El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 94, Golden State Warriors 82

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San Antonio Spurs 94 Final
Recap | Box Score		 82 Golden State Warriors
Tim Duncan, PF 32 MIN | 7-13 FG | 5-5 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 3 BLK | 3 TO | 19 PTS | -2Was the team’s leading scorer, but looked gassed down the stretch. Enough so that Gregg Popovich sat Duncan for the last 4:28 of the game. And it worked.
Kawhi Leonard, SF 34 MIN | 6-13 FG | 3-4 FT | 10 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 16 PTS | +7I picked Leonard as the game’s MVP in my Daily Dime blurb over at ESPN.com. With Duncan out down the stretch, the rebounding emphasis was on Leonard. He also defended Thompson and knocked down a big 3 during that time.
Tiago Splitter, C 31 MIN | 6-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | +14Splitter finally looked healthy after working back from a ankle injury from the Spurs’ first round series. He was in the way defensively and rolled hard to the basket on offense. A good game from the Brazilian.
Tony Parker, PG 36 MIN | 3-16 FG | 5-6 FT | 3 REB | 8 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 13 PTS | +4Where do we begin? He didn’t look good at all in this game, but hit two big corner 3s down the stretch to help the Spurs to the win. Take this grade with a grain of salt, I have no idea what the answer is.
Danny Green, SG 34 MIN | 3-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | +11Played good, harassing defense, knocked down three of his four 3s. Can’t ask for much more from IcyHot.
Matt Bonner, PF 7 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +9Hey there, Matty.
DeJuan Blair, C 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +1Not much to say.
Boris Diaw, C 19 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | -3Boris Diaw had a sneaky good series against the Warriors. You would rather him shoot the corner 3 when he gets the ball out there instead of putting the ball on the floor, but he generally makes such good plays. Bobo is an underrated defender and a decent rebound. I’m curious how effective he’ll be against Memphis.
Patty Mills, PG 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +1#PattyMillsShotCount: 0 :(
Gary Neal, PG 12 MIN | 4-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | +6A good 12 minutes for Neal. Just two of those minutes came after halftime, but he shot well and his points came at an opportune time in the first half. Also, he somehow snagged five rebounds.
Cory Joseph, PG 10 MIN | 2-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +2Admit it, watching Tony Parker early in the fourth quarter, you were actually wondering whether or not the Spurs would be better off with Joseph in the game. We’ve come a long, long way.
Manu Ginobili, SG 24 MIN | 1-6 FG | 3-4 FT | 6 REB | 11 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | +10A similar game to Tony Parker for Manu, except Ginobili didn’t have the corner 3s to go with it. He did have 11 assists, though.
Gregg PopovichWhen you bench your two-time MVP, second team All-Defensive selection, seventh place MVP finisher for the last 4:28 of a game and it works, I can’t do anything but give an A+. /does Sam Cassell big balls dance
  • neverthehero

    “Splitter finally looked healthy after working back from a ankle injury from the Spurs’ first round series.” - great words to read for next series. Duncan looking gassed, maybe won’t be an issue since he won’t have to help so much out on the perimeter(?).

  • Andrew

    I may have a new second favorite team. I like the Warriors, what they are about and especially coach Jackson.

    Now on to the WCF and the Grizz…..this is going to be a completely different series and to be honest, they don’t scare me like the W’s do. Spurs in 6.

  • GiggityGiggitySpurs

    The only thing I took away from this game is how much Bill Simmons must wish it were the Spurs getting relocated to Seattle instead of going to the Western Conference Finals.

  • phillip mabry

    “Bobo,” that’s awesome.

  • neverthehero

    as a co-host on a national show, it is a little disappointing to see how open he was rooting against the Spurs. He’ll write all the praise in the world but on the podcasts and on that show, it’s a different tune. Also, getting a lil tired of people in the media always needing to qualify Duncan as the best PF ever; he doesn’t give a damn about that. Say something new.

  • phillip mabry

    I agree, the Warriors picked up a new part-time fan in me. Especially their fans. Hearing them chant “Warriors” as the game ended (and well beyond) was cool. Great team and fans.

  • NYC

    Kawhi Leonard was our leading rebounder. Discuss.

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  • BobbyKe

    Leonard has been the best player in the postseason for the Spurs. I might have a man crush on him dude at this point (only when he plays basketball though). Dude is quickly becoming a star. He’s doing everything right & far exceeds what we ask of him. I love a player who plays above their role

    I like us going against the Grizz. Nobody on the Grizzlies bench worries me, they don’t shoot it nearly as well as the Warriors & we’re a smarter team then them. I Got Spurs in 6

    If either Gasol or Randolph gets in foul trouble it dramatically lessens the grizzlies chances of winning. They need BOTH to play a lot of quality minutes to have a chance

  • Gomezd

    Man mark Jackson is a class act. Seeing the way he talked about his players in the post conference it was obvious how much he cares about them. Specially in the nba culture where winning means everything, it is refreshing to see a coach that can see the bigger picture, a guy who realizes that the well being of his players is more important that winning a playoff series. Much respect for him.

  • junierizzle

    Green and Leonard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Tiago!!!!!!!!! And Freethrows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I think TP and Manu already had Memphis on their brain, they knew this Warriors series was a wrap. Speaking of the Grizz, I love our chances. First of all Spurs remember they lost to them but this is a whole new team. Gotta love the revenge factor. The Grizz have two bigs and Conley. We have two bigs, TP, Manu, Leonard and Green. I know everyone plays up the fact that the Grizz have two bugs and they kill you on the inside but I’d like to close by saying that Gasol had 10 and 7 in their close out game Vs Okc. Not exactly what I call “killing you on the inside.”

