Report Card: Round 2, Game 4 – San Antonio Spurs Vs. Golden State Warriors

May 12, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; A Golden State Warriors fan cheers during action against the San Antonio Spurs in overtime in game four of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Spurs 97-87 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve done everything but press the panic button after last night’s loss.

Playoff beard: Shaved.Playoff shirt: Washed.Lucky boxers: Thrown away.

Okay, I’m slightly exaggerating.

The Spurs managed to steal homecourt advantage back from Golden State in Game 3, but failed to start putting the final nails in the Warriors coffin last night. The game was a battle of who could play just slightly less crappy than the other. And Golden State won that battle, as the Spurs completely s*** the bed in the last 9:40 of the game, shooting an abysmal 16%.

May 12, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) blocks the shot of San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (21) during the fourth quarter in game four of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Spurs 97-87 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Who’s Hot: It’s hard to put anyone here when both teams shoot under 40%, but let’s go ahead and give it to Manu Ginobili, since he scored 14 points in his first 5 minutes of action, including a perfect 4/4 from beyond the arch.

Who’s Not: Everybody. Tim Duncan shot less than 33% from the field yesterday. Not through any fault of his own, it was obvious he was gassed. When Duncan can’t elevate, his jumpshot is flat. And when it’s flat, Andrew Bogut is there to return it back in his face. TD was also bad from the free throw line, going 5-for-9.

Turning Point: The Spurs only made one basket in the last 3:30 of the fourth quarter, letting Jarrett Jack and Klay Thompson bring the Warriors back to tie the game and send it to overtime. After an 88-84 Warriors lead in OT, the Spurs failed to convert on a possession in which 5 offensive rebounds were grabbed, and not a single point was scored. The writing was on the wall, this was Golden State’s game.

Up Next: The 36 hour layoff in between Game’s 3 and 4 obviously hurt the Spurs. But now with a full 48 hours in between tip-offs, maybe San Antonio can get their legs back under them and come out firing for Game 5 on Tuesday.

GRADES

PG Tony Parker | 17 points (6-17 shooting), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 blockI can’t really rip Parker for his performance, since he played through his severely bruised calf. But also trying to pick out anything positive from his this game for these grades is difficult. I don’t have the complete statistic, but the Spurs win percentage is under 50% when TP9 shoots under 50%. So it’s obvious who needs to be on fire to win games.

Grade: B

SG Danny Green | 10 points (4-13 shooting), 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 blockGreen surprised everyone with a put-back slam dunk over Steph Curry early in the game, but other than that, the man referred to as Icy-Hot was very Icy with his 2-9 shooting from beyond the three point line.

Grade: C-

SF Kawhi Leonard | 11 points (4-11 shooting), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 stealHey, Kawhi Leonard only missed one free throw last night and almost had another double-double. Yeah, he also missed all of his 3-point attempts and mid-range jumpers. Kawhi didn’t make anything outside of 4-feet yesterday. While it’s good that he’s such a force on the glass, the Spurs need to spread the floor. When he’s missing corner 3’s or mid-range shots, the offense can’t spread itself out.

Grade: C+

PF Tim Duncan | 19 points (7-22 shooting), 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocksTD attempted (and made) only basket from within 5 feet of the basket last night. When Duncan’s shot isn’t falling, he needs to be more assertive around the rim. But with how tired he was, Bogut was easily able to dominate him on the defensive end. Something I’d also like to see more of (and this goes for the entire team), the Spurs have done a lot of resetting the offense and clock killing after grabbing offensive rebounds, instead of going right back up and attempting to draw fouls. The less time Golden State has the ball on offense, the better. But settling for contested jumpshots needs to stop.

Grade: C

C Tiago Splitter | 5 points (2-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 blockWhat the hell do I even write about Tiago? The Spurs have gone to small ball, but even when Duncan’s not in, Popovich has decided to roll with Boris Diaw at center over Splitter. Granted he’s coming back from injury, but Tiago’s confidence is shot. And holding him to just 19 minutes isn’t helping.

Grade: D-

Bench | 25 points (10-26 shooting), 15 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocksIf this was solely Manu Ginobili and not the entire bench, I’d have to give Manu an A-. But since Gary Neal and Boris Diaw decided to completely underwhelm in their combined 30 minutes of action, there will be no A’s given. Also, for the love of god will someone give Cory Joseph some more minutes? Curry seems to destroy him on offense, but CoJo doesn’t seem too scared of the moment. If Parker’s calf bothers him any further, why not give the former Longhorn some run? And lastly, how quickly has Matt Bonner fallen out of the rotation? Sheesh.

Grade: B