Stolen unabashedly from Hirschof
Alright, so this a recap, but I'm writing it while the game is going on so you get the emotions I'm feeling during the game. Say it with me in your best Joker voice: Here we go!
"The Clippers? Are you serious?"
1st Quarter:
The Spurs start off strong and jump out to a quick 11-4 lead. They look pretty crisp to start the game with everybody getting involved early. Blair's defense on Griffin looks pretty strong, although he does pick up two cheap fouls trying to get offensive boards. Things start getting sloppy. It looks like a dorm room, garbage everywhere. Speaking of that a Sports Center In-Game just started off with: "The Knicks and Warriors in a good one." Come on now Stuart, I know you gotta sell the highlight, but bald face lying doesn't become you.
Spurs lineup out of a timeout is RJ, Blair, Parker, Hill and Dyess and the Clippers cut the to 18-19. Splitter comes in and gets a rebound and then an offense foul. Well, all the crispness is gone and the game has gotten very ugly. A James Anderson three to end the quarter gives the Spurs a 4 point lead.
Let's hope things get better from here.
2nd Quarter:
Alright, why is Brian Cook owning the Spurs here? He looks like an All-Star right now. He missed two open shots or would have had 10 points in the first 4 minutes of the quarter. Sheesh. Hill makes a couple of nice baskets to keep the Spurs in front, but barely. Here's a question, why do they make movie and car commercials with NBA high-lights in them? It doesn't make me want to buy the car or watch the movie any more...in fact, probably makes me less likely to partake in the item. Am I out of touch here? Why is that cool?
Anyway, Parker is having a decent game 11 points 5 assists with 7 minutes to go in the second quarter. Solid. Spurs playing better with Splitter and Duncan on the floor together. I can see that tandem working out nicely. As I say that Duncan almost gives up an offensive board. Spurs playing better and the Clips are not as amped as they were. Is it me or are the big head NBA commercials a little freaky? They kinda remind me of this:
via www.z100.com
This freaks my wife out to no end. She won't even watch the commercial.
Out of the time out the Spurs have two quick TO's. Then Rage hits a very nice open corner 3 and then gets a steal. Now it's become the Rage show. That ended as quickly as it began. Things getting sloppy on the defensive end. Might be because Blair is back in. Parker and Blair both miss easy layups. Manu hits a three to keep the Spurs up by 8 going into the 3 minute timeout. Commercial thought: How did Derek Fisher get a commercial? I cannot tell you how annoying that is.
Out of the timeout the Spurs give a wide open jumper. Rage nice dish to Blair who dunks it home. I wish he'd do that more. 1:14 to go and an offensive rebound and the Clippers are within 5. The Spurs cannot play decent for more than a couple minutes at a time. Duncan finally scores with less than a minute to go in the half. Spurs manage to not get a shot off before the shot clock expires. This is just lazy/stupid play. Spurs take a 51-44 lead into half time. Deserving very little of that lead. The one positive thing is that Griffin is 2-8 from the field.
Halftime:
I hate analysts. They're all so predictable. It's like having somebody stab you in the eye with Mark Jackson's words for 30 seconds and then coming right back with Jalen Rose's vocabulary to stab you in the ear. How do these guys get jobs...and keep them?
It's worse than this, but the pictures to describe it weren't family friendly.
3rd Quarter:
Back to the action. So this is an ugly start. Clippers go on a mini-run and take the lead. The teams trade baskets and the lead with some nice offense and very unwatchable defense. A tech on the Clippers bench after a Duncan dunk and another nice layup for the GOATPUFF, from a sweet pass from Dyess, gives the Spurs some breathing room. Manu gets a very nice and-one, the Clippers call a timeout., a 65-59 lead for the Spurs. Tim Duncan on the NBA Cares talking about the Wounded Warriors projects. Very cool.
