Eight Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 6
Back to Black - The San Antonio Spurs are heading back to the Western Conference Finals for the eighth time during the Tim Duncan era after eliminating the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals on Thursday night. The Spurs defeated the Warriors 94 to 82 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California to win a hard fought series and squelch the infectious hopes of a nation to see a miracle run by the Warriors to the NBA Finals. The execution of suffocating defensive pressure to win tough close-out playoff games on the road was a staple of the #BlackAndSilver during the team's dynastic period from 1999 to 2008. During that time, the Spur's were able to go into an opponent's building and eliminate said opponent from the playoffs on 14 different occasions. The last of these close outs, eliminating the Hornets in Game 7 of the 2008 Western Conference Semi-Finals in New Orleans, was the last time the Spurs had played elite defense in the NBA playoffs; until Game 5 and Game 6 against the Warriors this week. Back to black, indeed.
Kawhi Leonard was once again my player of the game. Continuing as the primary defender on Klay Thompson in Game 6, Kawhi held him to 10 points on 4-12 shooting. Not only was his defense outstanding for the second game in a row, Leonard did multiple things well throughout the game to make a positive impact. He shot an efficient 6-13 from the field for 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the team, had two timely steals that resulted in transition points, rebounded his own missed three pointer for an emphatic dunk, and he made a cold blooded three pointer in the guts of the fourth quarter with the game on the line and with the Warriors surging on another late game rally. Kawhi has an innate ability to let the game come to him and make an impact in the flow of the offense and he is unquestionably disruptive for opponents on defense. I could not be more thrilled with his development this year and his performance in his second playoff run as an NBA player. Defensively, we need him to keep maturing into the second coming of Bruce Bowen, a defensive stopper who can make the opponent's best perimeter player work for 48 minutes to put up points. It would be foolish, though, to set the limit on his potential value to this franchise moving forward as only a defensive stopper. Kawhi has the athleticism and the skill set to become a two-way player in the mold of Scottie Pippen. Don't worry, Mark Jackson, I'll continue to leave the premature anointing of young, talented players to you. I'm not suggesting that Kawhi Leonard will develop into a player on the level of Scottie Pippen, I'm just proffering that he has the natural ability and skill set to play a two-way game that reminds me of the way Pippen played the game. Kawhi Leonard's future is blindingly bright and he has the realizable capability to prove himself to be a future cornerstone of this franchise.
There is no rest for the weary as the Western Conference Finals begin tomorrow afternoon back home at the AT&T Center against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Russel Westbrook injury proved to be too much for Oklahoma City to overcome, which has robbed the Spurs of the opportunity to avenge last year's heartbreaking collapse in the conference finals to the Thunder. This doesn't mean that redemption won't be in the air this weekend in San Antonio. San Antonio has an opportunity to emphatically put the heartbreak of blowing a 2-0 series lead with home court advantage last year behind them, no matter who this year's opponent is. Asked during the post-game press conference Thursday night about the Spur's auspicious opportunity to redeem themselves, Tony Parker said, "We were two games away from the Finals, and this year we have another opportunity to...go to the Finals." It appears that Tony and his teammates will be mindful of last year's collapse and be determined to execute better throughout the duration of this series. After this grind-it-out series with Golden State, San Antonio is already better prepared to handle adversity at this stage of the playoffs than they were last year. Persevering through an early-round test was something that I truly believed that the Spurs needed to get back to championship-contending form. We've had that now.
