El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 111, Los Angeles Clippers 107

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San Antonio Spurs 111 Final
Recap | Box Score		 107 Los Angeles Clippers
Tim Duncan, PF 44 MIN | 14-23 FG | 0-1 FT | 11 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 28 PTS | +9 +/-

Just a freak of nature. He’s nearly 39 years old and he absolutely murdered a Defensive Player of the Year candidate for much of the night. But perhaps most impressive was the fact that he bounced back from what he called one of the worst fourth quarters of his career to ensure the Spurs didn’t let this one get away. I refuse to believe this guy is ever going to retire. I just refuse.
Kawhi Leonard, SF 39 MIN | 9-16 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 23 PTS | +4 +/-

Leonard reacted incredibly well after a Game 1 that saw the Clippers send a bunch of double-teams his way. And holy hell, that move he put on J.J. Redick was an all-timer. He played so well within the flow of the offense tonight, and made big play after big play. This was the kind of game you expected from a Finals MVP down 1-0 in a playoff series, and he delivered.
Tiago Splitter, C 19 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -2 +/-

He’s still limited, but during his time on the court he was very good. Splitter is the only one remotely capable of making life difficult on Blake Griffin, though I’m not sure anyone’s doing that these days. Still, it was an improvement from Game 1, and that’s a good sign going forward, so long as his calf issues don’t flare up.
Tony Parker, PG 30 MIN | 0-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 1 PTS | +7 +/-

There’s got to be a boatload of concern here. Look, even when Parker is struggling physically the way he is, he still has value because of his knowledge of the offense and his ability to keep everything flowing. But at a certain point, what’s the cost? He’s hurt, that’s pretty clear right now. Maybe a little home cooking will help, but I don’t know. This isn’t looking like a matchup he can win right now, especially given the way Chris Paul is playing. Only reason he gets a D is because he did keep the system moving…and that counts for something, at least. When he was on the floor, the Spurs played well.
Danny Green, SG 29 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | +10 +/-

A weird Danny night. He hit some 3s on the road for once, and he played decent defense at times. But he found himself in Pop’s doghouse, or so it seemed. Gotta give it to him, though: Green made a massive shot to start the overtime period, and his defense down the stretch was crucial for a Spurs team that managed to coax a few turnovers out of the Clippers. I still can’t get over that OT.
Marco Belinelli, SF 19 MIN | 3-8 FG | 2-3 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | -8 +/-

He didn’t shoot very well, but he was playing his ass off on both sides of the ball. I don’t remember the last time he successfully shot the passing lanes the way he did tonight. He got overly confident at times, but that’s how you want this guy to play, for better or for worse. Those shots are gonna go in at home.
Matt Bonner, C 5 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +8 +/-

Had a few chances to knock down some open 3s, but couldn’t connect. Matty got some time to give Splitter a rest, who was clearly gassed. This is NOT a good matchup for Bonner as a defender. Oof.

But get this: THE SPURS WERE PLUS-67.7 POINTS PER 100 POSSESSIONS IN HIS FIVE MINUTES ON THE COURT. A+!
Boris Diaw, C 37 MIN | 6-14 FG | 0-0 FT | 9 REB | 6 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | -7 +/-

You’ve gotta love Bobo. He just kept going at people, kept attacking, kept looking for his shots, kept looking for shooters. He still isn’t shooting the way he did last year, but you’ll take the aggressiveness. Had his moments where he fell asleep defensively, or was just out of position, but you still take that all-around production. Still, can’t have those defensive lapses.
Patty Mills, PG 19 MIN | 5-9 FG | 6-6 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 18 PTS | +5 +/-

PATTY PATTY PATTY, OI OI OI!!! If ever there was a time for San Antonio’s spark plug to re-emerge, this was it. The Spurs do not win if not for Patty Mills, and there’s no question about that. This guy has been mired in an awful slump for months and months and months, and here he is on a massive stage making the difference in an unbelievably competitive

Cory Joseph, PG 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -4 +/-

Patty took his spot, but that’s not on Cory. San Antonio just needs the element Mills provides.
Manu Ginobili, SG 22 MIN | 2-6 FG | 5-6 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | -2 +/-

Had a few moments and made a few shots, but the Spurs weren’t great with him on the floor tonight. Just didn’t look great. I think we’re at the point where we’re going to get a couple of good Ginobili games per series, and that’s OK. Because when those happen, the Spurs are damn near unbeatable. We’ll just have to watch and wait.
Aron Baynes, C DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | +/-

Poor Baynes. DNP-CD. Eh, can’t blame Pop.
Gregg Popovich

It takes a hell of a lot of confidence in a guy to go away from what you’d been doing consistently over the last month of the season, but Pop opted for Mills instead of Joseph, and it paid off in a big way. I still find it hard to gauge whether or not the intentional fouls on Jordan have been successful, because it’s tough to measure how it affects his own team’s pace, but otherwise, the way the Spurs hung in says a lot about their head coach.

