Video: Spurs “pretty close to flawless”

Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and Tim Legler talked about how impressed they were with the Spurs’ Game 1 performance for ESPN First Take.

Surprisingly Smith, one of the Spurs’ harshest critics throughout the season, dished out some compliments.

“They were pretty close to flawless from the standpoint that when you look at what Tony Parker didn’t do, when you look at how Tiago (Splitter) didn’t play,” Smith said. “You almost ignore that because it was the bodies I saw running around all over the place. You just saw bodies flying out all over the place, coming out of nowwhere. They were like piranhas. They look so young.”

Smith later complemented the exemplary work of Gregg Popovich.

“What comes to my mind is the greatness of Gregg Popovich as a coach,” Smith said. “All year long while he was much maligned (from the national media) about benching guys, clearly he knew what he was doing. He has them ready at the appropriate time.”

Of course, Smith still maintains that the Thunder will beat the Spurs in a seven-game series.