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Love the effort today, everyone came out to play and stepped up when they needed. Parker still trying to find rhythm but Manu was a surprise.. Wow, Playoffs bring out the best in everyone.
Tim Duncan B+
He was great in the first half. Got the Spurs going. D strong throughout. O fizzled in the second half.
Manu Ginobili A
Wow. Nothing much was expected but Ginobili was able to shatter expectations. Moved well; hit key shots.
Tony Parker B+
Struggled to score even though L.A. didn't help much but played hard in all facets. Passing was a plus.
Kawhi Leonard B
Predictably, had trouble scoring in halfcourt sets. But he defended, rebounded and ran with purpose.
Danny Green B-
Shot adequately well. Had a few good moments on defense. Better than usual on the boards.
Tiago Splitter D+
Passed well and post D was decent. But he was too flop-happy and soft. That doesn’t work in the playoffs.
Matt Bonner A-
Encouraging start. D was iffy but he fouled smartly and boarded well. Made L.A. account for him on O.
Gary Neal C-
Too much chucking. Not enough defense. Picked his spots poorly in all areas
Cory Joseph A
I'm thrilled with his play. He went HARD with no hesitation. Kept his eyes open and certainly made an impact.
DeJuan Blair Inc.
Had an important cameo in the second half and actually had a few positive plays.
Aron Baynes Inc.
Bear hug was a quality Hack-a-Howard tactic.
Nando De Colo Inc.
Got a haircut before the game. Hit two free throws during the game.
Pop B+
Other than odd usage of Hack-a-Howard, I really liked his decisions. Going with Joseph and Bonner paid off.
Love the effort today, everyone came out to play and stepped up when they needed. Parker still trying to find rhythm but Manu was a surprise.. Wow, Playoffs bring out the best in everyone.
Agreed with all of these for the most part. I thought Parker was just a couple of rolls away from shooting 50%. Hope he'll get healthier as the playoffs move forward.
Splitter reminded me of a freshly ed vagina.
Oh, and the play of the game was Kawhi blocking that three and then outleting for the easy 2 on the other end. Total momentum killer.
great stuff.
no complaints from me, other than disappointed in Tiago, so hope he gets ferocious again.
Real happy to see Bonner step up in what is an extremely important game. also, real happy to see what CoJo did out there. Pop made a great decision, and I'm a fan of both CoJo and Nando, but CoJo is quicker and more tenacious on D.
Hope Parker continues to get healthy, some moments from him I didn't like but he also made some great shots and passes. No real complaints.
lovin what CoJo brought. No hesitation on the jumper, timely passing. Did what a good backup pg is supposed to do.
I thought Parker played smart with good passing. 38% shooting isn't going to cut it, though.
Credit where credit is due, Bonner played well, he actually played like a big. That left-handed hook shot over Gasol was nice, and certainly something the Lakers had to adjust for as I think they must have been as surprised as everybody else (including Bonner himself!)
Kawhi's steal on the 3-pointer + the lay-up in transition was indeed nice. JVG pointed out he "understood why Pop loves this kid so much". The other play I thought really killed the Lakers' momentum was Manu's 3 (the second) out of nowhere. It looked a lot like the type of bad shot Neal would take, except it went in.
This being said I'd be surprised if we see the same kind of sloppy play (on both sides) again. It definitely wasn't pretty, too many botched open shots.
Duncan's scoring was down to 40 % due to struggles in the second half; Parker's was up to 38% due to improvement in the second half. But Parker added 8 assists and 3 steals with only 2 turnovers. Ginobili was clearly the spark that made all the difference in this game. He was superb. Just superb. I am so glad that we have another three days off before they have to play again. Just great to see that of our big three, two can have only 1/2 game terrific per person (Duncan and Parker), but if one (Ginobili) can make it great for the whole game, we can come through.
Bonner was such a delightful surprise.
I feel better about this series now than I did before this game. I expected more from the Lakers than we saw, and I believe that all the spurs played as hard as they knew how to play...except for maybe Splitter. We gotta figure something out for him.
Referees are truly a problem, and they will give one or two to the Lakers in L.A., but we can beat this team. Sooner than later is better.
As long as someone steps up big beside Duncan (who is automatic), the Spurs should easily dispatch the Lakers. I thought that person was going to have to be Tony Parker. Shame on me for counting out Manu. Parker's issues, be it injury or fear of attacking an elite shot blocker, are worrisome going forward, but won't impact this series if Manu keeps playing well.
Cojo's pressure and effort really helped tonight. Kawhi's rebounding effort made up for his lack of offense. Splitter needs to take his tampon out. Ginobili brought that X-factor we needed.
TD, Manu, Bonner were the MVPs IMO
Cory Mother ing Joseph.
Shooting % for Parker was low, but I thought he looked a lot quicker than he has. So, actually I'm encouraged.
Good win, but Parker's health remains a massive concern. This is by far the worst backcourt in the playoffs (Nash/Blake/Meeks), and Tony wasn't able to consistently beat his defender. Don't get me wrong, he played a magnificent game given his condition - made excellent passes, protected the ball well, picked his spots to attack etc. However, the TP from mid-season would have gone for 30/10 on 60%+ shooting against these Laker guards who have neither speed nor size.
Parker needs to recover significantly if he's going to take on the likes of Westbrook/Sefolosha. Even the Nuggets have a variety of personnel (Lawson, Chandler, Brewer, Iguodala) that can check a slowed-down Parker.
Joseph is faster than Parker right now.
Parker gets an A for playing smart, and an F for his current physical form.
I guess I expected the mid season blur to show he was just resting. I smell fish. Rotting fish.
Manu was incredible, Duncan played well too.
Let Parker retire and hand the keys over to Mills
Even since the second-to-last game against OKC, Splitter hasn't played that well (or even bad sometimes). Against the Lakers, it might be okay as they are playing Howard-Gasol anyways and Splitter is okay on defense.
But against OKC (assuming the Spurs can go that far), he has to play well to limit their usage of small lineups with Durant at 4.
And Tony still needs to get back to his All-NBA level play to give Spurs even a chance against Nuggets as they have two very capable PGs in Lawson and Miller.
Very pleased with CoJo's play. He played with purpose and was not hesitant at all. And he put the pressure on offense all the time.
Last, even Manu can stay healthy and play like this, we have a decent chance to displace OKC in the West. Thought against the Heat, until proven otherwise, LeBron and his pals are still heavy favorite.
But as promising as it looks, it's just one game. A playoff series doesn't (truly) start until someone wins a road game.
Disappointed with Kawhi, but I had high expectations for him.
Bonner was great, didn't look like a midget and gave great effort. Matt is shooting his highest percentage from 3 point land ever in April and I hope he maintains it through out the playoffs.
Joseph played with a lot of poise. His two FGs were confident looking shots and came at opportune moments.
Watching Ginobili work his magic late in the 3rd was incredible. Right when the Lakers gained some momentum and the Spurs were having one of their offensive droughts, Manu goes on an 8-0 run.
Yep. A bit later he was ahead of Apeman for a "bomb" pass/alley oop, but Parker wouldn't let it fly.
Cojo/Neal/Green/Bonner/KL too high
Splitter too low
Spurs shot 38%, ain't getting past 2nd round like that.
We played an average game. The Lakers just sucked today. If I was grading them, I'd give them all F's. Love Joseph, I was so happy he got the start at back-up pg instead of De Colo.
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