El Conclusión: Spurs bounce back in impressive blowout fashion

The Spurs set the tone from the onset by starting Bonner, his first start of the season (the only Spur to have not been in the opening lineup yet this year). He didn’t have a good night, but the clear strategy to space the floor in a countermove to Ibaka’s return and resulting impact made a huge difference in this game. There hasn’t been any room to work in Games 3 and 4, but on Thursday the lanes to the basket opened once more. Again, didn’t play very well, but his presence alone earned him a grade of 80+.

Tim was just a monster. With a little extra space around the paint, a sustained tempo and, sure, a little home-cooking, the Big Fundamental went back to work and became just the fourth 38-year-old in league history to put up at least 22 points and 12 rebounds in a playoff game (Kareem, Malone, Parish). Just so damn good.

Kawhi was SO much more assertive in this one after essentially disappearing in the team’s two games in Oklahoma City. This team is different when he’s that aggressive, and when the space is there for him to work he’s capable of doing so much more. He also played some damn good defense, this time on Russ, and was a team-high +22 for the game.

Tony has bounced back well from his Game 3 disaster, and he hasn’t played much in the last couple of blowouts (loss, win). Parker has set the tone and is finding ways to get to the rim and evade OKC’s shot-blockers.

Danny is a different player at home. When he’s knocking down shots like that, this team hits another level. On top of that, he played well as the primary defender of Durant. Pop pulled a switch and planted Kawhi on Westbrook, and it seemed to work well. Great game from Danny, now let’s see if he can replicate that in Oklahoma City.

Just garbage time for Baynesie in this one.

Bonner started the game, but Diaw’s time at the ‘four’ is what really made the difference. Since really cranking it up a notch late in Game 4, Boris has been awesome in all facets of the game, and tonight he was hitting his outside shot. When he does that, the impact is massive. He was a +19 for the game, second only to Leonard’s +22.

Got into it with Derek Fisher in garbage time, which means OH YOU’RE DAAAAAAMN RIGHT HE GETS AN A+.

Thought he responded very well to coming off the bench for the first time all postseason. Was nothing spectacular, but remained as solid as he’s typically been. More importantly, the Spurs maintained a high level of play when he was in the game.

A little home court never hurt nobody’s shooting stroke. It was good to see the ball go in the basket for Patty again.

I’m giving him an A+ because players are still referring to his dunk as “inspirational.” In all honesty, it meant something to this team.

Just brilliant tonight. Again. When he’s playing with this sort of aggressiveness while staying in control (0 turnovers), the Spurs are a different animal entirely.

Marco’s saving himself for Game 6 and whatever comes after that, right? Right.

Made adjustments that worked really well. He spaced the floor by starting Bonner and maintained that by staggering the minutes of Duncan and Splitter. He switched the Leonard’s defensive assignment from Durant to Westbrook to keep their ignition switch from flipping on. And he had some brilliant Xs and Os change-ups that I’ll get to in the next couple of days. On top of it all, the 65-year-old coach’s relentless energy is unmatched. Watching him physically explaining to Kawhi how to defend Russ was just gold. A+ for life.