The Memphis Grizzlies will come to town this weekend bringing with them their own playoff redemption motivation for the Spurs. Memphis shocked the Spurs in the first round of the 2011 playoffs, eliminating San Antonio 4-2. After stealing Game 1 that year against a Manu-less Spurs squad, the Grizzlies became only the second team in NBA history to upset a one seed as the eight seed in a best-of-seven first round series. Manu Ginobili should be healthy and ready to go for Game 1 tomorrow, which makes the Grizzlies task of attempting to steal home court advantage vastly more difficult than it was two years ago. Nonetheless, Memphis has proven to be an outstanding playoff team and is always a bad match up for the Spurs with their interior dominance. This series is going to be a slug fest. Tiago Splitter is going to have to play at an extremely high level for the duration of the series to try to neutralize Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph as much as possible. It will also be critical for Boris Diaw and Matt Bonner to consistently knock down perimeter jumpers to force one of the two Memphis big men away from the basket. The key to the series will be whether or not the Spurs can continue to play Back to Black suffocating defense night in and night out against Memphis and keep the Grizzlies from dominating the glass and getting second-chance opportunities. While Memphis is an elite defensive team, if the Spurs can match their defensive intensity and rebound the basketball, we should be able to grind out enough low scoring tough playoff victories against them to hopefully control the series because we have more offensive firepower. This series will be ugly, but that makes it even more exciting to me. Something feels different with this playoff run than last year. I'm not just saying that as means to psyche myself into hoping for a different result. The Spurs feel like they are getting back to who they were when they used to average under 90 points a game and win playoff games with their defense. After spending the better part of a month out in California getting reacquainted with our heart and soul as a team, the San Antonio Spurs are coming home.
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Headline Image Source: Daily Mail
Seven Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 5
The Show Goes On - Last night, for the first time in this hard fought second round series with Golden State, San Antonio played Spurs basketball consistently for 48 minutes en route to a 109 to 91 blowout victory over the Warriors. Mark Jackson's self-proclaimed "greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history" was completely locked up by Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson managed a combined 13 points on 6-22 shooting, their lowest combined point total of the season. Thompson could not even get free to attempt one three pointer. Funny, I don't remember ever hearing about that happening to Jerry West and Gail Goodrich in the playoffs and I don't remember seeing that happen to Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars either. Part of being great shooters, is having the ability to get and make your shots no matter how ferocious the defense or how intense the playoff pressure. By the way, my pointing out the ridiculousness of Mark Jackson's statement is not intended as a slight on Curry and Thompson. They are an amazing backcourt and have clearly earned the complete respect and attention of the Spurs. Maybe they will eventually earn consideration as the best shooting backcourt in NBA history, but to anoint them as such after they have only won one playoff series is disrespectful of the history of the game and Jackson should have more perspective than that as a great NBA point guard in his own right. I know that this statement can be chalked up as a motivational tool. Part of Jackson's approach to coaching is to attempt to give his team a psychological edge by instilling irrational belief in their collective abilities. It has clearly been quite effective, helping the Warriors to dispatch the more talented Denver Nuggets and giving them the confidence to compete with the Spurs, but eventually reality will set in. I'm not suggesting, either, that that eventuality has already occurred. I'm fully aware that Golden State is still capable of winning this series and that the Spurs need to treat the next game like we are the team facing elimination. However, I do think that the massive outpouring of adulation regarding Jackson's coaching ability is overblown and sooner or later the psychological motivational tools will lose their evangelical ability to elevate the team's level of play and when that happens, it is yet to be seen whether he actually has the chops as a basketball tactician and game manager to compete at the highest level. Time will answer that question. Anyway, I digress.