One Thing We Saw

  1. Holy crap. I need to sleep…and breathe a little. Goodnight.


  • Ryan McShane

    Diaw is 0-7 on threes and he had a wide open three late in the game that he passed up. I’m not saying stop playing Diaw… but Bonner should be playing some of Diaw’s minutes. Pulling a big out of the paint is crucial for the Spurs’ offense. Bonner as a “Chumba-wumba defender” is excellent against a Blake Griffin. He brings some physicality that riles Griffin up and makes him do stupid things. Instead, we have Diaw/Leonard/Baynes defending him.

  • lvmainman

    Phenomenal game by Duncan. Mills with a “I’m back” type shooting night. Great effort and passion by Belinelli. Danny Green made Paul work his tail off in the 2nd half. Well deserved win.

    I do hope Pop is smart enough to play Baynes and Bonner in the next game. Splitter clearly is gassed. Duncan will be spent.

  • Ginobili137

    I don’t know why almost everyone thinks Manu had a poor game. He did a great job navigating the traps and finding the roll man on difficult passes that led to open threes. The threes just weren’t being made. That’s why it might have seemed like Spurs weren’t great with him on the floor. I think people are just remembering the turnover and him fouling out play, and that was awful, but it’s just one play. He played great defense too and shut down Paul when he was on him.

    The hacking crap NEEDS to stop. It seriously fails both the eye test and the stats test. When that started the clippers got right back into the game. It also got Manu his 5th foul and TD picked up at least 1 from doing it. Lucky he didn’t foul out too. If you look at the stats, even if Jordan shoots around 50%, it still sucks for the team hacking due to the clippers getting quite a few rebounds off of misses.

    Overall, the Spurs were lucky as hell to win this game. The Spurs offense crumbled without TP or Manu in the game (even if they are struggling) and it relied on TD and Patty hitting tough shots. Belinelli hit a tough one too I think. They came through and it was amazing, especially what TD did, but you aren’t going to win 4 games like that.

  • hoopsaf

    Spurs got lucky that Tony got injured and Patty is back to being his playoff self.

    People keep arguing that Tony is so important for Spurs, despite every stat number and analytics out there screaming otherwise. Spurs are better off if Tony is relegated to bench. Whatever ‘corporate knowledge’ benefit he gives Spurs, it doesn’t outweigh his lack of offense, defense or rebounding.

    Watching Tony play is like watching Dirk play. You know that both of these players are shot (Dirk is so incredibly bad when his shot isn’t falling.), but the coaches will keep playing them out of respect for their past accomplishments.

  • DJ

    Wonder if we’re on the verge of shifting the narrative from “Parker is just injured” to “Parker is past his prime and a shell of his former self”. If you think about what being washed up really entails, it’s not being able to play well anymore because of wear and tear and injuries. Parker is injured 50% of the time over the last 2 years and has all kinds of advanced metrics destroying him. Sad to see him declining and ironic that 4 or 5 years ago Parker was quoted as saying the Spurs window was most likely closed because Duncan was too old, and now Duncan is still our 1st or 2nd best player, while Parker is in severe decline.

  • Ginobili137

    It makes me sad, but you’re kinda right. Might be kinda true of Manu some nights too (although analytics still say he is a positive unlike Tony). But I do firmly believe that it is necessary to have TP or Manu out there to run offense. Patty just doesn’t have the skill set.

  • thedrwolff

    Ginobilli was good. Hack a Jordan was good. 6-17 from the line. The eye test tells me that the offense went and hid for two stretches of the Hack a Jordan. Between Jordan and Barnes they went 1-6 during a stretch we couldnt score. The clippers feed off open floor emotion and their offense(starting 5 lineup) WAS the best in the league. Giving up .9 points per possession to that unit is win win all the way.

  • hoopsaf

    I think Spurs will be fine even if Patty/Cojo run the show. Spurs are mostly hockey assist team, so they don’t depend so much on one point guard to get 9~10 assists per game.

