GIF Breakdown Game 1 2nd Half: Thunder at Spurs

After shooting under 30% during the Portland Trail Blazers series, Manu Ginobili went scoreless in the first half of Game One before scoring 18 points in the second half. This is his first score of the series. It's a jumper off a hand-off immediately after the inbound, and is such a simple but effective way to get Gino a good look after a stoppage.

The Thunder took a one point lead twice during the third quarter with this bucket from Kevin Durant giving them their final lead at 78-77.

Manu responded by getting to the free throw line in transition for a strange push/floater that just gets enough of the front of the rim to bounce around and fall through the hoop.

A couple of possessions later the Spurs use some nice ball movement to get Tim Duncan the ball in good position where he is able to power through Kendrick Perkins' attempt to keep Duncan from converting. That's an and-one and Tim is pumped.

Ginobili hurt the Thunder with his scoring, but this is a sweet pass out of a pick-and-roll to Aron Baynes. Baynes pauses a second to gather himself as Durant flies by and out of position and then gets a nice 180° reverse-layup.

Manu seemed to be licking his chops at the sight of Steven Adams as the protector of the paint. In this play he uses a high screen from Baynes and then goes right  before finishing left with Adams well out of position to contest the shot.

Playing for a two-for-one, Manu and Baynes run another high screen and roll with Manu getting the better of Steven Adams again. Who knows what we'll get from Manu from game to game, or even half to half, but I sure enjoy watching him play basketball.

Scott Brooks went with Durant at the five for a couple of stretches during the game. Here we see my man Boris Diaw go to work down low against Caron Butler. Bobo is too big, too crafty, and too skilled for Butler to handle.

This is an even worse matchup for the Thunder, with Reggie Jackson well undersized to stop the Big Frenchman. Kevin Durant notices this so he comes to help his teammate, but Boris kicks it out to Tony, drawing out Durant in the process. Tony reposts Diaw and he gets his shot up before Durant can bring help. Easy stuff for The President.

Let's end this edition of GIF Breakdown with a Kawhi Leonard steal and score. Leonard steals the pass from Russell Westbrook to Durant, dribbles around KD, and then has no problem getting to the hole with Derek Fisher and Reggie Jackson as the only guys in his way.

See you next time, Pounders. Hopefully after the Spurs take a 2-0 series lead on Wednesday night. Until then, this team is so easy to root for.

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