May 16, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker (9, left) high-fives shooting guard Manu Ginobili (20) during the fourth quarter in game six of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Spurs defeated the Warriors 94-82. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Elimination games are always fun as an observer. As the fan of a team involved? Yeah good luck eating or not needing a stiff drink to get through the game. The Spurs entered the game on the cusp of entering their 12th Conference Finals in their franchise’s storied history. The Warriors hoping the great crowds at Oracle arena could keep things going for a game 7 and hoping against hope things would break their way.This however, was not going to be a night were hope was going to work.

The Spurs came out from the tip and till the final buzzer with smothering championship level defense.forcing the Warriors into 38% shooting, and 4 of 16 from 3 point land. The likes of Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andrew Bogut, and Carl Landry, ones that gave so many headaches in games 1 and 2 were virtually shut down games 3-6. Stephan Curry, the owner of 44 points in game one was held to 22 on 10 of 25 shooting. Klay Thompson, hero of game 2, 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting.

The Spurs were lead by Tim Duncan with 19, but Duncan made headlines by being benched for the final 4 minutes of the game! The Spurs never the less trudged on and pulled out the win with huge threes from Kawhi Leonard, and Tony Parker who had an absolutely horrendous game shooting going 3 of 16.

The Spurs move on and will begin the next round against the hated Memphis Grizzlies. Yes, those same Memphis Grizzlies that pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA history 2 years ago when they eliminated the Spurs in 6 games in the first round of the playoffs. As has already been said, it will be a war.

Who’s hot: Tough choice but I’m gonna go Kawhi Leonard. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds, after giving almost the same amount of points in game 5 and rebounds as well. His clutch threes in the 4th will guarantee, if this playoff run ends like everyone wants, will be remembered as one of those “moments”.

Who’s not: Tony Parker. I love ya Tony, but wow was that historically bad. Parker admitted after the game he was tired, and you can be surprised. This series started and pretty much went hard core from the tip. Hardly any time off in between games including the crazy 36 hour turnaround from games 3-4. Still that said, after his fantastic game 5, he was just way off tonight, of course till the last 3 minutes when he poured in 8 points, 2 threes, that pretty much helped win the game.

Turning Point: Quite easily it was immediately after the timeout following Tim Duncan’s pass to Joey Crawford. The Warriors had the ball, down 2, and a chance to tie or take their first lead since 15-14 in the first quarter. Klay Thompson and Stephan Curry both had fantastic looks at the top of the 3 point line and both, literally, went half in and rolled out. Spurs regained possession, came down, and Tony Parker hit a three to put them up 80-75, and they would never look back after that.

Whats next: World War 3. No that’s melodramatic message boarder talking there. No, it will be a giant battle however when the Memphis Grizzlies come to San Antonio to battle the Spurs in the 2013 Western Conference Finals. While its old hat for the Spurs, their 8th in 14 years, and 12th in franchise history, it is the Grizzlies first time playing in the hot temperatures of late May early June. Game 1 is Sunday, 2:30 San Antonio time, on ABC. No more TNT for the Spurs this year, . But hey, it could be on Oxygen and I think we would be just fine with seeing our Spurs back in the Conference Finals once again.

Game Grades

Tony Parker 13 points 3 of 16, 3 rebounds, 8 assists,

Wow that was tough. But hey, he was the epitome of finishing better than he started. On a night where he turned the ball over, and shot horribly. Parker turned it around by scoring 10 points in the final 3 minutes in helping secure the win. Points though were the star, his defense was very solid. He was up on Curry, Thompson, Barnes, and anyone else he attempted to guard. Going forward the Spurs obviously can’t win with Parker shooting 3 of 16, however, this was historically bad and I doubt we see it again.

Grade C+

Danny Green 11 points, 3 of 5 shooting, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

Danny had another very good night. His stellar defense on Stephan Curry and others was on display once again, as was his shooting. His shots were huge shots, including one that pushed the lead from 4 to 7 in the fourth quarter. Not only is he defending and shooting well, he’s rebounding quite well for his position. Green played fantastic in this series and looking forward, to move on the Spurs will need just as big an effort from him. Next up, Mike Conley?