    I think Manu still does other things when his shots aren’t falling, such as fighting for loose balls, getting to the FT line, getting a steal here and there. So you know he’s still doing some positive things.

    Tony on the other hand, when his shot isn’t falling, I really don’t know what he provides. Maybe the offense runs a bit smoother, but I think that ‘a bit’ sometimes gets overblown.

  • thedrwolff

    Thank you for sucking tonight Matt Barnes AND Jamaal Crawford. Patrick Mills Started to look good in the pelicans game and has been the man from deep so far in this series. He’s going to be the difference maker. Duncan had a great offensive night and yet not one person mentions that it was TIM who switched out on CP3 and made one of the best midrange shooters in the game clank the game winner off the back iron by getting his full extension into Paul’s Grill. I’m tired of people calling Tim the Best PF of all time. Playing like this at this age, he’s in the Top 7 and for all the accolades Lebron gets…It’s no contest if I have to pick between Prime Duncan and Prime Lebron or Kobe career vs Duncan career. He’s the best player since the GOAT and he’s in the top 7 all time.

  • hoopsaf

    There’s a good article about the effectiveness of hack-a-jordan.

    http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2015/04/21/does-intentionally-fouling-deandre-jordan-really-work/

    Basically, the conclusion is that it’s not that effective and might actually hurt. And we saw it tonight as well. Jordan shot 6 of 17, but Spurs gave up offensive rebounds on a bunch of them. So they actually lost possessions.

  • SpurredOn

    The “foul-a-foe” strategy on Jordan worked. The inability to grab some defensive rebounds were the costly problem on that end, much like Diaw, Splitter, and even Duncan missing chippies at the rim cost not only points but fed the LA fastbreak. That Tiago missed a soft hook over Hedo when DJ was not in the game was even more maddening. Spurs should’ve won by 10 points in regulation.

    Any quarter where the hold the Clippers under 25 points scored is a win, helped in part by controlling pace. There should be no further quarters this series where the Spurs don’t score at least 20 vs the LA defense. The shots are there, and any time that Hedo, Crawford, or Hawes are on the floor, the Spurs’s shooing percentages should go up.

  • lbj parked

    Diaw played 37 minutes?!? I guess o.

    this will be my first time griping about the grades..
    but first let me say thank you for this labor of love, night in and night out!

    Marco played better than a C. he had a couple of huge hustle plays that swung momentum out of LA’s favor, and that shot in the last couple minutes of reg was sooooo huge. Marco is playing really really had and it’s making a noticeable difference on both sides of the ball.

  • Chok.

    I think you meant to say “DNP-BLAKE GRIFFIN” on Baynes’ stat line.

    Its a pity that he couldn’t find any minutes though. I really, REALLY wanted to see him set a few screens on Barnes and Co. If I’m not mistaken, it was a well timed “screen” by Robert Horry on Steve Nash back in ’07 that swung the Phoenix series.

  • Chok

    Maybe its wishful thinking, but I’m really starting to believe that what we are seeing from Duncan these last few months is really just “Contract Year Timmy” and that he’s playing his way to a new 2 year deal. Based on what we saw last night, I simply can’t see him hanging them up this year. Obviously he can still play at a VERY high level (he should probably be in the running for All NBA and All NBA Defensive honors) and his competitiveness, desire to play well are simply off the charts. You only get 44 quality minutes out a guy his age because he is 100% committed to mental preparation and physical conditioning, and I just don’t think he switches that off at the end of the season and says “OK Pop, I just don’t feel like playing anymore”. No. I think Timmy loves this game, and he’s going to play until he can’t.

    If he is back next year (and possibly the year after) the prospects for this team get very interesting. If the Spurs do sign quality Big man this offseason (my guess would be Kevin Love, but who knows, really…) that would create a front court rotation of Duncan/Boris/Splitter/New Guy. That’s (potentially) a very talented and versatile group.

  • Gabbo

    I’m not going to overreact and say that Tony is done. A healthy Tony is still the right guy to run this offense and vital if there are any hopes of a deep playoff run. But when he’s hobbled like is last night, he becomes a liability on both ends of the floor. With no lift on the jumper and Jordon negating any shots in the paint, he’s no threat to score. On the defensive end he’s having trouble staying in front of anybody.

    Thankfully the reemergence of Mills made the difference last night. But can we count on Mills to do that in big minutes, rather than as a spark plug.