Last night's player of the game was Danny Green. Danny was an efficient 6-10 from the field but more importantly his defense was spectacular on Curry and Thompson. He was clearly a difference maker on both ends of the court. There is not a whole lot else to say about last night's game other than it was by far the best performance by the Spurs so far in this postseason. They need to keep it up. If we play with that type of defensive intensity and share the ball on offense with that type of surgical precision (30 assists on 40 made field goals) the #BlackAndSilver will have a lot more basketball ahead of them this postseason. Luckily, for San Antonio, we have a coach that sets quite a different tone than his Golden State counterpart. While Jackson is busy campaigning for his backcourt to be given their rightful place in the annals of NBA history, Greg Popovich has only one thing on his mind; the next game. In response to a question at the post game press conference last night asking him about the prospect of getting this series over with in Game 6, Popovich's response was as follows: "Nobody talks about getting this over with like you've got a rash...like you can take a pill or put some cream on it, it's going to be gone. This is a war. They're a class team; they bust their ass at both ends of the floor. It's not about getting rid of anything. It's about going and playing and that's about it." Coach Pop is not writing off the Warriors, he is preparing to try to beat them one more time. If we play the same 48 minutes of basketball tomorrow night that we played last night, the Spurs have a golden opportunity to leave the state of California with a trip booked back to the Western Conference Finals. Should we make that happen, then the Warrior's backcourt will have plenty of time to work on that shooting ability in an empty gym. I say forget shooting. Defense wins championships and the San Antonio Spurs are finally starting to get back to black.
Featured Image Source: San Antonio Express-News
Headline Image Source: Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.Net
Two Up
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 4
Us Against the World - After going up against 19,596 fans, 5 players, and apparently 3 referees, the world was definitely against the #BlackAndSilver yesterday afternoon in Oracle Arena as the Spurs fell in overtime to the Warriors 97 to 87. San Antonio, up 8 points with 4 minutes to play, blew a golden opportunity to put a stranglehold on this series. On the verge of going up 3 games to 1, it seemed so close you could almost taste it. Unfortunately, shots stopped falling and the referees offered untimely mistakes into the mix with the game on the line. While on balance the refereeing in this game was fairly even, Scott Foster, John Goble, and Bill Kennedy blew two critical calls in the final minutes that were quite baffling. First, replays showed a ball that was called off of Tim Duncan was actually knocked out by a Golden State Warrior player at a juncture when the Spurs were up by 4 or 6 points if my memory serves me correctly. The ensuing inbound play was knocked out of bounds again and then on the next inbound play, Klay Thompson hit a jumper as the shot clock expired that cut the Spur's lead to either 2 or 4. Second, on the Spur's final possession of regulation Andrew Bogut touched the ball while his foot was extended out of bounds. The referees missed it and allowed Golden State to call a timeout. It was a quick touch and it is understandable that the referees missed it. What is mind boggling is that after the play, the referees refused to go to the monitors to check and make sure that they had the right call (which they are allowed to do in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter). Had they done so, the Spurs would have had another opportunity to attempt a game-winning shot in regulation.
No excuses. As frustrating as those two blown calls were, the referees were not the reason the Spurs lost this game. The reason San Antonio lost was because we missed 11 free throws and shot an abysmal 35.5 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from three point land. It is actually a minor miracle that we had a lead to blow going down the stretch with those shooting percentages. While this loss was a tough one to swallow and has been lingering around the back of my head all day today, I'm still rather confident that we are in a good position to win this series. Both teams have now been on the receiving end of some bad breaks to blow a game on the road and even though the series is tied, the Spurs will win it simply by taking care of business at home going forward. In our last 10 playoff series that have been knotted up 2 to 2 after four games, the Spurs have won eight of them. We are the more experienced team and there is no question that more of our shots will fall down at the AT&T center than what we saw yesterday afternoon. In Game 4, the player of the game was Manu who came off the bench to drain 5 threes and score 21 points. Hopefully, Manu can parlay that into finding some rhythm tomorrow evening. I asked for a good second round series to toughen up the Spurs for the later rounds of the playoffs and we are definitely getting that from the Golden State Warriors. Should the Spurs persevere and get out of the second round on Thursday night or on Sunday, we will be battled tested for the next challenge and much better prepared for the Western Conference Finals than we were last year. It is time to let go of the frustration of a tough road loss and get revved up for the opportunity tomorrow to retake control of the series. The show goes on.
