2015 Western Conference Playoffs First Round
San Antonio 111, Los Angeles Clippers 107
Spurs lead series 3-2
A game like that is an epic; it needs chapters, not paragraphs. I could conceivably write 1000 words on the last minute alone. Already the facts are getting blurry in my mind. When was that Duncan block? Did the offensive goaltending happen before or after Chris Paul tried to rip off Danny’s arm after the free throw? When did Redick foul out?
The game is more of a memory pastiche than a set of events that happened in any rational order. Can I construct a narrative out of this? I don’t know where to begin, where to go, and where to end.
Actually, I do know where to begin. Where we should always begin, where we’ve been beginning for 18 years: Tim Duncan. The man is either immortal, a robot, an alien, an alien or robot sent back from the future, a Highlander, or, most likely, some combination of all of the above. Even 18 years in, with Manu and Parker both risen, peaked, and declined, with Kawhi ready to take over the reins, he is still our rock, our foundation. He is still the steadying presence we turn to in big road playoff games, the most reliable performer night in and night out. He’s still getting us big 4th quarter buckets, still defining the term “clutch block” by stuffing a man 15 years his junior (and at least three times his athleticism), and still putting up “ho hum” 21 points-11 rebounds-4 assists-3 steals-1 block with only 1 turnover stat lines. He’s still the steadiest player on the court, both emotionally and mentally.
He’s still winning.
That block was the most impressive moment in a game stuffed full of moments. I’ll never get tired of watching Duncan get blocks while barely getting his feet off of the ground.
The game looked like it was going to get out of hand in a hurry early. The Clippers came out on fire to start the game, and the Spurs looked content to be pushed around. The emotional temperament of Game 4 had carried over into Game 5. The Spurs were carelessly turning the ball over and letting the Clippers get out in transition, the one thing you really have to take away from them. They are a potent offense at all times, but the Spurs can handle them in the half court; in the open court, though, it’s a massacre. Every Blake and DeAndre dunk feels like 10 points, and the Clippers reverse court in a heartbeat.
It’s also not helping that the Spurs’ starting line-up features anywhere from 2 to 3 useless (in this series) players. Green had a little bit of a bounce back game, particularly on defense. But Splitter is a complete train wreck; Jordan is absolutely in his head, and has destroyed him from the inside out. He also looks injured, and the combination of those two things has made his play completely fall apart whenever he is around the rim. He looks done for this series.
Parker is harder to get a feel for. He appears to be moving a bit better, and if he can get by his defender and penetrate, he’ll always add value to the offense. But he has been a bit of a ball hog the last few games. If the ball sticks, the offense dies. He is also not making his jump shots, which compounds the issue of not passing the ball. He is working his butt off, and his aggression has value. More often than not, though, it feels like he is hurting us.
The answer isn’t simply to just play Mills more, either. Patty isn’t a ball handling PG. He can’t run the offense. His minutes are almost entirely tied to Manu’s, when he can work more off the ball. 20 minutes of Patty can swing games and series; 34 minutes of Patty might lose you games and series. I’d like to see more Patty–especially now that Playoff Patty seems to have reemerged–but I think Pop has a good feel for how to split up those minutes.
Pop knows he can pull Duncan in crucial moments, and that he can yank Manu around as the situation and his performance that night dictates. Both players can take it and still play with confidence. But I think he knows that Parker needs to feel important, to feel trusted, and to be engaged in the game to be confident and aggressive. We haven’t seen it in a long time, but there were games in the middle of his career where you just knew in the first few minutes that Parker wasn’t present in the moment. I think Pop knows to hold on to Parker and keep his head and heart in the game, he has to show faith in him.
Nonetheless, the Clippers starters are killing our starters. They were up 27-13 with just a minute or two left in the 1st quarter. The Spurs’ bench was in, and Chris Paul sat down. Then Pop went to a trick he had been clearly sitting on: a 3-2 match-up zone. It works in small bursts, and works particularly well against the Clippers when Paul sits. Without a steady hand and unprepared for the defensive switch, L.A.’s offense bogged down, and the Spurs’ bench was able to come alive offensively, hit some 3s, and fight their way back into this game. By the middle of the 2nd, the game was even again, and the Spurs had staved off disaster. In a game decided by a few moments and plays, these 6 minutes proved crucial.