    Either way, huge win. Clippers logged a ton of minutes and looked gassed at points in the 4th. The Spurs bench players (and Danny Green) should play much better at home. Hopefully they come out on fire Friday.

    One lingering concern is how many nights can Timmy play 40+ minutes. If Splitter’s minutes are limited and Baynes is gonna sit, that’s going to be a big ask for a long series.

  • brunostrange

    Beside Tim’s incredible game, and Patty’s resurgence (I guess it’s safe to say he’s back, given his performance over the past three games), the most impressive thing about this game for me is that the team showed enormous fight on the road against a very good team that was playing insanely competitive ball. This season’s version of the Spurs has not been very successful in those types of situations, so this was very encouraging.

    Count me OUT on the hack-a-whoever strategy. Yes, Jordan may have shot 6-17, but we were up 10 points when we started hacking, and our lead shrank to one thereafter. Our guys had been playing in well up to that point, and we completely lost our offensive rhythm and essentially stopped scoring. Our offense was uuuuugly. I guess you could say hack-a-Jordan worked - but against the wrong team. Hopefully next time Pop trusts his guys to play through LAC’s push instead.

    Couple more things:

    During the recent winning streak, I marveled at the complete dominance of our front-line against the opposition. With Tiago hurt, and against a tough match-up like LAC, those days seem like years ago (Timmy not withstanding, of course).

    I don’t even know where to start with Parker (on Twitter I read something along the lines of “TP continues his yearly tradition of getting hurt in the playoffs). I suppose he played “smart” inasmuch as he didn’t turn the ball over and had some decent dishes, but the timidity with which he more-often-than-not plays doesn’t have much positive impact on the floor. I get that Pop is going to live or die with his Big Three, and I can’t blame the sentiment, but in too many games he’s sliding over into liability territory.

    Kawhi had himself a hell of game. Very Kawhi-like, too - dominant, yet not flamboyantly so. Gotta let the guy touch the ball more in the fourth quarter, though.

  • brunostrange

    I don’t think this is the series for Baynes. His lack of mobility makes LAC a bad match up for him.

  • thedrwolff

    Look, There are only 3 reasons why this “TIM DUNCAN RETIREMENT” dialogue gets any run at all.
    1. A HUGE majority of players are NOT active for their 39 year old season. Most because they simply can’t play at this level any longer. (Doesn’t apply to Timmy)
    2. They look up the road and see a desolate wasteland of losing for the sacrifice an older body will pay for later in life. (Doesn’t apply to The Spurs)
    3. David Robinson was a Spur. (Timmy is not David Robinson)

    Not one of these reasons came from Tim himself.

  • joe

    I’ll take a healthy Cory Joseph over a limping Tony Parker. Cory should play about 15-20 min starting each half with Patty playing crunch time (if Tony can’t go). After watching Tony struggle in Game 1 and 2, I believe him getting a week or two off and trying to win this series without him may be the best option.

  • joe

    Bonner is not a clutch postseason player. I don’t know his stats for threes made and missed in the playoffs, but I’m pretty sure it’s a VERY bad percentage.

  • TD BestEVER

    I would go even further and say he is top 3-4 all time Depending on how you judge Magic/Kareem behind Jordan. I say he becomes Number 2 all time with one more ring!!! Let’s do it for the history books TIMMAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • TD BestEVER

    Greatness never gets OLD!!!! hahaha

  • Clarissa Johnson

    Tony Parker could never guard Chris Paul. He always gives Tony fits. Back in the day the would put Bruce Bowen on Chris Paul.

  • KawaiianIsland420

    anyone that says play baynes more minutes deserves to have their dish tv revoked, he is not ready for this stage

  • KawaiianIsland420

    spurs offense crumbled without tony parker?? i dont care he had a +7, he looked terrible out there

  • KawaiianIsland420

    very good logical point. i have been saying that no longer we will see tpain and ginobli go HAM every single game, its going to be 1 great game, 1 average game, 1 subpar game, 1 great game etc…

  • Jezav

    There is a lot of disagreement here and elsewhere about the Foul-Jordan strategy, but I’m in the camp that says that it didn’t work. You have to consider Clipper off rebs in the math for deciding whether the strategy works, not just the Jordan misses.

