San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Postgame Grades and Analysis
Chris Paul scored 32 points, Blake Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers handled the San Antonio Spurs 107-92 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series at the Staples Center on Sunday night.
This was a strange game, to say the least.
The Clippers jumped out to a 30-18 lead after the first quarter only to see the Spurs erase the deficit and take a 37-35 advantage of their own.
That would be the last time San Antonio would lead, as Los Angeles regained a 49-43 edge at halftime and fought off numerous Spurs advances throughout the second half to finally seal the victory.
The Clippers got a huge lift from shooting guard Jamal Crawford, who scored 17 points off the bench.
Los Angeles shot 51 percent as a team and went a scalding 10-of-18 from three-point range.
As for the Spurs, well, it wasn't pretty.
San Antonio made a paltry 37 percent of its shots and went 10-of-33 from beyond the arc. It missed scads of open looks. The defending champions also shot just 14-of-26 from the free-throw line.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was in classic form postgame, per J.A. Adande of ESPN:
Power forward Tim Duncan felt the Clippers gave more effort than the Spurs:
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is well aware of the fact that the Spurs likely will not shoot that poorly again and thinks his team's defense could use some adjustments, per Dan Woike of the Orange County Register:
Small forward Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 18 points.
Game 2 is at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Staples Center on Wednesday night. You can catch the action on TNT.
| Tim Duncan | B |
| Tony Parker | D |
| Manu Ginobili | C+ |
| Kawhi Leonard | B- |
| Danny Green | F |
| Rest of Team | C |
| Chris Paul | A+ |
| Blake Griffin | A+ |
| DeAndre Jordan | A |
| J.J. Redick | D |
| Matt Barnes | B+ |
| Rest of Team | A |
San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan: B
Duncan was the best Spurs player on the floor on Sunday night, although the distinction doesn't say all that much.
While the future Hall of Famer shot just 4-of-10, he posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and also handed out four assists. He made some terrific passes and was probably the second-best facilitator on the team behind Manu Ginobili in the loss.
The fact that Duncan broke even in terms of plus/minus during his 30 minutes should tell you all you need to know about his overall effectiveness.
Tony Parker: D
Star point guard Tony Parker had a rough go of it.
First of all, the former NBA Finals MVP turned his ankle in the first quarter and was clearly affected by it for the remainder of the contest. His lift was limited and he missed several floaters that are normally automatic buckets for him.
Popovich said Parker will be okay for Game 2, per Woike:
Parker did have one stretch in the third quarter where he scored six straight San Antonio points, but that was about it in terms of positive contributions.
He scored 10 points in total, shooting 4-of-11. He logged only two dimes.
Manu Ginobili: C+
Ginobili had an inconsistent night.
The shooting guard scored 10 points off an inefficient 3-of-10 clip, making a pair of triples. However, he did a fine job on the glass, hauling in seven rebounds. Ginobili also was a solid facilitator, finishing with six assists.
Still, despite the good rebound and assist numbers, Manu simply did not leave his typical fingerprints on this game. He needs to be better in Game 2.
Kawhi Leonard: B-
Leonard was the only Spurs player who shot the ball well.
The star forward scored 18 points off 7-of-12 shooting, mainly knocking down mid-range jumpers. With that, Leonard was not consistently aggressive. He looked tentative for much of the evening and showed a reluctance to take matters into his own hands.
Leonard also went just 3-of-6 from the free-throw line.
He did collect four steals, but those steals were essentially negated by his four turnovers.
While Kawhi was hardly bad, he needs to be more assertive for the rest of the series.
Danny Green: F
To say Danny Green struggled mightily is an understatement.
The—normally—sharpshooting 2-guard went a mere 2-of-11 from the floor, missing all but one of his seven three-point attempts.
He missed badly on several floaters, clearly intimidated by Clippers center DeAndre Jordan at the basket.
This was just a disastrous outing for a player who has had so many fine postseason moments.
Rest of Team: C
Marco Belinelli was solid off the bench.
The Italian guard/forward tallied 11 points off 4-of-7 shooting, making three triples. He made some nice upfakes to free himself up.
Backup point guard Patty Mills was also effective, going 3-of-4 from distance for nine points. He was a plus-15 on the night. It makes you wonder why Popovich only played him 11 minutes.
Outside of those two, the Spurs' role players were brutal.
Forward Boris Diaw shot 2-of-12 and went 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, while center/forward Aron Baynes made just two of his seven shots and struggled defensively.
The latter ended up on the receiving end of two poster dunks from Griffin, and while it's not necessarily his fault because he just does not have the quickness to stay with the Clippers star, it was still ugly to watch.
Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul: A+
Paul had this game on a string.
The floor general poured in 32 points off a 13-of-20 clip, burying three treys. He took what the defense gave him, blowing by bigs on switches and draining open triples in transition.
Paul also made several brilliant pocket passes to Griffin and ended up with six assists on the night. What's more, he pulled down seven rebounds.
How is this guy not getting MVP consideration?
Blake Griffin: A+
Griffin was terrific.
The big man dropped 26 points off 9-of-20 shooting, throwing down some vicious dunks and taking advantage of mismatches in the paint. When there was a bigger player (like Baynes) on him, he would use his quickness. When there was a smaller player (like Diaw), he would play bully ball.
Griffin, who took some hard fouls, went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe as well.
The power forward was effective in aspects other than scoring, too, grabbing 12 boards and dishing out six dimes.
Finally, Blake was a game-high plus-23.
DeAndre Jordan: A
Jordan may not have had any of his trademark alley-oop slams, but his impact on this contest was undeniable.
The center blocked four shots and altered the Spurs' decision-making throughout the entire game. Not only was he changing shots, but he was re-routing San Antonio slashers with his mere presence.
The Spurs missed countless attempts near the basket, and Jordan had everything to do with it.
He recorded nine points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
J.J. Redick: D
Redick was one of the few Clippers who struggled in this one.
The shooting guard was unable to find the range all night, going just 4-of-13 and making only two of his six three-point tries. He got some good looks coming around screens that shook him loose of Leonard, but more often than not, he was unable to convert.
Redick finished with 10 points in 36 minutes.
Matt Barnes: B+
Matt Barnes' contributions in this game do not show up on the stat sheet.
The scrappy small forward had eight points and five rebounds, but the most important aspects of Barnes' performance were his physical defense and constant hustle.
Barnes relentlessly chased after loose balls, fought Spurs bigs on 50-50 opportunities and played solid defense on Leonard.
He added four steals.
Rest of Team: A
Crawford was the X-factor in this game.
The microwave scorer tallied 17 points off a 7-of-10 clip, making incredibly difficult shots on pull-ups, in transition, off screens, etc.
He went 3-of-4 from downtown and was really the player who broke the Spurs' backs in the second half.
Glen Davis gave Los Angeles some good minutes at power forward, too, picking up four rebounds, three points and drawing a charge in 12 minutes.
