Spurs Sweep Grizzlies With 93-86 Game 4 Win

No slow start in this game.  I thought the Spurs should have blown out the Grizzlies from the get go, but they couldn't knock down their 3PT shots.  If they were just shooting their average from 3PT range, they would have been up by a lot more than 24-14 after the 1st, and 44-38 at the half. 

I still never had the sense that the Spurs were in danger of losing this game.  The 3rd quarter was the crucial one for the Grizzlies.  They put up 28 points and Quincy Pondexter was hot, but the Spurs managed to put up 28 themselves and the lead stayed at 6.  With Zach Randolph struggling again, the Grizzlies just don't have the shooters to be consistent on offense. 

Grizzlies once again destroyed the Spurs on the boards, 41-34 and got 16 offensive rebounds.  The difference was this time they failed to hold the Spurs under 90 and the turnovers were almost even (14-13 Grizzlies).  Tony Parker was just too good in this one.  The Spurs shot .513 for the game, but as a group didn't shoot that well.  They hit just 3-13 from 3PT range.  The scoring efficiency came courtesy of Parker, who made 15-21.  That's a .714 shooting percentage! Not only did Parker score a season high 37, but it was timely scoring.  Just about every time the Spurs needed a basket to stem a Grizzlies run, Parker delivered. 

Tim Duncan put in a pretty pedestrian game (at least for him) with 15 PTS (.467 shooting) and 8 REBS.  Kwahi Leonard was the only other Spurs in double-figures with 11, but only took 7 shots.  Duncan (4 blocks) and Leonard (5 steals) made their mark on the defensive end.  4 more blocked shots came from Tiago Splitter.   Manu Ginobili was just 1-6, but contributed 6 REBs and 6 STLs.

It may sound like an easy win, but the series could just as easily been 3-1 or 2-2 at this point.  The Grizzlies just never put together enough offense and I never thought Zach Randolph would struggle for 4 straight games.  Quincy Poindexter led the Grizzlies with 22 PTS (7-11) for the 2nd time all year, both coming in this series. 

 Did you happen to catch the Western Conference Championship trophy presentation?  I thought it was interesting that all the new guys were right behind the presenters.  Duncan and Ginobili was out of camera range on the far right (left of the screen) and you couldn't even see Parker until he stepped forward to hold the trophy.  That was typical Spurs...I can't think of one other team where the main players wouldn't have been up front soaking in all the attention. 

There's been a lot of congratulations after games from the bench players focused towards Duncan.  Splitter also gave him a few head pats and a big smile.  The other thing was Parker, in the post game interview, talking about winning another one for Duncan.  I wouldn't be surprised if Duncan mimics David Robinson and retires if the Spurs win the Championship this year.  It would be just like the Spurs to keep something like Duncan playing in his last season in house.  

I'm going to just relish the fact the Spurs are heading to the NBA Finals for the 5th time and post about their chances of winning once the Eastern Conference Finals are over.

Spurs Take 3-0 Lead With 104-93 Win Over Grizzlies

I expected the Grizzlies to come out with a lot of energy being back home in Memphis...what I didn't expect was that the Spurs would come out playing so badly.  As the 1st quarter went on I was wondering if they would surpass the 9 points they scored in the 4th quarter of Game 2.

How many coaches would bench the whole starting five?  If you didn't see the game, that's what Popovich did in the first quarter after.  Grizzlies led 29-13 after one.  I wasn't happy with that result (obviously neither was Pop), but I new if the Spurs just took care of the ball that the Grizzlies offense couldn't keep putting up 25+ point quarters.   I was more than happy that they got right back in it, outscoring the Grizzlies 27-15 in the 2nd to trail just 44-40 at halftime.

In the 4th quarter I was thinking if the Spurs could go on one more run they would put the game away.  They never got it.  The Grizzlies defense had much to do with that.  Spurs finally got the run in overtime, scoring 18 points in the 5 extra minutes. It was the Big Three that got it done in this game.  Tony Parker 26 points, Tim Duncan 24, and Manu Ginobili 19.  They each had 5 assists apiece.  Duncan pulled down 10 rebounds and Ginobili 7. 

