Biggest Adjustments San Antonio Spurs Must Make in Game 2 vs. Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers lambasted the San Antonio Spurs during Game 1 of their first-round matchup in the 2015 NBA playoffs, earning a 107-92 victory.

Quite clearly, the defending-champion Spurs have some adjustments to make in the second meeting so they can even the series at one win apiece.

Three changes are obvious, but that doesn't mitigate the importance of any one. Fundamentals win basketball games; they're key to unveiling banners, too.

But most of all, Gregg Popovich has a pair of strategy decisions to make, one of which depends on the health of an underrated contributor.

Knock Down Free Throws and Three-Pointers

Dude, simple as that? Yeah, simple as that.

San Antonio battled through a terrible shooting night, finishing 14-of-26 at the free-throw line and 10-of-33 from beyond the arc. Those 53.8 and 30.3 percent marks, respectively, were well below season averages of 78.0 and 36.7.

Plus, per Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk, even when the Spurs found a quality chance, they missed:

The poor performances of Danny Green (2-of-11 overall, 1-of-7 from three) and Boris Diaw (2-of-12, 0-of-5) hurt San Antonio dearly. Both players can provide quick scoring that sparks the offense and opens a little more room for Tony Parker to drive, Tim Duncan to post up and Kawhi Leonard to thrive.

As noted by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, Green has struggled on the road this year. He's buried 47.0 percent of his shots at the AT&T Center but only 35.4 away from it.

"Everybody has gyms they feel comfortable in," Green said. "Not saying I feel uncomfortable here, but I just couldn't get it going. Nobody really shot well."

During the regular season, Green shot 41.8 percent overall from long range. In three appearances at the Staples Center, though, he trudged to 30.8 percent clip.

Perhaps Green and the rest of the Spurs will be more comfortable in Game 2. There's really no groundbreaking analysis to be had here: They just need to make shots.

Better Defense—Everywhere

Transition defense was an issue. Half-court defense was a problem. Rotations were messed up. Switches created mismatches that favored Los Angeles. San Antonio was just really, really bad defensively.

Yes, the Clippers buried a handful of shots that were well-guarded, but the Spurs took some uncharacteristic chances, too. They swiped at the ball and overran their man at the perimeter, allowing open and uncontested triples.

And as Grantland's Zach Lowe pointed out, San Antonio inexplicably challenged Los Angeles—one of the league's premier transition teams—in the backcourt, which created odd-man advantages:

Doc Rivers' team posted a 23-12 advantage in the fast break, highlighted by one of Blake Griffin's monster slams over Aron Baynes, as seen above. Additionally, 17 of those 23 points came as a result of turnovers.

Efficient offense from the Spurs would assist their defensive effort, because any extra seconds a made basket or non-turnover possession afford are extremely valuable against the Clippers' fast-paced attack.

Contain Chris Paul and Blake Griffin

"Easier said than done" adequately describes this section.

Parker is a mismatch for Chris Paul, while Griffin absolutely destroyed Diaw and Baynes—particularly the latter. Paul racked up 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists; Griffin tallied 26, 12 and six, adding three blocks and three steals.

Switching Leonard onto CP3 seems like an easy fix, but it creates one serious issue: Who guards sharpshooter J.J. Redick? It takes a tremendous amount of effort to stay with Redick, who is absolutely fantastic at creating shots by using off-ball screens.

Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

That burden is too great for Parker, since he needs to conserve energy for the offensive end, too. Lingering calf and ankle injuries aren't helping the matter, either.

Even when Popovich utilized his Defensive Player of the Year candidate on Paul, one measly pick took Leonard out of the play. Hedging those screens could be a dangerous adjustment, however, since a CP3-to-Griffin pocket pass could very easily be followed by a Griffin-to-DeAndre Jordan alley-oop.

San Antonio's best answer for limiting Griffin's damage is via a healthy Tiago Splitter. However, the starting center has been hampered by a calf injury—surprise, surprise—and missed the final six outings of the regular season and logged just 10 minutes in the opener.

Consequently, he must re-establish a rhythm on both ends of the floor during the postseason. That's not an easy task to accomplish.

The Spurs need Splitter because they don't have a good answer to stall Paul in the backcourt. If Splitter can keep Griffin from destroying everything that stands in his way, San Antonio should recover and win Game 2.

But that's easier said than done.

Unless otherwise noted, stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and are accurate as of April 20.

Follow Bleacher Report NBA writer David Kenyon on Twitter: @Kenyon19_BR.