Well, that was fun. I could make this post a lot shorter by copying and pasting everything I wrote about how awesome the Spurs are playing right now in the previous post. I will get into a little more details about my thoughts and takeaways from this game, but if you want the short version, suffice it to say the Spurs won. Again. In domination fashion. Again. For those keeping track at home, that's 20 in a row. The Spurs also won 11 in a row on two separate occasions during the season. Both streaks ended because Coach Pop rested his players. In addition, San Antonio is just the third team to win at least 10 games to start the playoffs in NBA history. The first two were the Los Angeles Lakers, in 2001 and in 1989.
So, to the actual game. It is a testament to the depth of the Spurs that a couple of the so-called heroes of Game 1, Stephen Jackson and Tiago Splitter, could go without mentioning in this article. Of course, Manu was still, there making his presence known (20 points on 6-11 shooting, including 10 points in the 4th quarter), but the star of tonight was no doubt our team MVP, Mr. Frenchie himself, William Anthony "Tony" Parker Jr.
When it became clear that the Spurs would be facing the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, I became a little giddy at the prospect of what Tony could do in the series. After all, he absolutely owned the Thunder during the regular season. The teams met three times in the regular season, and discounting the first meeting, played before the Spurs clicked with their numerous in-season roster additions, Tony averaged 33.5 points in two Spurs wins. Well, after a somewhat ho-hum Game 1, Tony was back in the saddle again, running the hapless Thunder defenders through screen after screen, and nailing jumpers when he wasn't relentlessly attacking the basket. All this added up to 34 points on phenomenal 16-21 shooting. And the Thunder stood no chance.
It was surmised after Game 1 that the Big 3 of the OKC Thunder (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden) would bounce back after a lackluster performance to start the series. Well, they did. The scored a combined 88 points. And the offensive efficiency of the Thunder was good, 113.5. Unfortunately for them, it didn't matter. That's how good the Spurs are right now. They are moving the ball crisply, always taking and making open shots, and the offense is running like a precision machine. This offense is drawing comparisons to the heyday of the Bulls' triangle offense with Michael Jordan, just to give you an idea of how good they have been.
It's going to be difficult to compete with that anytime, especially when you start a game giving up a 10-2 lead, as the Thunder did in Game 2. That's something the experienced Spurs would never allow to happen had the roles been reversed. And sure, the Thunder did manage to crawl back into the game after that point, but the Spurs lead once again swelled, to 22 points. In the 4th quarter, the Thunder made another run, slicing the lead to 6 points by Thunder Coach Scott Brooks Hack-a-Splitter strategy of intentionally fouling the Spurs' big man from Brazil. Unfortunately for the Thunder, the Spurs dynamic back court of Ginobili and Parker is still active and healthy, and they combined for 18 points in the final quarter to close this game out.
So now the series goes to Loud City for two games. This will be a very hostile environment for San Antonio, and I'm curious to see how both teams respond. Particularly, if the Spurs can retain the trademark stoic poise they have displayed throughout this series and these playoffs. For the part of the Thunder, there are many more questions than supposed answers. After both defeats, the decision-making of Coach Brooks has been called into question. In Game 1, for benching Defensive Player of the Year Candidate Serge Ibaka throughout the 4th quarter as the Spurs offense romped. In Game 2, the questionable decision-making of Brooks may have hampered the Thunder again, as he benched Durant for extended periods of time, and would seem to have overplayed Kendrick Perkins, who struggles to contribute offensively, and aging veteran Derek Fisher. We'll have to see how those story lines develop throughout the series, but if the Thunder can manage to win a game or two in San Antonio, those transgressions may be forgotten by OKC fans.
Before closing, I'd like to recognize the efforts of Kawhi Leonard, who was an understated key to this game. The rookie swingman from San Diego State posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and in between canning multiple 3s on the offensive end, managed to find the energy defensively to "hold" Durant to 31 points. And I'm not being sarcastic there. He did about as good a job as you can do on the scoring machine that is KD. Also, congratulations to the franchise cornerstone, Tim Duncan, who recorded 4 blocks, and supplanted the great Hakeem Olajuwon as second place on the list of all-time blocks in the playoffs. Duncan now trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by only 4 blocks, and that is a record he will likely attain at some point in this series.
That's all for now, and as always, #gospursgo!
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