    Here is the blurb from the Five-Thirty-Eight piece mentioned in hoopsaf’s post above:

    “Hack-A-DJ is rendered inefficient because the Clippers are so good at rebounding Jordan’s missed free throws. Over the last two seasons, Jordan has missed 165 free throws with possible rebounds, and the Clippers have grabbed 34 of those rebounds, or 21 percent. That is nearly double the NBA rate of roughly 12 percent and four times the Clippers’ 4.8 percent offensive rebound rate on misses by players other than Jordan.”

    Also, employing this strategy this allows the Clippers to have their defense set every single time, thus slowing down the Spurs. I think all of those Spurs misses during the use of this strategy are more than coincidence. The Clippers starters, who are gassed from playing all game long, get to catch their breathe. Sure, it takes the Clippers out of their rhythm, but it does the same to the Spurs - a wash at best and most likely a slight negative.

  • twinm85

    the hack-a-jordan nearly back-fired on pop, and here’s why:

    1. it caused manu to foul out and had tim playing with five fouls for the last few min of regulation and all of OT.
    2. predictably it stalled our offense, which up until that point in the 4th had at least some rhythm. the result was only 10 pts in the final 9+ min.
    3. our entire advantage in 4th was supposed to be our starters being fresher than the clippers’, and they were. the problem was the hacking gave them time to rest and save their energy for defense, and that second wind was almost enough for them to pull it out at the end.

    it has its advantages and i get why pop does it, but sometimes it seems like he sticks to it for too long and/or fails to see the hidden consequences. my hope is the guys really step up at home so we don’t have to use it anymore because in both games it has killed has been an otherwise fragile offense that’s had difficulty finding much rhythm beyond a bunch of isos.

  • Lesslie Stanford

    Bonner hasn’t hit a three either in his time playing.

  • Chok.

    This is possibly the most Tim Duncan thing Tim Duncan has ever said (from the ESPN.com recap):

    Duncan apologized to his teammates after going 1-for-5 in the fourth, when Manu Ginobili fouled out and Tony Parker was already gone with a right Achilles injury.

    “I was awful,” Duncan said. “I missed two or three layups, I made two or three defensive mistakes, got out of position and gave up dunks to DeAndre (Jordan).”

    Never change, Timmy. Never Change.

  • mattman22

    the only reason the Clippers came back was Spurs couldnt do anything on the offensive side of things. That is how you have to beat the Hack a Jordan scheme. Play defense. thats why they came back.

  • Ryan McShane

    That was true prior to the last two playoffs. Regardless, his +/-, or value of being on the court, is not measurable by his own three-point percentage.

  • fkj74

    Great win. Looked to be slipping away for a time. Questions..anyone but me think this hack-a’Jordan is back firing? Also POP took Mills out in the 4th bought back TP and the lead shrank, also Green was not out there on Paul? Why? Looking forward to an A+ games from Manu and Danny back in SA. Go Spurs!

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    It backfired yesterday, and here’s why: The Spurs had gotten into a nice offensive and defensive rhythm, allowing them to push the lead to 10 points. Then Pop started the Hack a Jordan, the Clippers could set their defense, the Spurs lost their rhythm and the Clips slowly got back into the game.

    Now if the Clips were rolling, then I could see the Hack a Jordan to slow them down a bit. But the Spurs were the ones rolling, and the tactic ground their offensive rhythm to a halt. I know this site thinks Pop = God, but he’s a human being who is capable of mistakes, and he outsmarted himself this time around. You might reply with, “Well, the Spurs still won,” but they put a lot of extra minutes on Duncan that wouldn’t have been necessary if the finished the Clips off in regulation.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    What twinm85 said.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    There are stints where he would be more effective than Diaw or Bonner based on the Clips personnel. As the series wears on, the Clips will starting showing the effects of fatigue due to a short, weak bench, and Baynes can get a few effective minutes then.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    Agreed. They were much better with Patty. Neither really offers any purposeful dribble penetration, so the better, healthier, and more confident shooter should be out there.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    It’s looking that way with Parker, but I am willing to give him one more offseason to heal up and get into the best shape possible ala TD a couple years back before I pass that final judgement. He’s a new father I believe, recently married, and may have slipped in his discipline and conditioning while making the family adjustment. If he finds that he just can’t approach his past levels of play, then really needs improve his spot up and three point shooting. I mean, go harder at that than he ever has in his career. He should look at Kawhi’s game closely, and figure out the best way to develop a complementary skill set off of it. In fact, that’s what the whole team needs to do.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    Agreed, agreed, agreed. I say do it at key times when DeAndre is feeling himself, making big blocks and big dunks. Send him to the line a couple times to get him thinking and lower his confidence,