Six minutes to go, and Mark Jackson is droning on....and on....and on. Will somebody give this guy a head coaching job so we can stop having to listen to him while trying to enjoy our Spurs?! I'm not even sure what he's saying any more. Manu just had a very sick pass to Splitter and he can't finish it. There have been at least 4 easy buckets the Spurs have missed. That has got to end.
via scrapetv.com
Go to your home, ball!
Apparently, everyone needs to learn from RAGE! He's been money tonight. Parker is slicing up the Clippers defense. Spurs on a little run up 8. The defense is still off, but it's been slightly better the last few minutes. Two TO's right in a row from Hill and Parker. Back from the time out at 2:24 in the 3rd, Spurs up 72-64. It'd be nice to see some defense right about now. Jefferson hits a three and then the Spurs go on another mini-run with Parker getting a fast break layup. Spurs have two ok defensive postions, but mostly bad play by the Clippers. And, we're right back to sloppy play. That didn't take long. A nice end to the 3rd. Manu scores going, you guessed it, left and then Bledsoe gets his last second shot swatted by Splitter.
We need to keep this lead big to get our guys rested.
4th Quarter:
Alright, 14 point lead. Let's see if our boys can make this a nice easy win. George hits a nice open three after some solid ball movement. Spurs hustle on defense to start here. Playing a little out of control, but at least there's hustle out there. Wowzer, there was just one hell of a dunk from Aminu, that was bad defense and some real athleticism. Manu answers with a 3. Again, back to sloppy play on defense. The offense is looking like a well oiled machine with Anderson, Manu, Blair, McDyess and Hill on the floor. I keep harping on it, but the defense is just not smart. Blair just ruined a whole possession by being lazy and not getting back on his man.
Down to an 8 point lead with 7:40 to go. Brian Cook continues to go off. Anderson hits a three and then for some reason we DOUBLE TEAM Cook and the Clippers hit a wide open three. How can we not guard Brian effing Cook one on one? *sigh* The lead is now down to 6 with the offense taking after the defense and getting rushed and out of control. Blair bails out Jefferson who takes a terrible shot and missed a wide open Manu. This is a frantic game at this point. The Spurs seem like they're afraid they're going to lose and are pressing. Maybe it's because Duncan is on the bench, but these guys have got to calm down.
Calm down, make smart decisions, win the game
Out of the time out. Manu makes free throws to put the Spurs up ten. They play good defense, but give up an open layup at the end of the shot clock. Well, this is looking like a M. Night Shyamalan movie, it's just not making sense. Duncan is having to check back in with 3:23 to go. Not good. 5 point game. Parker knocks down two free-throws. 7 point game, 2:20 to go. McDyess with a HUGE block on Griffin. Rage fouled and will shoot two on a questionable flagrant call. McDyess has had a very nice game. He hasn't done a ton that will go in the stats, but he's been very solid. Jefferson misses an awkward looking shot, McDyess knocks out to Manu. Ginobili then proceeds to run down the clock and makes a sick behind the back dribble, fake pass and sweet layup. 11 point lead. 1:47 to go.
After Griffin gets an unlucky tech called on him, he proceeds to get a wicked alley-oop, I mean sick dunk. Wow. Duncan to the bench, Splitter in. Even towards the end of the game the defense is getting broken down like a '76 Pinto. Gary Neal is in the game. Mass subs for the Spurs, Neal, Gee and the white guy who they signed recently. Neal has a nice dish to McDyess and that's the icing.
