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Bobby Motus
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Thursday, May 18, 2017
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AS I WRITE this, Game 2 between the Spurs and the Warriors is on-going and Golden State is the overwhelming favorite. San Antonio is severely depleted with injuries to Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard. As per MRI results, Leonard’s injury didn’t show any structural damage on his left foot. The play that reinjured his ankle in itself has an on-going debate, whether or not Zaza Pachulia intentionally slid his foot under Leonard, thus landing awkwardly on it and twisting his left ankle. Coach Greg Popovich launched an angry rant to that play.
Leonard is San Antonio’s best player and losing him had an immediate effect in Game 1. Twenty three points is a huge lead to give up and that’s what the Spurs did. The team needs him and when he went out of the game for good, the Warriors exploited his absence, burned the hoops and hammered them in the last 20 minutes. A healthy Leonard equals a competitive Spurs. It was already bad they lost Parker, it has gotten worse this time with Leonard indefinitely out. They missed their best chance to steal a game at the Oracle.
San Antonio has one of the best minds in the league, if not the best, in Popovich. He won’t be sitting idly and brood on missing personnel. There will be adjustments and we could be seeing more of Jonathan Simmons and Kyle Anderson.
The Spurs are big and slow but effective. LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol and David Lee are the usual big man rotation but Gasol was inefficient and a defensive liability in Game 1 so we could be seeing more of Lee. Compared to Gasol who tends to hang around the paint, both Aldridge and Lee can extend out to the three point line to defend.
Aldridge needs to equal or better his output during that Game 6 close out win against Houston. He has a nice turnaround jumper but tends to rely on it too much. Pick-and-rolls and hard drives to the basket is more suited to his big frame.
Interim Warriors coach Mike Brown just might do some more lineup experimentations like what he did in the early stages of Game 1 and the Spurs took advantage of it. Brown is coaching in Steve Kerr’s system, not his, so we could be seeing more of the unusual combinations.
Golden State is small but quick and has three of the league’s best outside shooters in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. Other than them, the Warriors don’t have credible shooters. Among the reserves, Ian Clark probably is the best shooter. Size doesn’t matter with this line-up as they constantly out run and out shoot opponents until they’re done. Yes, and they have an enforcer in Pachulia who has gained notoriety around the league.
The Warriors do have their own injury issue in Andre Iguodala. Their key reserve is having problems on his left knee and also did not play.
This could have been a classic series if there were no missing players due to injury. But this is basketball and injuries do happen. Teams will exploit whatever advantage they have to get a win. Chances are slim but I’m still rooting for the Spurs. Hopefully, Leonard recovers and suit up for Game 3 on Sunday./PN
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