. Lord knows if he tried to do to ZBo what he did to Baynes, he’d still be pulling splinters out of his side. I know most fans dispose him, but if TD can help him up and let him know nothing personal, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt.

    Paul is just a b@stard.

  • BigBadBruce

    Great game and good grades! Just one thing, Marco gets an A for me for 9 points on 5 shots w/no turnovers and great hustle on defense. He is actually playable now whereas last year he looked out of his depth.

  • fkj74

    Hey why can’t we keep Cory.? We will have the cap room. If we win the title I think Manu will hang up the sneaks. Also the Manu big game is coming along with the TP big game. Be ready Sunday Clips will come out fired up. Go Spurs!

  • camnpat

    Manu is an underrated defender but even nowadays plays hard. And with the block to Griffin last night he adds another big name player to the list of people he has blocked a ball from.

  • Kristian Holvoet

    Oh, Manu pretty much always plays hard (well, all the Spurs do, because Pop will bench their butts if they don’t). I guess, what I was seeing was hard and controlled effort. He didn’t make silly reaches / gambles.