Turnovers almost cost the Spurs this game (17 is too much).  I think they had 7 in the first quarter and Parker had 7 for the game (most of those in the 1st).  They also gave up 19 offensive rebounds, 9 by Zach Randolph and 5 from Marc Gasol.  I love Matt Bonners effort, but he can't handle Randolph, who is just abusing Bonner on the offensive glass.  I would hate to see what would happen if Tiago Splitter would foul out. 

I thought the Spurs low post defense was much better than when these teams met two years ago, but I didn't think they could bottle up Randolph...at least not for 3 straight games.  Randolph is just 12-40 (.300) in the series so far.  While you can say that's due to the Spurs defense, that doesn't explain why he's just 7-16 (.438) from the free throw line (he shot .750 for the season).  Coach Lionel Hollins is a great motivator, but he's not showing me much on the strategic end.  The Grizzlies haven't changed much to get the ball down inside to Randolph.  Mind you, I haven't seen the Grizzlies play much, so maybe they don't run the offense through Randolph, but the statistics show that Randolph was the Grizzlies leading scorer and the leader in shot attempts.  In Game 3, Mike Conley took 21 shots to Randolph's 14. 

In the last two games, the Grizzlies have held the Spurs under 90 in regulation, pulled down 38 offensive rebounds, and won the turnover battle.  Those were the things I thought they would need to beat the Spurs...the Grizzlies got it, but still lost.  They just can't score enough points without Randolph's normal contribution.  The Grizzlies just aren't a good shooting team.  Randolph shot .460 for the season.  Conley .440, Tony Allen .445 and Quincy Pointdexter was just .428 (so he's shooting way over his average for the series).  Before you think that Rudy Gay would've helped, he shot just .408 for the Grizzlies.  Gasol is the only Grizzly with a decent shooting average (and he's excellent at .494), but his game isn't scoring so he isn't going to shoot a lot (he was 3rd in attempts behind Randolph and Conley). 

Unless Randolph can get going I think this ends on Memorial Day.  Which reminds me of the "Memorial Day Miracle" game winner by Sean Elliott in 1999 (Game 2 vs. Blazers in Western Conference Finals).  If Elliott didn't shoot off his toes he would have been out of bounds.  What I remember most was Elliott, after making that shot, pointing at Mario Ellie saying "I told you, I told you." 

Western Conference Finals, Spurs win Game 2 93-89 in OT.

I figured the Spurs would go cold sooner or later…just didn’t think it would happen all at once in the 4^th quarter. 

Spurs looked like they were going to cruise to a 2-0 series lead, up  46-31 at halftime and the Grizzlies struggling to even find the rim, let alone make a shot.  At one point, the shooting was so bad even the announcers said there was a lot of bricks being thrown up.  Then in the 3^rd the Grizzlies got hot, outscoring the Spurs 33-30 in the quarter.  I still felt the Spurs were in control…no way the Grizzlies could keep that scoring pace up.  The Grizzlies did return to normal, scoring only 21 in the 4^th quarter, but the the Spurs went stone cold, scoring only 9 points. 

Despite the horrible 4^th quarter and Tim Duncan getting in foul trouble (he played in only 31:08 including the overtime) and sitting on the bench, the Spurs still should not have let this game go into overtime.  Two back-to-back unnecessary fouls sandwiched around a bad offensive possession let the Grizzlies tie the game.  With 52.1 seconds left and an 85-78 lead, Matt Bonner pushes Zach Randolph in the back as Randolph got wide open under the basket.  There was no way Bonner was going to keep Randolph from scoring in that situation and pushing him in the back just gave him the three point play and stopped the clock.  Still, it’s an 85-81 lead, run the clock down and get a good shot…make it and game over.  Even if they don’t score, the Grizzlies will have only one possession left.  Make them use some clock and it comes down to hitting a few free throws.

Spurs don’t even get a shot off and Manu Ginobili ends up turning over the ball leading to a Grizzlies fast break.  Ginobili then compounds the turnover by fouling Tony Allen on the layup.  Should it have been called a flagrant?  That didn't matter, the really important part was if Ginobili just lets him score, the Spurs are still up 85-83 and have the ball with under 18 seconds left.  Again, the Grizzlies have to foul and you can ice the game with free throws.  Actually I thought it was going to be called a Clear Path foul, which would have been the same result, free throws for Allen and the ball back for the Grizzlies.

