San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Postgame Grades and Analysis
It was just as entertaining as the first four contests, but in Game 5, the San Antonio Spurs were able to outlast the Los Angeles Clippers at the end. The defending champs took the game, 111-107, and will have the chance to eliminate Los Angeles on Thursday at home.
The Clips opened up an early double-digit lead in the first, but it was erased the very next quarter, with San Antonio going on a 20-2 run. Los Angeles stormed back minutes later, setting up the thriller fans witnessed through the second half.
It was a back-and-forth affair all the way through the final seconds, when the Clippers had a chance to win, down by one with under 10 seconds left. Blake Griffin tossed up a floater, which appeared to be trickling off the rim when DeAndre Jordan illegally touched it in the cylinder. Jordan was whistled for offensive interference, and the Clips would never run another play.
| Tony Parker | C+ |
| Manu Ginobili | B- |
| Kawhi Leonard | B- |
| Tim Duncan | B+ |
| Danny Green | C+ |
| Boris Diaw | B- |
| Rest of Team | C+ |
| Chris Paul | B+ |
| J.J. Redick | B |
| Blake Griffin | A |
| DeAndre Jordan | B+ |
| Jamal Crawford | C |
| Rest of Team | D- |
San Antonio Spurs
Tony Parker: C+
It was a slow shooting night for Tony Parker, who missed his first few jumpers and didn't get on the board until the latter portion of the first quarter. He made just three of his first 10 attempts, finishing 5-of-15 with 13 points. It's been a rough series for Parker, who's playing through various injuries. It took him some time to get going in Game 5, but he was able to knock down more shots in the second half.
He ended the night with three assists and a handful of other nifty passes that couldn't be converted into points, like a slick feed to Tiago Splitter cutting to the rim in the first half.
Manu Ginobili: B-
After a relatively quiet first four games of the series, Manu Ginobili showed signs of life in Game 5, scoring eight points over his first 11 minutes, ending up with 14, making a pair of threes and going perfect on six attempts at the line.
He reached into the old bag of tricks to make some clever passes and get to the foul line—particularly in the third quarter with a rip-through move on J.J. Redick.
Kawhi Leonard: B-
After averaging 24.8 points over the series' first four games, Kawhi Leonard wasn't able to get much going in Game 5. He missed a number of the shots he typically drains, especially from in close. He didn't make a three all evening and shot 5-of-16 overall. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
He made a few impressive dashes to the rim, but they rarely amounted to points on the scoreboard. His most impressive drive came in the first half in transition, but Matt Barnes recovered quickly enough to commit a foul.
He converted on a meaningful putback with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, giving San Antonio a four-point lead and resulting in a Chris Paul technical foul. Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw followed with jumpers on the ensuing possessions, opening up the Spurs' largest lead with 3:35 left in the game.
Tim Duncan: B+
Like we've seen throughout this series—and throughout postseason series over most of the last two decades—Tim Duncan was able to do a little bit of everything Tuesday night.
He worked Blake Griffin on the block a few times for relatively easy buckets, made a number of feeds to teammates for buckets and even ran the floor in transition on a few possessions. He was the beneficiary of some slick passing from Ginobili and Parker and finished the night shooting 8-of-13 from the field for 21 points.
It was predictably tough for Duncan to handle Griffin on the defensive end, but the 39-year-old came up with one gigantic block on Griffin in the final minute, preserving a two-point lead.
Danny Green: C+
Danny Green didn't get much offense going, scoring just nine points.
He was responsible for a hard foul on Blake Griffin in the second half that had Griffin on the floor for a few moments favoring his elbow. He missed a clean look from the corner in the final 10 seconds with the opportunity to give San Antonio a four-point lead.