The rest of the game would be a tight, back-and-forth affair. Plenty of times it felt like one team had seized control, only for the momentum to switch moments later. Another key development was Pop’s deployment of intentionally fouling Jordan. He has used it all series, to varying success. It often feels like it hurts the Spurs as much as it hurts the Clippers. In Game 4, however, was the first time it really felt like it was helping San Antonio and hurting L.A. It accomplished 3 important things: it allowed San Antonio to get or hold a lead; it slowed the pace of the game to a crawl; and it (eventually) forced Doc to pull Jordan, hurting the Clippers’ defense.
A few things different about the tactic in Game 4 was that the Spurs were able to execute better offensively after the FTs. They also didn’t give up any offensive rebounds. Pop smartly put Bonner in for a few of these series, knowing that his line-up was out there primarily to play offense, and that he could use Bonner’s fouls and save other players from fouling.
Again, the actual effect on the scoreboard was minimal, but the effect on the game was profound. The Clippers want to play fast; the Spurs want to play quick. The Clippers live on fast break, on transition, on attacking and surprising the opponent. The Spurs execute with precision and speed, but aren’t necessarily in any hurry to get anywhere. They are happy to run through the shot clock, moving from option to option, searching out the best shot. They move quickly, but they really want to prevent the Clippers from moving fast. Intentional fouling allows the game to slow to a crawl, but doesn’t prevent the Spurs from moving quickly in their offense. Game 4 was the first time they really figured that out.
Fittingly, both teams arrived at the 4th quarter with 82 points. One quarter to decide it all.
A few things became apparent in the final quarter. One, Paul and Griffin are playing heavy minutes, and it is really starting to show in the ends of these games. The Clippers offense really slowed down, mostly because they were too tired to run on the break. Paul walked the ball up the court, and often didn’t even start running the offense until about 12 seconds left on the shot clock. He also held the ball quite a bit, and the movement of players and ball really stagnated.
Griffin was also visibly tired in the final quarter. He missed a bunch of shots, got lost on several defensive assignments, and just generally looked out of it. Believe me, there’s no way Duncan stuffs him like that in the 1st quarter.
Execution is as much about tired legs as it is tired minds. Moving deeper into this series and deeper into the games, the Spurs are visibly sharper both mentally and physically at the end. They may not always be hitting the shots, but they are almost always making the right play and, perhaps most importantly, not making the wrong play.
Which brings us to the Clippers. I wondered before the series started if the temperament of the team would factor into these games. The Clippers have a reputation of being emotionally raw, too affected by the vagaries of the games outside the grasp of their control. Bad calls affect them, missed opportunities get to them, mistakes stay with them. Throw in tired minds and tired bodies, and it’s no wonder that the Spurs are able to win these close games.
The Clippers were clearly affected by the refs. The Spurs, playing with the same external forces, fought through it. It’s easy to say one team is more mentally tough than another, and it can be hard to know exactly what that means. Often a player or team isn’t mentally tough until they win, and then they are. But it certainly feels like the Spurs have a distinct emotional and mental edge, and playoff basketball often comes down to how well you can not only manage but exploit those things.
And sometimes it’s just a unique play that could be a million different things. The tip. Was that ball going to go in? It’s hard to tell. How easy is it for a big to pull back on a shot like that at the last second? Why didn’t Blake throw it up for the alley-oop to begin with? It’s a play they have killed the Spurs with all series long, and DeAndre had Parker guarding him for crying out loud.
I really feel for DeAndre. He’s been a defensive and rebounding monster this series, and has been under so much scrutiny with the foul shooting. To add this on top of that almost seems inhumane.
Yet, in a game where millions of tiny things happen in the course of 48 minutes, and the two teams are so equal that any one or set of a few of these things can sway the outcome, it doesn’t seem coincidental that the Spurs so often come out on the plus side of the ledger. They are a team who has built their reputation and system on not beating themselves, on controlling as many of those million things as they can and preparing their bodies and minds to always make the best decisions for the ones they can not control. They are disciplined and prepared.
The Clippers are not undisciplined nor unprepared. They just aren’t the Spurs. That might be the difference.
Game 6 is Thursday night. The Spurs need to close this series out now.
Go Spurs Go.
