Let's take a look at the Spurs score out of a Horns set. Tony Parker passes to Tiago Splitter and then curls around the big man while Jodie Meeks goes under Tiago. Tony just keeps on jogging to the basket and Splitter makes a nice 20-foot pass to Parker under the basket for an easy reverse layup. It seems like everyone on the floor was going at about 70% on this one.
This is just ridiculous. Watch Tiago as TP is driving through the lane. He's working his way to the corner. He wants to take this three. There are 17 seconds left on the shotclock when he gets the ball and it's the first quarter, but this is the kind of game it was. He jacks it up and it goes how you'd probably expect it to go. Maybe if Tony had provided a sharper pass he would have drained it. My favorite part of this GIF is the complete lack of reaction from anyone on the Spurs bench.
So, for posterity: The time Tiago Splitter stepped back to attempt a corner three with 17 seconds on the shot clock in an actual NBA game and Gregg Popovich didn't even blink.
We're lucky we have Boris Diaw and Manu Ginobili on the team. They are both such deft passers and opportunistic cutters that this could easily have happened with the players in opposite roles. Boris makes a really sweet pass around Robert Sacre to the cutting Gino who finishes with an easy layup.
Check out Tony Parker work off a Tiago pick and then drive through the lane past Jordan Hill. He's so graceful as he gets a really tough layup to go. He makes it look so easy. Let's hope we get Tony at the height of his powers for the next two months.
Let us also hope that we get much more Good Manu than Bad Manu for the next two months. He had an incredible season, deserves to be Sixth Man of the Year, and I'm really happy the Spurs have one of the greatest winners ever still with them. Here's hoping he stays healthy and stubborn for a long run into the Summer. A run full of excellence like this touch-pass to Kawhi Leonard for an open three. Manu blinks basketball.
I feel pretty confident that this is the first and last time we'll see Austin Daye, Damion James and Cory Joesph work together to get a bucket this season. The pass that Damion James makes around Ryan Kelly is really nice and CoJo gets the contested shot to go.
The Lakers' season in a nutshell:
My computer is having technical difficulties at the moment and J. Gomez was kind enough to help out with the GIFs.
Next up - Dallas vs. Spurs Game 1. See you then, Pounders.