Grade A-

Kawhi Leonard 16 points 6 of 13, 10 rebounds, 2 steals

Kawhi continued his playoff brilliance with another fantastic performance. Not only had he made Klay Thompson completely disappear, he pretty much was a huge reason offensively the Spurs are moving on.
The highlight play was Kawhi missing a three, grabbing the rebound and slamming it home emphatically. Kawhi was a gigantic reason the Spurs were able to shut the Warriors down and hold them to under 92 points in regulation for 4 straight games.

Grade A-

Tiago Splitter 14 points 6 of 8, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 steals

Tiago was fantastic last night, moving, defensively and offensively. Tiago was his usual savy self, finding himself open underneath the hoop after cutting and losing his man like always. Defensively he once again hedged the pick and rolls to perfection and guarded the perimeter as well as a 6’11 big man. While his rebounding was nothing to write home about, his positioning was good and the Warriors had him surrounded with multiple players. Tiago will be gigantic against the Grizzlies in his defense against most likely, Zach Randolph.

Grade A

Tim Duncan 19 points 7 of 13, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks,

Eventful. Thats how I would describe Duncan’s game. After another fantastic start to the game, Duncan. didn’t really disappear as much as didn’t get much of a chance. Duncan was guarded well and was made to pass off many times, however, he hesitated quite a bit as well bogging the offense down, and then in the 4th throwin a pass to his hated rival Joey Crawford. Why he would do such a thing, I have no idea. After that Pop benched him and he was done for the night. Against Memphis, yeah, he will have to do better and in all likelihood, will do just that.

Grade B+

Bench 21 points 8 of 18, 19 rebounds, 15 assists, 1 steal.

Well the bench played, OK. Corey Joseph continued his amazing playoff run with more fantastic defense, more heady play, and continued to be the spark off the bench the Spurs have missed from back up point guard days since Jacque Vaugh and even Speedy Claxton. While Ginobili didn’t shoot well, his one basket was a giant one in the fourth, his play making was vintage Manu. Handing out 11 assists he found Parker for his three in the corner and others as well. Not only did he pass the ball fantastically, he did a damn good job rebounding the basketball. As usual, a clutch performance from the Argentine. Gary Neal was solid in his time on the court, at one point the scoring came from just him and Tiago Splitter. His defense was decent, however, he was just over matched speed wise. Matt Bonner didn’t get in the way, actually made a shot, but other than that was his usual invisible self.

Grade B+

Apr 28, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan meet on the court at the conclusion of San Antonio

Hey long time no, uh, read? Yeah OK anyways. Well that was a fun quick series, and were already onto the next one. However, before we get down to the dinner table of the second round, lets give a quick summation and grade how the individuals did against the Lakers shall we? Lets light this candle.

Tim Duncan 17.5 points 7.5 rebounds 3.7 assists 1.0 blocks

The biggest news out of this series for old reliable was just that. He was reliable. Not only did he come out of the series healthy but he looked great. Moved very well, was fluid, played fantastic defense.His jump shot looked great sans second half of game 1, and he looked as spry as he did before “the scare”. While his blocks weren’t fantastic, nor his rebounding, those numbers were brought down mostly to the small amount of minutes played in the last two games. The biggest thing that stood out was his defense. His defense on Gasol and Howard was nothing short of outstanding. He at times completely shut down Dwight Howard, and made Gasol work very hard for every single point that he earned. Going forward the Spurs will need this defense from Duncan if they have aspirations of getting out of the West.

Grade A

Kawhi Leonard 12.3 points 7.3 rebounds 1.3 assists

The more the series went on, the more comfortable Leonard got, and what was expected to be a quiet series offensively, became a solid to good one.

With Ron Artest guarding him all series long, (I refuse as you know, to call him by that ridiculous name) it was expected his offensive impact would be less than normal. However Leonard attacked aggressively and often against the Laker’s porous defense and defended the Lakers equally as well. He was able to fly around guarding multiple players and was routinely intercepting a badly forced pass and taking it the other way. Against Golden State? He will definitely have his chance to shine.

Grade A

Tiago Splitter 5 points 4 rebounds 2.3 assists .7 blocks

In a series to forget, it was a 3 game series for one Tiago Splitter and one, hopefully, he can recover from. From game 1 on he was not his usual self. Playing to contact hoping for fouls and not playing with any toughness or aggressiveness at all, Splitter had a painful first round match up. In more ways than one. Splitter in game 3 while driving to the basket on a usual pick and roll play seemed to turn his ankle while jumping into the air and therefore sprained his ankle, putting his status for the beginning of the second round in doubt. While Splitter didn’t play well vs LA, he will most definitely be needed vs Golden State in a need to stay big and prevent easy shots and plays at the rim.