Boris Diaw: B-
Boris Diaw, after a quiet first three periods, came alive in the fourth, knocking down a couple of huge jumpers in the final minutes. He finished in double digits with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Rest of Team: C+
The Spurs reserves have a clear role in this series, and that's to use as many of their fouls as possible on DeAndre Jordan. Aron Baynes fouled out one minute into the fourth quarter, while Matt Bonner, Patty Mills and Boris Diaw all had four entering the fourth quarter.
Mills made some nice plays with the ball, including a converted four-point play when Austin Rivers fouled him on a made triple.
Marco Belinelli went for eight points, making two threes. Tiago Splitter was a huge disappointment, playing eight minutes and scoring two points.
Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul: B+
It began as a slow shooting night for Chris Paul. But the 29-year-old stepped up in the final period, finishing up with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals.
He was whistled for a costly technical foul in the fourth after firing a ball to an official after a Kawhi Leonard putback. It seemed like a questionable call, though there may have been some context unknown to those of us not on the floor.
J.J. Redick: B
The TNT broadcast crew constantly alluded to the fact that head coach Doc Rivers rarely, if ever, draws up plays for J.J. Redick over the course of a game. It's fairly evident, witnessing the types of shots that Redick comes up with. In Game 5, both off the dribble and with the catch-and-shoot, Redick knocked down the majority of his looks. He scored 13 over his 41 minutes.
He shot 6-of-10 from the field but didn't attempt a three the entire game. Most of his action came from inside the arc, taking advantage of defenders overplaying Griffin and Paul. He connected on a nice runner in the early going while Los Angeles opened up an early double-digit lead and also came away with two steals over the course of the game.
He was in foul trouble all evening, playing most of the fourth quarter with five fouls. He scored in double figures but made a handful of productive plays off the ball, setting high off-ball screens and spacing the floor. He fouled out in the final minute, with the Clips trailing.
Blake Griffin: A
Blake Griffin is playing the best basketball of his career in this series, and Game 5 was no different. He scored 21 first-half points, finishing with a game-high 30 points.
His first-half momentum was rattled a bit when Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich opted to intentionally foul DeAndre Jordan, but he was still able to contribute in ways aside from scoring. He made a number of nice passes to Jordan close to the rim, finishing with seven assists and 14 rebounds. He also knocked down 10 of his 14 free-throw attempts. He turned the ball over five times but came away with four steals and blocked a shot.
Griffin was blocked by Tim Duncan on a huge close shot in the final minute, with San Antonio leading by three. It was the only Griffin shot blocked all evening. Doc Rivers went to Griffin again with four seconds left, but he missed on a floater, and Jordan was called for basket interference on the tip-in.
DeAndre Jordan: B+
DeAndre Jordan finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks, but his night won't be remembered for any of those stats.
In the final five seconds, with San Antonio up a point, Jordan illegally touched a Blake Griffin miss in the cylinder, barely before it rolled off the rim. With 3.9 seconds left on the clock afterward, the Clippers were forced to foul and unable to run another play offensively.
Overall, it was a great game for Jordan. He flushed down an energizing pair of back-to-back alley-oops—one from Griffin and one from Paul—in the early going. That trend continued later in the game.
He logged 36 minutes, and it would've been more if Doc Rivers didn't need to pull him to avoid the Spurs intentionally fouling him—he shot 7-of-16 from the line.
Jamal Crawford: C
The Clippers depend on Jamal Crawford almost entirely to fuel their bench, and he wasn't able to do that Tuesday. He scored just eight points over 28 minutes, going 4-of-15 from the field.
He failed to make a three-pointer on six attempts but dished out a pair of assists and came away with a steal. But on a team that relies on him to account for most of its bench points, that's not enough.
Rest of Team: D-
Austin Rivers made one shot on four attempts. Glen Davis knocked down a few difficult looks and grabbed four rebounds in 10 minutes but wasn't able to make much of an impact. Matt Barnes had seven points on 2-of-5 shooting.
Up Next
Facing elimination, the Clippers will travel to San Antonio on Thursday for an all-important Game 6. A loss would mean the second first-round exit in three years for the Clippers.