Featured Image Source: Wisdom Activities
Headline Image Source: Caloundra RSL
Six Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 3
Going Back to Cail - The San Antonio Spurs are often referred to as the Silver and Black. When I decided to start a Spurs blog as a subsidiary of theLeftAhead, one of the reasons for landing on the name Black & Silver was that throughout their dynastic era, the Spurs have proven time in and time out that they can go into the most hostile of situations and win tough games on the road. This ability to win these pressure games has been a key to every championship run. The Spurs wear black on the road, so in my opinion the black is more important to expressing who the Spurs are than the silver. While I love seeing the Spurs get ready to jump center at the beginning of a game in the home white or even the new home silver, I get an extra rush form the "Us Against the World" swagger the squad walks out with in the road black. Hence, #BlackAndSilver. I know that the Oakland Raiders are also known as the Black and Silver, but as far as I'm concerned they can take a backseat. San Antonio has won 4 NBA Championships. Oakland has won 3 Super Bowls in the NFL. Scoreboard, Raiders fans.
Friday night played out as a prototypical Spurs playoff win on the road. San Antonio defeated Golden State 102 to 92 in Oracle Arena, a venue that has been receiving a great deal of hype as the best home court advantage in the NBA. It was a tough, gritty performance by the Spurs. Every time that the Warriors would go on a run, it was apparent on television that the crowd was going bonkers. The sound meter that was constantly put on the screen to show the loudness in the arena, however, was a cheap broadcasting ploy to sensationalize the story line. We get it, it is loud in Oracle. But this is the NBA playoffs. It was loud in the AT&T Center too when Manu drained the game-winning three in double overtime of Game 1. Nonetheless, it was clear that the Spurs were performing in an extremely hostile environment which meant they needed a great deal of focus to persevere. The defensive intensity was finally at the appropriate level for the second round of the NBA playoffs and the Spurs calmly and methodically knocked down shots on offense. From the first quarter on, however, seemingly every time that the Spurs got some separation the Warriors fought right back to bring the game close to even. Luckily, the second half of the fourth quarter belonged to the Spurs as they pulled away for good. Unfortunately, Stephen Curry twisted his ankle with a few minutes left in the game which could have a major impact on the trajectory of this series. Hopefully, Curry is able to play in Game 4. Again, as I stated with the Russell Westbrook injury, I prefer to see the Spurs face their Western Conference rivals at full strength. Tony Parker also suffered a leg injury but all indications are that he will be ready to play this afternoon.
We are going to need Tony at full strength to put together another classic road win this afternoon. Tony was spectacular in Game 3, torching the Warriors for 32 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds. It was clear early on that Tony would earn player of the game honors as he set the tone by lighting up Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry for 25 points in the first half. Asked in the post game press conference if the abundance of adulation being showered on the Golden State backcourt provided extra motivation for Tony, he responded, "I play for my teammates, Coach Pop, and the city of San Antonio." This statement exemplifies Tony's class and professionalism and gives me a great deal of confidence that if he continues to play with the same focus and determination, not only do the Spurs have a great chance of leaving Cali up 3 games to 1 today, but also that the national media might be afforded an opportunity to acknowledge the sobering reality that Tony is still the best guard in this series.
Featured Image Source: PPcorn
Headline Image Source: The Black Past
One Up
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 2
I’m On Fire - Kawhi's Quest to Curry Favor as the Second Coming of Bruce Bowen (A Novel): Kawhi Leonard's ability to defend Stephen Curry will be a key factor in whether or not the Spurs will prevail in this series. Last night, in chapter two of this saga, Kawhi did an admirable job limiting Curry to 22 points on 7-20 shooting. I can only recall a couple of times that Curry scored when Kawhi was matched up on him in isolation. Kawhi earned my player of the game with his defense on Curry and by having a solid offensive night while pounding the boards to post his first double-double of this year's playoffs. The problem last night, however, was that Klay Thompson was playing video game basketball in the first half. I felt like I was watching myself play NBA 2K13 and Klay Thompson was a custom player who was created with 100 percent three point ability. It was unreal how he was able to just pull up from anywhere and drain shot after shot. Of course, it didn't help that (in keeping with this video game scenario) it looked as if the defensive settings for the Spurs had been adjusted to the beginner level. Thompson torched the Spurs for 29 points and 7 three pointers before halftime putting San Antonio in the precarious position of needing to overcome a massive deficit at home for the second game in a row.
