The first possession for the Spurs resulted in a three for Danny Green, which was something that we didn't see in Game One. Tony Parker drove into the paint and found an open Green in the right corner and the former Tar Heel connected for three. For a brief moment I thought the Spurs we know and love were back.
I love watching Timmy work in the post. Here he has Shawn Marion matched up against him and he goes into a spin move only to find that he is being doubled by Dirk. Timmy dealt with double teams on a nightly basis for a a very long time, and he's comfortable working from that situation. Tim makes a nice bounce pass around Dirk to Tiago Splitter, who fakes Samuel Dalembert into the air and then puts up a little layup for the score.
Tiago is becoming a better passer. Check out this overhead bullet to a wide open Marco for an easy bucket. This is good. We need more of this.
Manu Ginobili exploded at the end of the first half to close a 15-point gap to five. He accounted for 10 points in less than three minutes and had a couple of excellent plays during the run.
First, Gino curls around Tiago on a hand-off and pulls up early to keep Dirk away from the ball with a leaning floater. He may have turned the ball over more than we'd like, but the man is a heck of a competitor and I love watching him play basketball.
Second we see him trailing on a Patty Mills fast break as the half is coming to a close. Patty misses the layup, but the wily Argentine sneaks in and scores on a 180° reverse putback. Again, it's a treat to watch the man compete.
Tim Duncan really wants to be a point guard. Here he gets the ball at the top of the arc and takes three dribbles as he drives to the hole. He gets halfway around Dirk and it's enough as the big man gets the shot to drop with a soft touch on a tough angle.
Let's finish this GBD with Tiago turning a mess into fun. He battles inside for a rebound, comes up with it, but he brings the ball down and Vince Carter almost strips him of it. Instead of being stripped, Splitter is able to bring the ball up and then flip it behind his head to Manu who drains another triple.
That's it for this one, Pounders. Hopefully we'll be celebrating a victory in the next edition. Until then, remember it was just one game and the Spurs are very good at bouncing back and making adjustments. The sky is not falling.