Give credit to Allen for hitting some clutch free throws and Mike Conley for tying the game, but it never would have come to that point if Bonner and Ginobili used their heads and just let Randolph and Allen score. 

You can add the last possession in regulation to the bad play list too.  Spurs end up with a fall away 18 footer by Duncan to try and win it.  Duncan was closely guarded and moving away from the basket when he got the ball….the shot had no chance. 

Ford Focus ST, 1000 miles

One of my favorite car related websites to read was called Inside Line...well actually it still is one of my favorites, it's just that they're not Inside Line anymore.  Inside Line was a part of Edmunds.com, which now has absorbed Inside Line to become Edmunds' Long Term Road Tests.

What makes Inside...I mean Edmunds' Long Term Road Tests different from most car review sites is that they live with these cars.  It's not just a day of driving around town and maybe hitting a test facility to get some track numbers...they keep the cars for 20,000 miles.  They take road trips in them, go grocery shopping with them, take vacations, haul their family and friends around with them...they become the staffs daily drivers.  That in itself is different, because you get the opinions of a variety of drivers, not just one person.  Some are married, some women, some young, some are older, tall, short...in other words you'll get a wide range of opinions on a vehicle. If it's a sportier car, some of the staffers will take it to a track event...just like someone who buys one of those cars would.  The site is in blog format, with different staffers posting their thoughts on the time they spent with the cars...everything that they loved or that annoyed them. 

Part of why I own an ST is because Edmunds has a Focus ST in their fleet of Long Term Vehicles.  They've already put 10,000 miles on theirs...I just went over 1000.  I got mine as a low option car in part because of the issues (which were minor, but issues none the less) with the electronic add ones and some of the staffers comments on the Recaro bucket seats.  J.D. Powers vehicle dependability studies also said that although overall vehicle dependability has improved, the most reported problems are from added electronics. There was also almost a 5k difference in price between my car, an ST1 (only option a sunroof), and the fully optioned ST3 package.  I figure if I eventual want the bolstered racing seats I can pick up a set for less than that and I'm fine using my Tom-Tom for navigation.  It was just $100 dollars, has lifetime maps, and I put it in the car when I need it...which isn't that often.

The current fleet is very broad, ranging from a 1987 Buick Grand National to a 2013 Tesla Model S.  On the right of the page is also Past Long-Term Road Test vehicles.  It's entertaining reading and really informative. The vehicles are really scrutinized and put into just about every real life situation you would put the vehicle through over the course of ownership. 

So my thoughts on the Ford Focus ST so far...

Western Conference Finals, Spurs take Game 1 Over Grizzlies 105-93

Not much to say about this game…Spurs shot great, the Grizzlies not so much.  Sportscasters tend to overreact to games like this.  The team that loses is never as bad as they looked, and the team that wins isn’t as good as they looked.  I’m sure the Grizzlies realize they won’t have another shooting game this bad from Zach Randolph.  The Spurs need to realize (and I’m sure they do after what happened last year in the Conference Finals) that, although capable of doing it, they can’t count on getting that kind of 3-PT shooting.  Spurs took 29 threes and made 14…that’s .483, they shot .376 during the season. 

In the last two games (Game 6 vs. the Warriors and this game) the Spurs have regained the offensive efficiency they had early to mid-season.  I was really concerned going into the playoffs the way the offense fell off the last month or so.  While I’m excited about the offense, they’re not going to keep shooting > .500 every game.  Averages will catch up to them and they’re going to have to find other ways to win.  Encouraging for me is that Tim Duncan (3-9) and Manu Ginobili (2-6) didn’t have much impact on and they still won by 22.  Duncan contributed on defense, blocking Randolph's first shot setting the tone for the night.  He also pulled down 10 rebounds. 

With no disrespect to Quincy Pondexter, the Grizzlies won’t win many games if he’s their leading scorer (in fact this was the first time that he’s ever led the Grizzlies in scoring).  The inability to get the ball to Randolph (he took just 8 shots) really threw the Grizzlies out of sync.  I’m pretty sure the Grizzlies will find a way to get Randolph the ball more in Game 2.

