Bias Spurs fan here..Can anyone convince me they will win tonight?

[s4shadow]

I never bet against the Spurs unless I'm getting like 7+ points with the dog..I've literally watched EVERY game this season except for 1 when my DVR screwed up (user error). I couldn't convince myself to bet on Game 1 but I'm tempted to play them big here. I know Game 1 looked awful but their are some things that I am looking for in Game 2.

*3 point shooting WILL improve for San Antonio (they shot 10-33 in Game 1, and the Spurs don't "force" 3s. Danny Green's 3 point shot "should" go in the basket simply by the law of averages).

The Spurs will make an adjustment for Chris Paul. I think they will put Kawhi Leonard on Chris Paul simply because Tony Parker can't seem to keep up with him. When Leonard isn't on him, they'll probably use backup PG Cory Joseph for defense. He's quick enough to guard Paul.

The Spurs will shoot better than 53% at the free throw line!

The Spurs were not ready for the Kawhi Leonard "double-team." I think Clippers will do it again, but this time the Spurs will bail him out by using the double team to initiate the ball movement and get open shots (I'm talking about those beautiful plays where the Spurs pass it like 5 times in 10 seconds!)

BIGGEST FACTOR: Blake Griffen..How do the Spurs stop him? No Idea. If Splitter was healthy he would be good enough to "slow him down" at least. I think the Spurs will simply try and make Blake Griffen beat them on his own by minimizing what Chris Paul can do

***ONE MORE POINT: Popovich > Doc Rivers ***

 

[s4shadow]

noticed I spelled Blake Griffins's name with as "Griffen" a bunch of times..oh well. lol

 

[BLAK_MAMBA]

I think Splitter injury is a big deal right now for the Spurs, Baynes just looked really soft out there. These Clippers team looked like they're ready to take over this yr. I'm not the kind of guy who overreacts on one game but the clippers looked faster, hungrier and more athletic than the champs.

 

[Seymour]

Die hard Spurs fans - to be honest I'm a little concerned too - starting with the Clippers - they have a championship caliber team and would be in the finals if they played in the East - what really concerns me is the defense of Jordan - he turned everyone away from the rim all night long - that is not something that should change from night to night - defense is effort and he will make the effort - the positive is that we shot awful - all over the place - at one point we were 9-20 from the FT line when we shoot 80% for the season - then the 3's? we were awful - Greene is a lights out shooter and flat out missed everything - so I fully expect us to shoot better from deep - I also expect to see Leonard on Paul all game - I would not touch this game though

 

[Seymour]

Yes Baynes played soft and he's typically pretty tough but the mere presence of Jordan was the reason - he's capable of getting in foul trouble which would be wonderful

 

[s4shadow]

I just found out 1 PLUS..Joey Crawford is the head ref tonight..And he seems to always favor the ROAD teams.

 

[bobbyjones2]

Joey Crawford has a history with the spurs no?

 

[MantisToboggan]

Joey Crawford has a history with the spurs no?

Yeah he tried to fight Timmy.

 

[akphidelt]

Parker needs to step his game up... unless that ankle is more serious than he made it seem. But the clips shooting over 50% from the field and 55% from 3 land probably won't happen again. With the Clippers bench I really don't think they can duplicate that result. The Spurs should be able to handle them, if they play even remotely close to how they played the past month. That first game definitely was a fluke in my opinion.

 

[MantisToboggan]

If you're looking for a positive, I'd agree that San Antonio will shoot it better in game 2. On the other hand, I don't see any way that San Antonio matches 17 offensive rebounds they snagged in game 1 (a. because they will shoot a higher percentage and b. because the Clippers out rebounded the Spurs in all 4 regular season matchups). Unless they find some guy off the street that can guard Griffin, he should get whatever he wants all night. The big advantages SA has are bench production, although the Splitter loss hurts there, and coaching. I'd probably feel better about the Spurs and their depth if Crawford didn't look so good Sunday night and if LA didn't have 2 full days off in between game 1 and game 2. It's hard to count the Spurs out but I think it'll be another uphill battle tonight.

 

[PatsFan1283]

Die hard Spurs fans - to be honest I'm a little concerned too - starting with the Clippers - they have a championship caliber team and would be in the finals if they played in the East - what really concerns me is the defense of Jordan - he turned everyone away from the rim all night long - that is not something that should change from night to night - defense is effort and he will make the effort - the positive is that we shot awful - all over the place - at one point we were 9-20 from the FT line when we shoot 80% for the season - then the 3's? we were awful - Greene is a lights out shooter and flat out missed everything - so I fully expect us to shoot better from deep - I also expect to see Leonard on Paul all game - I would not touch this game though

If the game is close in the 4th quarter I'd be very, very surprised if they didn't just foul Jordan every time. I usually don't like the hack-a-_____ in most instances because it allows everyone else to save their energy for the defensive end and completely eliminates any transition at all. In his case though it is a pretty good move considering A. He is 1 of the worst FT shooters of all time B. His backup is Big Baby which is a drastic dropoff.

 

[akphidelt]

Clippers lack of bench will kill them this series.

 

[trixxonu]

Clippers just gave the fucking game away. Blake griffin can also go die

 

[PatsFan1283]

Yeah that is a tough, tough way to lose a game after coming back from down 10 in the 4th

 

[akphidelt]

Can't stop the Big Fundamental! Legend!

 

[s4shadow]

Timmy!! We got ourselves a series..

 

[MGMan]

I wish i would've seen this thread yesterday. The reason i gave the undrr in the game was because i thought the Spurs would win and do it with defense. I hope you played them . This is going to be a good series.