San Antonio Spurs/Golden State Warriors Game 2 Analysis
16 Wins A Ring Writers offer 3 different perspectives on Game 2 results: Golden State 136— San Antonio 100
Golden State Analysis by: David Brandon
What Worked:
Just about everything.
The best way to describe this game is Jonathan Simmons was the leading scorer for the Spurs with 22 points, Davis Bertans was the second with 13 points in garbage time, and Bryn Forbes and James Michael McAdoo played significant minutes.
The highlight of the game might have been Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson talking about what they had for dessert last night. Halfway through the second quarter.
The Warriors absolutely rolled over the Kawhi-less, Parker-less Spurs, making an already-outmatched team look downright silly. Outside of Simmons, no one on the Spurs could make a bucket. Outside of Matt Barnes, no one on the Warriors could miss.
Curry came out incredibly hot in the first, and the Dubs kept constant off-ball movement going that led to an eye-popping 39 assists in the first half. The ball consistently found the open man.
Rotations on defense were incredibly crisp, and the Warriors took advantage of the Spurs’ less-used ball handlers to force hard shots and tough passes. Pat McCaw was tremendous on both ends, knocking down open shots and making smart decisions.
Overall, this was a completely foregone conclusion from the end of the first quarter.
Lessons Learned:
Pretty much nothing.
Oh, you’d like to have a better game from Matt Barnes if he’s going to be playing decent minutes. You’d like for Zaza Pachulia to be able to play the second half. But barring supernatural intervention, this team should be able to wrap up the series handily in 4 or 5 games. You’re playing for rest now.
Game Three Adjustments:
Rest Curry, Durant and Green to keep them fresh for the next round.
Really.
Against the Spurs bench this is no contest, and if Aldridge keeps playing like he did a body swap with Joel Anthony, the Spurs have no chance.
Game Three Prediction:
Assuming Kawhi is out, this shouldn’t be close. Spurs 100, Warriors 123.
San Antonio Analysis by: Rich Condon
What Worked:
Jonathan Simmons showed up. The rest of the team didn’t. This one was well in hand for the Warriors halfway through the second quarter. The Spurs were able to out-rebound the Warriors, especially on the offensive end, and they scored 30 points off 19 turnovers.
Those are the only even slightly encouraging signs if Kawhi returns and LaMarcus Aldridge is ever able to remember that he’s playing basketball.
But hey, at least the young bucks got some playoff experience in garbage time, right?
Lessons Learned:
The first lesson learned is just how wide the talent margin is between Golden State and everybody else. This Spurs team was able to eliminate the Houston Rockets in Game 6 on the road when Kawhi Leonard was injured. Every game is different, but the Dubs made Golden State look like an 8th grade intramural team in Game Two (except for Jonathan Simmons).
The second lesson learned is how pivotal Kawhi Leonard is to what San Antonio does. Regardless of how the advanced metrics claimed the Spurs were a better defense during the regular season when Kawhi was on the bench, the Spurs have been a sieve without him in the last five and a half quarters.
Finally: what in the world is going on with LaMarcus Aldridge? San Antonio needed him to step into a leading role and he failed, miserably. He’s not wholly to blame for the shellacking the Spurs took in Game Two, but it’s become clearer by the possession that Aldridge isn’t cut out to be a leading man.
Game Three Adjustments:
Let’s not kid ourselves here: everything in this series rests on the ankle of Kawhi Leonard. If Leonard is able to return, which is at least somewhat likely after nearly a full week of rehab, the Spurs have a shot at winning. If not, well, we’ll be in store for more blowouts like Game Two.
Jonathan Simmons has earned himself a big payday in the offseason, but after tonight’s game, he has also perhaps earned himself a spot in the starting lineup, whether or not Kawhi returns. It’s a bit unorthodox, but sliding Simmons into the starting five instead of Patty Mills would give the Spurs size at every spot along the perimeter, which can make the Warriors struggle a bit offensively. Kawhi is the primary ball-handler for the most part when he plays anyway, so losing Mills back to the bench wouldn’t hurt the Spurs too much offensively.
The trade off would mean Davis Bertans and/or Kyle Anderson would need to step up off the bench. But, at the same time, this is the Western Conference Finals, the benches have shortened considerably. The Warriors played their starters for three quarters, even though the Spurs started resting their main guys in the first half (Manu checked into the game once, for five minutes). This move makes even more sense when factoring in Patty Mills’ poor play on the whole this postseason. At this point in the playoffs, a team needs to ride their most consistent players, which for the Spurs has been Simmons and Kawhi.
Game Three Prediction:
Once again, this all comes down to Kawhi’s ankle. If he’s back on Saturday, the Spurs will take Game Three at home.
If he doesn’t return, then he won’t return at all this postseason, and the Warriors will have an extended period of rest before Game One of the Finals.
Neutral Analysis by: Cory Hutson
Why Golden State Won:
When Golden State blows out their opposition, they have a particular blueprint they tend to follow: pass their opponents to death, pick up open shots in the process, and run all over them, while suffocating them on the other end. Tuesday night’s win very much followed that formula, as the Warriors hit over half their shots, assisting on 39 of their 50 makes, picking up 20 fast break points, and holding the Spurs to just 37% shooting.
Stephen Curry was his usual hot-shooting self, efficient at every distance and from the free throw line, but the key difference between Games 1 and 2 was the rest of the team got involved as well. Warriors fans are still waiting for The Klay Thompson Game, but in the meantime the rest of the backcourt continues to make solid contributions.
Why San Antonio Lost:
The loss of Kahwi Leonard hurts badly, and there would be no encore of their ridiculous Leonard-less win over the Rockets. Without The Claw in there to muck up the Warriors’ passing attack, the Spurs had no answers defensively.
Jonathon Simmons was the only Spur who found consistent success offensively, thanks to his solid long-range shooting. The rest of the team struggled to generate looks or develop any rhythm, in part thanks to the Warriors’ propensity to poke away the ball anytime they tried to get into the paint. While they were able to clean up their defensive rebounding, their 18 turnovers hurt them on both ends.
Also unusual: their inability to capitalize on offensive boards. San Antonio recovered a massive 23 of their own misses, but were unable to burn the Warriors with second chance points. When you think about what happens on the other end, how the Warriors seem to always produce a layup or 3-pointer on those rebounds, it seems necessary for the Spurs to match that success, but they didn’t find those opportunities in Game 2.
Game Three Adjustments:
Get plenty of rest, and get Leonard healthy. San Antonio finally has a break after playing every other day through the last round and into the start of this one, and they’ll surely welcome the chance to fight back on their home turf…or, home hardwood?
Without Leonard and Tony Parker, San Antonio’s ball-handling capacity has been severely diminished, making life that much more difficult against the Warriors’ aggressive defense. It’s hard enough to find holes in their scheme, but it’s even more difficult when the Spurs can’t break down the defense with dribble penetration or attack mismatches off the bounce.
Game Three Prediction:
The rest surely helps the Spurs more than the Warriors, and San Antonio has been absolutely dominant at home throughout this season. If we assume Leonard comes back close to full health, they have a puncher’s chance at taking a game off the Warriors.
That said, I still can’t take them to win. The Warriors’ offense is too explosive to contain consistently, and the Spurs might have lost their one chance at that after Leonard went down in Game 1.