The #BlackAndSilver once again did an admirable job in the second half of getting back in the game, cutting the Golden State lead to as few as 6 with a few minutes left. If a couple more three pointers had gone down in the closing minutes, the Warrior's inability to hold leads under playoff pressure would continue to be a top national sports story. As it stands, San Antonio suffered our first playoff defeat of 2013 losing to the Golden State at home 100 to 91 and the Warriors are back to being the underdog darlings of the NBA playoffs having stolen home-court advantage from the Spurs. The Warriors are now 1-30 in San Antonio during the Tim Duncan era and we are officially now in a fight to win this series. I take comfort in the fact that the Curry performance in Game One and the Thompson performance in Game Two were more than likely aberrations that will be difficult to repeat as the pressure mounts and the intensity in the series builds. If these playoff first-timers can continue to replicate those types of performances, hats off to them and the Spurs are going to likely need another miracle to get out of Oracle Arena with a victory.
I'm fully confident that Danny Green can match Kawhi's playoff level defensive pressure and San Antonio will be able to contain both Curry and Thompson to the extent necessary to leave the Bay Area with either one or two victories over the weekend. In Three Down, I had wished for the Spurs to face more adversity than we did last year in the early rounds of the playoffs. Sweeping through the first 10 games last year left us ill-prepared when we finally faced adversity against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals. Seemingly, I have gotten my wish. The Spurs face an unbelievably hostile environment over the weekend but if we want to be champions we are going to have to win tough games on the road. Past championship-winning Spurs squads have thrived under these circumstances and I'm fully confident that this current group can do it as well. I'm looking forward to the weekend. We're going (going) back (back) to Cali.
Featured Image Source: Questionable Questing
Headline Image Source: Nintendo
Five Down
2013 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 1
Warrior - Warriors, come out to play (e-ay). Well, they sure did. Stephen Curry lived up to the hype, torching the Spurs for 44 points and 11 assists last night. Curry broke a close game wide open in the third quarter by going absolutely bonkers. He had 22 points in the period, compiling that insane total by hitting ridiculous shot after ridiculous shot. It didn't matter who we threw at him or how close our contests were on his jumpers, everything was working for the NBA's newest sensation. When we started trapping him on the perimeter he made the proper reads to get the ball to an open teammate. The Spurs trailed by 12 points after three quarters and the crowd at the AT&T Center seemed shell-shocked by what was occurring.
Things weren't looking much better for much of the fourth quarter. With four minutes remaining in the game, San Antonio still trailed by 16 points. I talked to several Spurs fans today that said that they had checked out of the game and went to bed or changed the channel by this point. Luckily for me, I'm the type of fan that hangs in until the bitter end (especially in the playoffs) and embraces the misery of getting beat. Miraculously, last night was one of those special moments where everything fell into place to allow the #BlackAndSilver to comeback in a game that they had no business coming back in. Kawhi Leonard started making plays on offense and defense. Tony Parker came alive and started attacking the rim. And Danny Green hit a super-clutch game tying three with less 30 seconds left in the game, capping an 18-2 run that forced overtime.
With the Spurs stealing all of the momentum to force the game into overtime, I thought that Golden State might come out blurry eyed and lose their ability to compete after having to deal with the dejection of blowing another seemingly insurmountable lead. To their credit, this was not the case as they battled the Spurs rally for rally and shot for shot throughout the extra period. Despite the fact that the Spurs had been, for all intensive purposes, playing without Tim Duncan since the end of the third quarter (Timmy was still battling a stomach bug) including the amazing rally to close the fourth, you could tell they were starting to figure out Golden State by overtime. Kawhi was figuring out how to defend Curry on one end and Tony was figuring out how to break down the Warrior's defense on the other. Somehow, Golden State was able to hang tough and tie the game with just a few seconds left. This set up Manu Ginobili to be the hero, as the Spurs ran isolation for him at the end of overtime. Manu got a good look, but couldn't put it in. Double overtime.
