Spurs vs. Clippers Game 3: San Antonio's Dominance Will Continue in LA

When the NBA Playoffs started, the San Antonio Spurs were one of the least-talked about No. 1 seeds in recent memory. Yet here they are, after sweeping Utah in the first round and holding a commanding 2-0 lead against Los Angeles going into Game 3 on Saturday. 

Part of the reason no one was talking about the Spurs is by design; this franchise doesn't want any kind of attention. They want to step on the floor, take care of business, go home and get up to do it again. 

Another reason the Spurs didn't get talked about was because of what we saw from them in the playoffs last year, when they were the No. 1 seed and lost to the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. 

All of the questions about their age and athleticism reached a fever pitch after that loss, and there was no hype surrounding them coming into the year.

How the tide has turned. Not only are the Spurs looking like the best team in the NBA right now, but their "old" stars have made the Clippers' studs look like they couldn't hold their own against the Washington Wizards. 

As Jan Hibbard wrote on SI.com, the Spurs make winning look like an art form that very few teams are capable of duplicating. 

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Although several playoff teams are playing high-level team basketball, the Spurs have made it an art form. Besides Parker, four other players scored in double figures including 18 from Duncan. But it wasn't only the big three. Boris Diaw had 16 points and was 7-of-7 from the field. Danny Green was 4-of-6 from three-point range and had 13 points.

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When Diaw and Green are acting as X-factors for a team, you know things are going great. 

The Clippers, meanwhile, don't have the horses to keep up with all the weapons the Spurs have. It doesn't help that Chris Paul and Blake Griffin came into the series with injuries, but their problems go deeper than that. 

No one is playing well for the Clippers right now. Griffin and Paul are going to be focal points, but Caron Butler, Randy Foye, et al. are not doing anything to support their teammates. 

Even if Paul and Griffin were healthy, they would have no chance in this series because the Spurs are too deep for them to compete against. 

Games 1 and 2 were loud and clear messages to the rest of the NBA that this Spurs team is far superior to the one that lost last year. Game 3 is going to be the nail in the coffin for an overmatched Clippers team that isn't ready to challenge a great San Antonio team on this stage.

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