Spurs Earn 2nd Postseason Sweep

The San Antonio Spurs are now 8-0 in the playoffs. They have now won 18 in a row and look pretty dang formidable. We will see if the Thunder can slow them down. Unless the Lakers manage to overcome a 3-1 deficit to beat the Thunder. Game 5 is tonight and if the Thunder wins the Western Conference Finals will be set.

The Spurs certainly deserved to advance to the finals and they did it due to several standout players. They were led by the great Tim Duncan. Duncan had 21 points and 9 rebounds in a typical Duncan game. Tony Parker continued his outstanding season by adding 17 points. Danny Green continued his breakout season as he added 14. If you had told me Danny Green would have been a critical part of a Spurs run to the Western Conference Finals in the beginning of the year, I probably would not have believed you. This guy and several others just keep coming through though. Another guy is Gary Neal, this guy went undrafted by the Spurs, was sent to the D-League this year and still was huge in a clinching game. Neal had 14 points in just 14 minutes last night. Splitter and Ginobili each added 11. That is 6 guys in double figures. This is actually a team. Unlike some folks in the extreme southeast part of the country.

Fun Fact: This game featured Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili playing their 130th career postgame together. Which is highest for any active trio in the NBA.

Who can stop these Spurs?

-Noland

Spurs Up 3-0

The San Antonio Spurs now have a 3-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Clippers. This series is as good as done. You can see why the Spurs are the title favorite by how much they have dominated thus far in the playoffs. No team has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a series in NBA History. The question seems to have shifted to when will these Spurs close this out. It is looking like a Spurs-Thunder showdown is coming very soon. That should be a fantastic series, but for now we will stay focused on the current series.

Blake Griffin had an outstanding game in the loss for the Clippers. Griffin had 28 points and 16 rebounds while looking like the best player on the court. Unfortunately for him, the Spurs had their whole team look good when it mattered. Tony Parker had 23 points and 10 assists in the win. Tim Duncan had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Manu Ginobili had 13 points. Kawhi Leonard had 14 points and 9 rebounds. It is incredible how these guys are playing together.

This game was especially impressive. At one point, the Spurs were down 24 points. They were ice cold to start the game, only scoring 11 points in the 1st quarter. They were able to overcome that though and go on their own 24-0 run in the 3rd quarter. Gregg Popovich must have made some really awesome adjustments to key the comeback. It is going to be incredibly difficult to beat this team.

-Noland

Spurs Continue Playoff Dominance

The San Antonio Spurs have done it again. These Spurs took a 1-0 lead as they edged the Clippers in Game 1. This win is the 15th straight win for the Spurs as they look to capture another NBA title. They did this one behind the veterans as well. They beat the Clippers by 16 points. Look out NBA.

Superstar forward Tim Duncan scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds in the victory. This game was vintage Duncan. Double double and dominance down low, what a great game. Not only that, but he played 35 minutes in the game. He did that while getting almost a full quarter of rest.

Manu Ginobili had 22 points for the Spurs. The Clippers had no answer for Ginobili or Duncan. They also had no answer for the Spurs on the glass. Boris Diaw had 12 rebounds last night. Two guys in double digit rebounds does not speak well of your rebounding totals.

The Spurs also got key contributions from two other players. These players, who others didn't know would react to the playoff stage came up big last night. Rookie Kawhi Leonard had 16 points in a tremendous effort and castoff Danny Green had 15 points. Each of them has 6 rebounds in the game. If Green and Leonard keep coming through, this team will be near impossible to beat. I guess we will find out Thursday Night in Game 2.

-Noland

Spurs With the Sweep

Get out your brooms. The San Anotnio Spurs have swept the Utah Jazz in a very uncompetitive series. Now that we are going to start the second round, things should get interesting. San Antonio, LA, LA, and Oklahoma City is a quality four team playoff. I guess it could still shake out differently though.

Manu Ginobili led the way with 17 points as the Spurs cruised to victory last night. This was the closest game, a 6 point victory, and the Jazz actually had a chance here. All of the other games were double digits victories, including the 31 point blowout in game 2. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both had 11 points and played their worst games of the postseason so far. The three other starters (Diaw, Leonard, and Green) had a combined 8 points. This was the worst night for the starting five perhaps all season so it was good that Manu stepped up. The fact that the starters only had 29 of the 87 points, shows the depth of this Spurs lineup.

Paul Millsap had an incredible effort in the loss for Utah. He had 19 rebounds. What an amazing effort by Millsap as he dominated the boards. San Antonio did not have a single player in double figures on rebounds. Unfortunately for Millsap he was only 4-17 from the field.

Gary Neal also had 11 points for the Spurs. He was one of the key players off the bench. Neal played just 18 minutes, but he made his impact known. The Utah Jazz sure know who Gary Neal is now. Perhaps the best performance was turned in by Dejuan Blair who had 6 points and 3 rebounds in only 7 minutes of playing time. The Spurs got great efforts from every member of that bench. San Antonio will likely face that LA Clippers next, LA went up 3-1 last night. Looks like Chris Paul stands in the way of San Antonio's 5th NBA title.

-Noland