2015 Western Conference Playoffs First Round
San Antonio 92, Los Angeles Clippers 107
Clippers lead series 1-0
After last night’s evisceration at the hand of the Clippers, I think we can safely assume two things: one) we might have seen the absolute pinnacle of how well the Clippers can play; and, two) we might have seen the absolute worst of how poorly the Spurs can play.
So by that logic, it literally can not get any worse. And while the game was a blowout of sorts, there were all sorts of moments and turning points where the Spurs had a legitimate chance to get back into this game. But credit the Clippers for fighting off every push and just overwhelming the Spurs in every facet of the game.
Just how bad were the Spurs? It was a historically bad shooting performance. As a team, they shot 36.6%. They were a dismal 14 of 26 from the free throw line. They shot 10 of 33 from three. They missed 23 three-pointers! If one or two more FTs goes in, one or two more threes, and one or two more lay-ups, and this might be a game. Diving deeper, the Spurs were 12 of 36 on uncontested shots. They were 3 of 14 on threes in the first half, and they started the third quarter 2 of 13.
This to me was the biggest turning point. Coming into the second half, the Spurs had fought back and were trailing by a mere 6 points. In the first few minutes of the second half, they missed 11 shots, most of which were lay-ups and shots right at the rim. They would miss a lay-up, get the offensive board, miss it again, get it back, get stuffed. In those 3-4 minutes when they missed 11 shots, they had a chance to take control of the game, and they blew it. The Clippers jumped on the opportunity, and the lead swelled to 20 near the end of the quarter.
Let’s give Los Angeles their due. Yes, a lot of this was the Spurs performing at a historically bad level in one very important aspect of the game. But the Clippers helped to cause this. Their defense was spectacular, scrambling to open shooters to cause just enough hesitation before taking a wide open shot, sealing off driving lanes, taking away Spurs’ players favorite tendencies, doubling Kawhi on the post and confusing him, and using DeAndre Jordan as the backline of defense to dissuade all shooters. Yes, the Spurs missed a ton at the rim; yes, this had a lot to do with Jordan’s influence. Even when he wasn’t blocking shots, he was blocking shots. (Very similar to how Ibaka effects Spurs’ shooters.)
Let’s also credit Blake Griffin and Chris Paul for both playing tremendous games. This was each playing at his peak performance, and the duo also playing as well as they can in tandem. It was scary and unstoppable. If the Clippers have the two best players on the floor (by a wide margin) all series, they are going to win easily. Hell, they probably had the three best players, as we had no answer for Jamal Crawford off the bench. His 23 minutes killed us. The bench is the Spurs’ biggest strength in this series, but it requires that our bench actually play well and their bench actually play. Doc seems willing to roll the dice playing his starters 37-42 minutes a game, which will pay huge dividends early, but might haunt him later. But not if our Spurs don’t show up to play.
Back to Blake and Chris. You can’t completely shut down great players. But you have to take something away. You can’t let Blake shoot wide open jumpers and drive to the rim at will. Likewise, you can’t let Chris orchestrate the offense with his maestro’s touch and also get all the midrange jumpers he wants. You have to remove at least one option. For Blake, I would say let him shoot from 18-feet all he wants. Yes, he can make them; but it beats having him dunk 384 times on Baynes head. For Chris, take away his passing and make him a scorer. Again, yes, he is a tremendous shooter; but he’s far deadlier passing and getting everyone else involved.
Blake had an incredible 26 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks; Chris had 32 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. If those two play that well every game, nothing else will matter. Blake, in particular, is a match-up nightmare for the Spurs. He’s too quick for Baynes and Splitter and Diaw; he’s too powerful for Kawhi. We need to figure something out and fast.
Of course, if we can slow down Chris, we can live with Blake’s production (a la Nash and Stoudemire in all those battles with the Suns). But Parker can’t hang with him right now. (I’m going to leave Parker alone for now, but he doesn’t look good at all. He looks like he did a few months ago when all those injuries were weighing him down.) Normally, I like the idea of starting the game with Parker guarding him and then switching Green and Leonard on to him later to throw off his rhythm. But we might have to start with Green or Leonard from the jump. Personally, I like Green guarding him better.
Of course, that implies that the real Danny Green shows up to the game. I don’t know who was there last night, but it wasn’t the Danny I know. Oh man, did he have a horrible game. He couldn’t shoot, he couldn’t dribble, he wasn’t defending well; he was a train wreck. We have enough data to know that he can play well in the playoffs, but that better happen soon.
The biggest thing the Spurs need is for Kawhi to engage and become one of the two best players in the series. He needs to make an imprint in the games in all the little ways that he does on both ends of the floor. Last night he seemed very passive and tentative. Some of this was scheming, as the Clippers aggressively double-teamed him on the catch, something he is not used to. Some of it was just him finding his way. The good news with Kawhi is he has a history of starting series (and seasons) slow, and then figuring it all out very quickly. I never question his heart, his toughness, or his preparedness. But we need to see it in Game 2.
The Clippers came out in Game 1 exactly how I thought they would, like they were exorcising years worth of playoff frustration. They played excellent basketball. It’s usually easier for the road team to steal Game 1, but I always thought Game 2 might be a better chance. The Spurs don’t need to win Game 2, but they really should. The first salvo has been fired resoundingly by the Clippers; do the Spurs have an equally emphatic response?
A few more thoughts from Game 1:
–One key to this series will be transition defense. The Clippers thrive in transition and absolutely killed the Spurs last night, in large part due to poor execution from the Spurs. This is one of Pop’s biggest frustrations, so expect that to be a point of emphasis in Game 2. If it’s a half court battle, the Spurs are better. Once the Clippers get rolling in the open court, that doesn’t matter.
–One bright side in the loss was the shooting of Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli. Mills seemed to discover his shot in the 4th quarter, which could be huge for the team and helping to widen the gap between the benches. Mills can also play solid, pesky D against Paul and pressure him full court. This is also a series that is well-suited for Marco, as the Clippers have a few players who he is well-suited to guard. If he continues to be our most reliable shooter, we’ll need him on the floor.
–Manu played with great energy last night, but was really erratic and a bit overzealous. He needs to settle into the series. With Green a train wreck and Manu an uncontrollable ball of energy, the 2-guard is a real area of concern right now.
–As great as Blake and Chris were, Doc had to play them heavy minutes, as the Spurs cut into the lead every time the bench units were in. Like I said, this can work in a single game, but in a long series, this could hamper the Clippers in the later games. This could also really hurt them if the game is actually close in crunch time, and they are running on fumes and the Spurs are still fairly crisp. But the Spurs have to play better to make this an issue.
–One rotational wrinkle I really liked was playing Duncan with the bench in the early stages of the 2nd and 4th quarters. It centers our unit, and makes the disparity between units even greater. In the first stint (top of the 2nd quarter), the Spurs went on a 10-0 run, cutting a 12-point lead to 2 in the blink of an eye.
Now we wait. Let’s hope both teams trend back towards the mean. I expect a much more hungry and focused Spurs team in Game 2, but I don’t anticipate much letdown from the Clippers. They want this series bad. Do we?
Game 2 is Wednesday night.