Spurs win! 107-95
Summary:
It was sloppy to be sure, but a win is a win and it tastes so good
This game was as consistent as Jalen Rose's ability to use proper sentence structure. The Spurs started off strong and then the game got sloppy in a hurry. I know I used that word a lot, but it's exactly what happened. There were stretches of the game where the Spurs looked great on offense and good on D, but it never lasted long. Here are some stats for your viewing pleasure:
| LA Clippers | Players in bold: Currently in-game | ||||||||||||||
| Starters | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts | |
| R. Butler | G | 39:33 | 7-14 | 3-6 | 1-2 | -7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| E. Bledsoe | G | 31:16 | 5-15 | 1-1 | 0-0 | -17 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| D. Jordan | C | 14:20 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | -14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| B. Griffin | F | 38:12 | 5-18 | 0-0 | 1-2 | -15 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| R. Gomes | F | 38:04 | 5-8 | 1-1 | 0-0 | -8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
| Bench | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts | |
| A. Aminu | 26:05 | 4-7 | 1-1 | 1-2 | -8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | |
| C. Smith | 16:34 | 6-6 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15 | |
| W. Warren | 16:20 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | +5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| B. Cook | 11:13 | 4-9 | 1-1 | 0-0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| J. Collins | 6:23 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| C. Kaman | 0:00 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 40-85 | 7-10 | 8-14 | 11 | 32 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 95 | |||
| Percentages: | .471 | .700 | .571 | Team Rebounds: 10 | |||||||||||
| San Antonio | Players in bold: Currently in-game | ||||||||||||||
| Starters | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts | |
| M. Ginobili | G | 35:42 | 6-9 | 3-5 | 7-7 | +10 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| T. Parker | G | 35:40 | 8-16 | 0-0 | 5-6 | +18 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
| D. Blair | C | 28:04 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | -16 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| R. Jefferson | F | 35:35 | 6-11 | 4-6 | 6-6 | +4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| T. Duncan | F | 22:07 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +17 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Bench | Min | FG | 3Pt | FT | +/- | Off | Reb | Ast | TO | Stl | BS | BA | PF | Pts | |
| G. Hill | 26:02 | 3-7 | 2-3 | 2-2 | +5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| A. McDyess | 25:42 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +10 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| T. Splitter | 15:35 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 4-5 | +10 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| J. Anderson | 11:13 | 2-3 | 2-3 | 1-2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| G. Neal | 0:47 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | +1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| A. Gee | 0:47 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Quinn | 0:47 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 35-70 | 11-17 | 26-30 | 9 | 40 | 21 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 17 | 107 | |||
| Percentages: | .500 | .647 | .867 | Team Rebounds: 7 | |||||||||||
If you notice the Spurs did a decent job of making life difficult for Blake Griffindor, but Rasual Butler tore this team up. Late rotations are where Butler and Gomes got most of their points. The Spurs are clearly not in a groove on either side of the floor. The defense picked up dramatically when Splitter and Duncan were playing together. Blair has got to pick up his defensive rebounding. I don't know what's going on with him, but he's playing dumb and lazy. He picked to two very cheap offensive fouls and then proceeded to stop trying on the offensive boards. Ok, that's harsh, he didn't give up, but the effort wasn't the same after those fouls.
George Hill had himself a decent game. He doesn't look right for some reason, but he seems to be a lot more confident than he has been. Having him playing well will help this team a lot. All that said, a win is a win. This team is going to be very very good on offense and will eventually be a good defensive team. I hope they can be better than good on defense, but it's clear that Splitter is going to help with that.
Your 3 stars:
3: Manu Ginobili - 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists - He hit some big shots to keep momentum from getting all the way over to the Clippers and stopped the bleeding. His 4 turnovers didn't help.
2: Richard Jefferson - 22 points, 3 boards, 2 steals - RAGE was on tonight. He hit his open threes and made smart decisions for most of the game. The defense isn't quite there yet.
1: Tony Parker - 21 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals - Parker pushed the tempo on offense and wasn't really a problem on defense. He disappeared a couple of times, but overall played a very solid game.
Game Thread Magic:
rick2g: My wife has just announced that Splitter is, and I quote, "7 feet of deliciousness".
from spursfan87
bones: couple stops – couple hoops and viola.
DrumsinTheDeep: Viola?
CapHill: FEAR THE BALD SPOT!
CapHill: Did Dice get new Legs?
bellasa: I hear he stole someone's ACL's
lullaby: if they’re our "scrubs" then my magic 8-ball reads "outlooks is good"
Aaronstampler: Dr. Quinn: Victory Cigar.
Get to feeling better Timmeh. I'm off to bed.