Part of the Spurs shooting success was the uncharacteristically bad defense the Grizzlies played.  Spurs shooters had open looks all game...and unfortunately for the Grizzlies, the Spurs hit a lot of 'em. I can't say much about what I expect in Game 2, except that the Spurs will have to find another way to win because I can't imagine the Grizzlies will let them shot 29 3-PTers again.  That tells me, that in Game 2 the Spurs are going to have to put the ball on the floor, hit some mid-range jumpers, get to the rim, and get to the free throw line.

While I'm not comfortable yet (Spurs were up 2-0 vs. the Thunder last year and lost the series 2-4), I would much rather be 1-0, then 0-1 and it will be silly to say I don't want them to be up 2-0 again this year. 

Spurs Take Series 4-2, with 94-82 over Warriors

The crowd in Oracle Arena was rocking and the Warriors had just taken the lead 11-9 on a Harrison Barnes jumper when I tuned into the game.  As I watched the quarter unfold I felt the Spurs had this one.  Every bucket I saw was from an assist.  Looking back at the play-by-play (thank you Pro Basketball Reference), every bucket the Spurs made in the first quarter was assisted.  Despite only a 21-19 lead and a hostile crowd, I felt good about the Spurs chances.

This was the first game of the series the Spurs didn't lose a quarter (21-19, 26-21, 19-19, 28-23).  They pulled it off even with Tony Parker having a terrible shooting game (3-16), committing more turnovers (14-12), and losing the offensive rebounding battle (6-11).  Any other game that would have equaled a loss. 

The Warriors just shot poorly, but with all the starters (except Curry) and 6th man Jarrett Jacket all shooting above their season averages, it was going to happen.  The question was whether it would happen before this series was over.  Warriors shot .388 overall and just .250 from 3-PT range.  Maybe that had something to do with the Spurs defense, but as I mentioned it in my last post, the averages had to catch up to the Warriors sooner or later. 

The scrappy Warriors still made it a game (Parker and Manu Ginobili shooting a combined 4-22 helped), getting to within 77-75 with 4:52 left.  Curry missed two jumpers that could have tied it.  Then Parker, who had made only one shot up to that point, canned a BIG 3.  The game was never in doubt again as the Spurs outscored the Warriors 17-7 the rest of the way. 

Finally, the Spurs found the offense that helped them hold the best record in the Western Conference for much of the season.  They had 27 assists on 33 made baskets.  Everyone got involved with all five starters scoring in double figures.  Tim Duncan led the team with just 19 PTS.  Ginobili, who had just 5 points, had 11 ASTS.  Still waiting for Manu to find his shot (1-6 in Game 6). 

Back to San Antonio to face the Grizzlies on Sunday.  A team that bounced the Spurs out of the 1st round two years ago when that team couldn't handle Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. 

Game 5, Spurs 109, Warriors 91. Spurs Take 3-2 Series Lead

I didn’t get the chance to post after Game 4, which was a bad shooting game for both teams.  As you know the Warriors won 97-87 in OT to tie the series at 2-2.   The Spurs shot a miserable .355 overall and just .259 from 3PT range.  Worse was the .560 free throw percentage.  

The Spurs started good, scoring 26 in the first quarter and I thought it was going to be Manu Ginobili’s game since he started hot, but he ended 8-18 for the game.  It went bad from there, scoring 19, 17, 22 in the final 3 quarters, ending with the 3 points in overtime.  

Sportscasters talked about Andrew Bogut being the difference collecting 18 rebounds.  Good number, but if the Spurs hit their shots (and they had open looks) there would be no rebounds to grab.  More troubling was his 5 offensive boards, which Harrison Barnes equaled with 5 o-boards of his own.  Barnes was the difference maker, scoring 26 points and collecting 10 rbs.  Barnes averaged just 13.1 during the season.

Warriors really didn’t shoot too much better as a team (.380), but went .389 from 3PT range and .800 from the free throw line…that’s the ball game right there.  