Things started looking dicey as the Spurs fell down by 5 points early in the second overtime. But once again, the Spurs fought their way back with Boris Diaw hitting a big three to keep the game within reach. The Warriors were becoming visibly tired as the period wore on and the Spurs, playing the aggressors, were able to retake control of the game with around one minute left. San Antonio had built their lead to as many as 6 and were still up 3 with about 40 seconds left in the game when Manu Ginobili happened. Inexplicably, with 11 seconds left on the shot clock, Manu pulled up from 4 feet outside the three point line and attempted to seal the game with one shot. The results were catastrophic as Golden State immediately turned the ricochet off the rim into a quick fast break finger roll by Curry. Still up by one, the Spurs came back down and Tony Parker missed a layup because of heavy contact (the referees could have easily called a foul) and the Warriors sprinted back down to get the ball on the break to Kent Bazemore, of all people, to score his first playoff basket on a lay up to take the lead. Timeout, Spurs down one...3.4 seconds left. Everyone, at this point probably knows the rest. Manu Ginobili happened again. San Antonio Spurs 129, Golden State Warriors 127 in double overtime.
After the game, Spurs Coach Greg Popovich was quoted as saying, "I went from trading him on the spot to wanting to cook him breakfast tomorrow." It goes without saying that Manu Ginobili was the player of the game. Manu did what only Manu can do. After almost wasting a historic comeback by needlessly trying to seal a game with one shot that the Spurs were at an advantage to win already, Manu came back and sealed the game with one shot. This was one of the most incredible NBA playoff games that I've ever seen and I'm glad that I watched every single second of it. Having Manu seal it with one of the more memorable of his plethora of memorable clutch playoff shots was nothing but classic.
Four Down
2013 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 4
Guerrilla Radio - It was two minutes into the third quarter when Dwight Howard, well, went all Dwight Howard and got himself ejected from Game 4 of the Los Angeles Lakers first round series with the San Antonio Spurs last night, effectively ending one of the worst experiments of throwing team chemistry out the window to chase the allure of superstar talent melding in NBA history. After Howard's ejection, Kobe Bryant made an appearance on the bench to give the Lakers fans one last thrill, but by the end of the third quarter - the Spurs were up 20 points and LA super fan Jack Nicholson was leaving the building. The final score was 103 to 82 and this rapid playoff exit was the first time the 16 time Champion Lakers have been swept out of the first round since 1967. Last night's player of the game for me was Dejuan Blair who played some huge minutes off the bench for the Spur's depleted front court. Dejuan had 13 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes and seemed to constantly be making plays the entire time he was on the court. Having dispatched the Lakers quickly, the #BlackAndSilver will now have roughly a week off to get healthy (with Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw nursing injuries) and prepare for a second round match up with either the Golden State Warriors or the Denver Nuggets.
While I'm ecstatic that the Spurs have eliminated their long time rival in dominant fashion, a much more important story broke today in the world of sports. NBA center Jason Collins, who finished last season for the Washington Wizards became the first American professional athlete playing in one of the four major American professional sports leagues (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL) to announce he is gay. This was a courageous announcement and a major advancement for gay rights within the American sports landscape which is tragically behind the curb when it comes to the acceptance of homosexuality. While there have been professional athletes who have come out of the closet after retirement, it is dumbfounding that in 2013 not a single one had done so as an active player; until today. Hopefully, Jason Collins' courage will usher in a sea change in progressive openness within professional locker rooms and he can serve as a role model for any athlete at any level thinking about coming out of the closet. He will likely serve as inspiration for countless young athletes to see that there should be nothing to fear in being openly gay. The best part of following this story today was seeing the groundswell of support from the NBA community towards Jason Collins. As a life-long NBA basketball fan, I am thrilled to see that community rally around Collins and I'm happy that it was a basketball player who was the first to break down this barrier.