Grade D -

Danny Green 7 points 4 rebounds 2 assists

In a series that started slow but finished very very well, I personally thought he played a good series. His defense was solid outside a couple miscues here and there. His shot making started off decently but finished just as good as his defense as his aggressiveness got back to regular season levels. His one on one defense was solid as always and as the series finished, he started getting those steals leading to fast breaks. Notably creating a steal in game 4 and flushing a great fast break dunk on the other end. Hopefully Green picks up where he left off in the second round.

Grade B +

Tony Parker 22.3 points 3.3 rebounds 6.5 assists 1.2 steals

In a very important measuring stick series when it comes to health, Tony Parker passed with flying colors, especially as the series wore down. In games 3 and 4 Parker diced, pulled up, floated, and ran like the pre injury Tony did and not gave a sigh of relief, but a giant tinge of excitement for future prospects as a healthy Parker means a long deep playoff run for these Spurs. Parker in this series, literally had no one who could guard him. Early on before Steve Blake got injured, he guarded him quite well, however in game 2, Parker exploded in the third quarter and pretty much erased any worries by Spurs fans about his prospects as he went on to dominate the series from then on out. Happy high fives everyone and cross those fingers, cause Tony is lookin like Tony again.

Grade A +

Matt Bonner 7.8 points 3.8 rebounds 1 steal 1 block

The red mamba. A nickname that has stuck since All Star weekend, and has gone from a bit of a running gag to now a cheer. Matt Bonner came out and immediately tried to expel any playoff demons by not only hitting big shot after big shot, but also playing amazingly good defense vs a taller, bigger, and stronger Dwight Howard. Bonner filled in for the ailing Boris Diaw, and honestly, it could be questioned whether Diaw could’ve done as well or better than what Matt Bonner contributed. With Diaw back, one wonders if Bonner will be used as much or at all now. Only time will tell.

Grade A

Cory Joseph 4.5 points 2.8 rebounds 3 assists

While making his playoff debut, the young Joseph showed exactly why the Spurs used the late first round draft pick on him. His defense was not only spectacular, but his rebounding, and his offensive play making and shooting touch were on display as well. Joseph not only spelled Parker, but allowed the Spurs to give a little extra rest to him in games 3 and 4 as Joseph pretty much had a handle on things. His defense was disruptive , but he stayed within himself. The same could be said for his offense as he looked for his shot at the appropriate times and didn’t try to do too much nor get in anyone’s way.

Going forward, if Joseph can continue this play, the Spurs will become a really really hard out in the playoffs.

Grade A+

Manu Ginobili 11.3 points 3 rebounds 4.8 assists 1.8 steals

From game 1 on Manu Ginobili made Spurs fans not only twinge, but jump with excitement. Starting in game 1, no one, not even coach Popovich knew how the wily veteran from Argentina would fare.He was on a 20 minute, 5 minute blocks, playing limitation. In game 1 he tried to make Pop immediately forget that restriction and play him more as he scored 18 points in 18 minutes. From then on while not scoring as much, he wasn’t need to as his passing found open shooters, cutters, as he created as many points as he scored. HIs defense while not vintage Manu due to no one to guard, he was allowed to do what he does best. Ball hawk, and ball hawk he did, as he disrupted the passing lanes as well or better than Kawhi Leonard, and overall created his usual giant headaches. going forward, one would think with the ample rest the minutes will increase, along with the scoring responsibilities. Heres hoping his shot continues to be good.

Grade A

Gary Neal 7.8 points 2.3 rebounds 1 assist

While Gary Neal wasn’t Gary Neal the sniper, he still contributed on the offensive end. The defensive end? Uh, did I mention his offense was solid? His mid range game when chased from the three point line was quite good, as he made floating jumpers in the lane, Tony Parker like tear drops, and pull up mid range open shots left and right. To be successful going forward, the Spurs will need however, Gary Neal to make his open threes, and make defenses pay for rotating off of him.

Grade B-