On to Game 5…I really can’t figure anything about this series as it changes so much from game-to-game.  Spurs got hot in this one…home sweet home I guess.  .519 from the field and .476 from 3PT range.  Kawhi Leonard went 7-8 (17 pts), his 2^nd super-efficient game (I wish Popovich would run more plays for him).  Although Tim Duncan started hot (3-4), he ended the game 5-13.   Tony Parker got back to being Tony Parker(9-16, 25 PTS, 10 AST).  I said it in my last post, on offense, everything is easier for everyone else when Parker has his game going.  Pop had a little wrinkle for this game with Parker giving up the ball early, and then running off several screens before getting the ball back to run the offense.  It gave Parker more room to operate. 

Spurs take 2-1 Series lead over Warriors

How much can the perception of a series change in one game? 

Steph Curry jolted the Spurs with 44 points in Game.  Klay Thompson lit it up for 34 in Game 2.  In Game 3 it was Tony Parker's turn.  With the Spurs needing someone to step up their game after the Warriors jumped out to big leagues in Games 1-2, it was Parker who answered the call.  He dropped 32 on the Warriors (25 in the first half), shooting .565 (13-23) to help regain the Home Court advantage.  As I said in my last post, if Parker gets going it's easier for everyone else.

Tim Duncan dropped in 23 on 10-21 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.  Kawhi Leonard had an efficient 17 points on 5-7 shooting and also pulled down 9 rebs.

Compare the Spurs .506 shooting percentage  vs. the Warriors .393 and it was surprising that the Warriors kept themselves in it for most of the game (the score was tied 65-65 with 6:20 left in the 3rd quarter) and got to within one (79-78) with 10:05 left in the 4th. The Spurs won this game by jumping out to a 32-23 lead after the 1st quarter...the next three quarters went 25-25, 23-21, 23-23.

In games 1-2, when the Warriors jumped out to leads and every time the Spurs would get close or tie it, the Warriors would pull away again (with the exception of the 2nd OT in Game 1 when the Spurs finally managed to get and hold the lead).   Game 3 was the opposite, with the Spurs jumping out to leads and then going on runs every time the Warriors got close or tied it.  After the score was tied at 65-65, the Spurs went on a 14-4 run to make it 79-69 going into the 4th.  The Spurs pulled away again when the Warriors closed to 79-78, finishing the game by outscoring the Warriors 23-14 the rest of the way.  That's pretty much the way the entire game went.

Considering Curry and Thompson went a combined 13-37, the Warriors can't feel too bad about losing Game 3.  A bigger concern for Warrior fans is Curry's ankle, which he twisted in the 4th quarter.  Curry stayed in the Game, but had a noticeable limp.  If you've ever turned an ankle, you know it's usually much worse the next day.  I'm sure the Warrior's medical staff will do everything they can to get Curry ready for Game 4 Sunday, but with Curry's strengths being his speed and quickness you have to wonder how much the ankle will effect his game.

Game2, Warriors 100, Spurs 91, Series tied 1-1

As I said in my post about Game 1, the result of Game 2 was going to determine whether or not blowing that big lead would have a negative on the Warriors.  With the Warriors winning Game 2 (and getting out to a big lead again), it just reinforces the fact that the Warriors can win this series.  Except for 4 minutes at the end of Game 1, the Spurs haven't really been competitive.  Yea they came back a little in Game 2, but they never really threatened the lead.

If I was betting, I sure wouldn't be betting on the Spurs right now. 

The big problem has been the Spurs defense...or if you rather, the Warriors offense.  The Spurs gave up 53 in the first half of Game 1 and 62 in the first half of Game 2...that's just too many points.  I don't know if it's the Spurs defense getting better in the 2nd half or that the Warriors get tight trying to close out games, but the Warriors have only scored 14 (Game1) and 17 (Game2) in the 4th quarter.  The Spurs need to get some of those stops in the first half.

Is Klay Thompson the key?  The Spurs comeback in Game 1 happened after Thompson fouled out.  Thompson stayed on the floor in Game 2 and scored 34 points (he had 19 in Game 1).  Stephen Curry hit on only 7 of 20 in Game 2 after that 44 point, 18 for 35 performance in Game 1.  I'm thinking that if Tony Parker can't match up with Curry by himself, then the Spurs are going to have a tough time winning with defense.  Kwahi Leonard better serves the Spurs' defense guarding a wing player (where he disrupts passing lanes (1.7 steals/game) and can go after rebounds (6/game from the small forward position), than he is picking up the point guard.  


