GIF Breakdown: Spurs vs. Lakers

We'll start this edition of GIF Breakdown with the customary Kawhi Leonard coast-to-coast score. The Lakers don't offer much resistance as Kawhi goes the length of the floor and gets two for the good guys.

The movement in this next GIF is great. Not just the ball movement, but the player movement as well. We see Whi kick to Boris Diaw when he finds no room in the lane. Boris then tosses it to Manu Ginobili, who was moving from the top of the arc to the corner. With three defenders around him, Manu finds Tim Duncan near the free throw line, but Tim sees Whi under the basket and quickly makes a pass to the young guy. Leonard get's the ball, pump fakes, dribbles, and then finds Tony Parker all alone for a long two. Every Spur on the floor touched the ball, and the five passes that were made took just seven seconds. Really nice work from the fellas.

This next play features more good ball movement and ends in a wide-open Cory Joseph three-ball. We see the Spurs get into the half-court and immediately start swinging the ball around, keeping the Lakers defenders scrambling to adjust. Manu starts with a pass to Belinellli who drives and kicks to Duncan. Kent Bazemore tries to steal the ball from Tim which leaves Gino open, so Jordan Farmar moves to close on Manu, but this leaves CoJo all alone in the corner. Tim passes him the ball, and Cory has plenty of time to set his feet and line up the shot.

Aron Baynes got a bit of playing time in this game. He had 12 points and eight rebounds in his 18 minutes of work. Here the Big Banger runs the floor in transition. Cory Joseph gets the ball at the wing from Beli and is patient as he waits for Baynes to get to the free throw line where the Canadian hits him in stride. Then it's just two steps for Aron as he throws down a monster jam! Patty Mills is so excited that he doesn't even know what towel-wave to do, and he comes up with some cross of The Propeller/Chopper/Slapper.

The Lakers were truly no match for the Spurs. Almost the entire game the Spurs found easy ways to score no matter who the personnel on the floor were. Marco and Manu share a psychic connection, so it is entirely too easy for them to do this to an outmatched Laker team. Manu explores the left side of the floor looking for an opening and Farmar fakes like he's going to step in front of Gino. By the time Farmar looks back to the corner for his man, Belinelli is in the paint. It's a rare dunk for Marco, who generally scores near the rim by getting some really tough layup to go. This has to be two of the easiest points he's ever scored.

One possession later we see Manu get the ball at the wing after CoJo comes up with a rebound and passes to Gino from his backside. Ginobili gives a Manu pump-fake before driving into the lane, going left, and then getting an awkwardly angled layup to go around Robert Sacre. No confusion about which towel-wave Patty uses here, he clearly goes with The Slapper.

The Lakers really had trouble stopping the Spurs in transition on Friday night. Cory goes almost the length of the floor to get into the paint before dishing to Kawhi for a nice slam. Wesley Johnson, who is a starter for the struggling Lakers, is absolutely worthless on this play. He never marks Whi and Leonard makes him pay by slipping by him. Maybe Wesley should have had a Snickers.

Let's finish this edition with a play featuring the Red Mamba, the Plus/Minus King, Matty B. Matt Bonner played 26 minutes in the contest and was pretty good throughout. He led the team in plus/minus with a plus-21 and had the only double-double for the Spurs with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Here we see him receive the ball at the top of the arc and pump fake Ryan Kelly before going left. He beats Kelly with a two-dribble drive to the rack where The Red Rocket finishes with a lefty layup high off of the glass. Good stuff from Bonner.