  • junierizzle

    Yeah, no one likes the Spurs, they respect them but no one wants to see them. Everyone pretty much has already penciled in the Grizz for the Finals. Not because they truly believe it but because they’d rather see the Grizz. Don’t get me wrong the Grizz can totally win but to not even give the Spurs a chance, come on. Just like this series, everyone put dirt on the Spurs after game two. Even tonite, the majority had this going to game 7. Not because they thought the Warriors would figure something out but because they didn’t want this “exciting” team to be done.
    So yeah, people want to see the Grizz not the Spurs. Because, you know, Gasol and ZBO are so exciting.

  • Niyari

    good ol IcyHot

  • TheFG21

    You dont say “El Conclusión”. The correct term or article is La. “La Conclusión”. Conclusión is a femenine word.

  • GFoyle33

    Um, I believe it’s a joke on Brent Barry’s nickname for Manu, El Contusión (por supuesto que tampoco es correcta).

  • TheFG21

    LOL! Its true!!

  • Sheboygan

    Man crush seconded. Sometimes I wish we were friends, sometimes more than friends…

  • neverthehero

    Just heard the analysis from the espn nba countdown team, they act like it’s already over. Magic explaining that in order to win Parker needs to dominate and Manu has to be the old Manu. Well we just seen that they both can impact without padding their personal point totals, guess that counts for nothing. The way the schedule is going to play out, if the Spurs can grind out two wins or even a 1-1 split, those 3 days off to really get some much needed rest and make any adjustments. A healthy Splitter is just what we need right now, plus a series that Bonner really could provide some service for about 5-10mins.

  • RawJa777

    This was why we acquired him. We got bounced by the Grizzlies in 2011 because we had no rebounding from the wing (hard to rebound when you are playing Tony, Manu, George, Gary for the majority of the series). RC and Pop IMMEDIATELY made a move to acquire him. He is our X-Factor and will be key in this series.

  • Andrew G

    I often imagine Kawhi and myself, spinning around arm locked-him staring blankly into my face, me trying not to laugh as he palms my head and dunks me into a hoop.

    I want to see him pick out all the cornrows and go full fro for a series. After he throws down a monster dunk, he whips his fro around and strokes his ogre like hand through it. He could start his own line of fro picks. I would buy a Kawhi fro pick.

  • nlo

    At least Simmons knew it. He tweeted this last night:

    wish I had praised the Spurs more on TV tonight - got caught up in the gsw angles. SA’s D + coaching adjustments were terrific last 4 games.

  • neverthehero

    ya, I seen that tweet, was after my post. Universe always proving me wrong lol. On a more cynical note though, apparently all that D and coaching that he mentions won’t have any effect on the upcoming series as he flat out didn’t give the Spurs a chance. So ya he said it but for my money it was more a face saving tweet more than actual praise……but like I just said, that’s me being cynical about it and should just accept it and move on..

  • neverthehero

    listening to the podcast, I’ll just take that he thinks that all is not right with the Spurs when it really really counts.

  • td4life

    They are the darlings of the NBA now. I am getting ready for the backlash that comes from everybody talking about them for years to come, especially as their new ownership takes advantage of their attractive California market, and they become a free agent destination. So far though, they’ve done a great job building through the draft (culminated by tanking last year).

  • td4life

    I know it’s sounds overly simplistic, but if TP is hitting threes I tend to be pretty happy, so I give him and A. That said, I NEVER expected to see TD benched in a close playoff game. Great to see Tiago seem to get it going. Having him and Diaw looking like they’ve returned from injury just in time for Memphis is one of best thing about this second round series going six games.

  • lvmainman

    You haven’t watched the Grizzlies then. Pondexter and Bayless and Conley have been deadly from 3 point land in the playoffs.

  • Titletown99030507d

    Jarette Jack may be gone due to m-o-n-e-y. They need a pounder in the post that can post up to go with the splash bros. But to get that pounder they will probably have to give up Thompson. They can’t win a title shooting from the 3 pt line. Remember the “Suns”. Just relaying the message.

  • Titletown99030507d

    Watch out for Conley. He’s their X Factor.

  • Titletown99030507d

    Bayless and Conley will give us trouble. Hope we adjust to them.

  • Titletown99030507d

    This is a 7 games series and pop is going to have to take more chances like last night if Timmy is going to make it to the finals.

  • STIJL

    Agree. Splitter came through big time in final game. Appears the effects of his ankle injury are gone. And though the Griz have Gasol and Z-Bo…Spurs also have talented bigs. The inside presence of Memphis, though not exaggerated, won’t be as overwhelming as some might be anticipating. They too (Randolph and Gasol) could easily get in foul trouble dealing with the Spurs bigs.

  • NYC

    You must be new around here. It’s been El Conclusion for a couple of years.

  • NYC

    Certain players have always been Spurs killers. Jarret Jack is one of them. Conley is another.

  • NYC

    The second coming of Big Ben Wallace?

  • Len

    What a disturbing but outright hilarious post.

  • TheFG21

    Yes! SanAn fan since 1991 but new to here. Welcome to Me! 😀

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