Featured Image Source: SBNation
Headline Image Source: Famous Fix
Three Down
2013 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 3
Sleep Now In the Fire - Last night, the LA Lakers waved the white flag of surrender rather than making a stand against the San Antonio Spurs in their home city. The #BlackAndSilver manhandled them 120 to 89, dealing the historic franchise their worst home defeat in playoff history. While the writing has been on the wall for some time regarding this disastrous season for the Lakers, keep in mind that this is still the same team that many pundits predicted could win 70 games last summer when Dwight Howard and Steve Nash were brought in to team up with Kobe Bryant.
There isn't a whole lot to say about the Spurs performance, other than they are rounding into the same type of overpowering machine as last year. This type of systematic dismantling of opposing defenses propelled them to win their first ten playoff games in 2012 without a defeat. Of course, we don't want to replicate last year's results. I would much prefer that the Spurs face some adversity earlier in this year's playoffs. Speaking of adversity, it was really disappointing to hear that Russell Westbrook is out indefinitely. If a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals is in the cards, it would be much more gratifying to take on Oklahoma City at full strength. Hopefully Westbrook can get sooner rather than later.
Back to last night's carnage, my player of the game was Cory Joseph. He has been playing tough and has been active around the basketball throughout the series and is noticeably contributing to the cause. I know that Coach Pop gets plenty of credit for being a genius and what not, but pulling Cory Joseph out of the D-League to become the Spurs starting point guard earlier in the season when Tony was injured was a brilliant move. Pop could have easily filled that hole with a combination of Patty Mills and Gary Neal and just bode the time until Tony returned. Instead, he gave Cory the confidence boost he needed to take his game to the next level and become an effective player. That foresight is paying off in spades right now. Hopefully, Cory can continue to have that Speedy Claxton type high energy presence off the bench behind Tony. If so, we might be looking at lights out, guerrilla radio at the Staples Center tomorrow.
Two Down
2013 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 2
Rocket Man - Last night, the #BlackAndSilver held strong on their home court defeating the LA Lakers again 102 to 91. Even though the Lakers injury problems just seem to keep getting worse, we shouldn't feel sorry for them (they have had more than their fair share of good luck over the years) nor should be write them off; they're still dangerous. Game 2 was a much more focused, dominant performance with several players deciding to join Timmy and Manu by rounding into playoff form. Tony looked dominant for the first time since coming back from injury, and Kawhi showed glimpses of being the second-coming of James Worthy in transition. If Kawhi keeps progressing with his ability to run the one man fast break, he will add a dynamic to our attack that could serve invaluable as the playoffs progress. However, the player of the game for me was the Red Rocket himself, Matt Bonner. Matty B. played his ass off on defense and was able to get Dwight Howard a little flustered. Whether is was because of Bonner's peskiness or not, it was clearly evident that Howard checked out of the game mentally half way through the fourth quarter. Bonner also hit clutch threes which is crucial for us to have a shot at making a run this year. Bonner's jumper has seemed to stop falling under the pressure of the playoff lights in passed years and with Boris Diaw injured and Steven Jackson exiled, it is critical that Matty can stretch the floor by draining threes. Keep it up, Bonner!
Featured Image Source: Bleacher Report
Headline Image Source: NBC Sports
One Down
2013 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 1
Who Gon Stop Me - In a thrilling addition to an already amazing first weekend of Fiesta, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers this afternoon 91 to 79 at the AT&T Center. There is no place quite like San Antonio for this time of year. Can't nobody check the city right now.
¡Viva la fiesta!
...from the top of the world.