That means the Spurs need to get more efficient on offense if they hope to take 4 games in this series.  They shot .438 in Game 1 and an even worse .393 in Game 2.  Parker is just 18 for 43 for the two games (he shot .522 for the season).  Parker is the key to the Spurs offense, if he get's going, that makes the shots for his teammates are easier.  The comeback in Game 1 started with Parker getting to the rim.  Parker has to establish that earlier in Game 3. 

I also hope that Tiago Splitter is finally healthy enough to start again.  Although Andrew Bogut is 7 feet tall, Green is just 6-7 and Barnes is just 6-8.  If Tiago Splitter is healthy (he played just 9:49 in Game 2 and didn't play in Game 1), having Duncan and Splitter in the starting lineup would create some size mismatches. 

I touched on it in an earlier Spurs post...about how the Spurs have always been better with the "twin-tower" lineups, whether it was Robinson-Duncan (1st two Championships), Nesterovic-Duncan (3rd Championship), or Oberto-Duncan (4th Championship).  I don't think it's a coincidence that the Spurs went to the Conference Finals in 2007-08 when Fabricio Oberto logged  1644 minutes of playing time and didn't make it back to the Conf. Finals until 2011-12, when Splitter logged 1121 minutes.  In the three years in between, no big man, besides Duncan, had any significant playing time for the Spurs (Oberto logged 677 minutes in 2008-09 , Ian Mahinmi, 165 minutes in 2009-10, and Splitter 738 minutes in 2010-11).  My theory is that (1) Duncan doesn't have to spend his energy defending the opposing teams #1 post option and (2) that the Spurs' defensive philosophy of forcing everything baseline works better when there's two big men in the lineup.  

With the series moving to California in Game 3, I hope the Spurs will be at full strength...they're going to need a big team effort to eliminate the Warriors. 

Game 1, Spurs 129, Warriors 127 in Double 0vertime

You’ve probably seen it all already…Manu going from Goat to Hero, Pop changing from wanting to trade Manu on the spot to wanting to cook him breakfast in the morning…that’s the beauty of ESPN or NBA TV.  You probably even heard about the Screaming Lady Spurs Fan (or heard her during the live broadcast of the game).  You’ve seen it, had your own thoughts about it, heard what all the sportscasters had to say, read all the articles.  How Game 1 will affect the Warriors have been covered by the sportscasters and is irrelevant to me.  What matters is what happens in Game 2.  If the Warriors come out and win Game 2 it will re-enforce the fact that the Warriors can win this series and Game 1 will just have been a step towards that end.  If they lose Game 2, then the coulda, shoulda, woulda talk will seep into their heads.  No one but the Warriors themselves know for sure what they’re thinking right now. 

What I do know for sure is my thoughts as the game went on.  From the beginning I thought the Spurs were in trouble.  The Warriors were building a double-digit lead while Stephon Curry was missing shots.  When Curry got hot in the 3^rd quarter I felt it was over.  Even though I hung around to see if the Spurs would mount a comeback in the 4^th quarter, I didn’t think it was possible.  With the score 104-88 with 3:57 left I was ready to go to bed.  Why I stayed up to watch any longer I don’t know.  Maybe it was because Richard Jefferson entered the game for the first time and I wanted to see how he was going to act with his new team about to beat his old team…especially since, up to this point, he had no playing time.  Jefferson came in when the clock stopped with Tony Parker on the free throw line.  Parker hit both…no biggie, score is still 104-90. 

Then a Warrior miss…Parker drives for a layup.  Then a Curry turnover, Parker drives and makes another layup.  Steal by Khawai Leonard, followed by a jumper in the lane by Leonard.   Maybe, just maybe….another miss by the Warriors, but Danny Green misses a layup…Spurs get the rebound, but Parker turns it over.  Gary Neal fouls Jefferson…104-96, 1:57 left, Jefferson on the line.  My thoughts at the time…nice effort, but the Spurs are going to come up short.