Game 2 grades, Golden State Warriors vs San Antonio Spurs

May 8, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) has his shot blocked by San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the second half in game two of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the AT

In a night that can easily be summed up with a litany of expletives, the Spurs fell to the Golden State Warriors in game 2, 100-91. Klay Thompson, aka Chris Mullin on crack, scored 34, 29 in the first half. Stephan Curry scored 22 however shot 7 of 20 in what was a much improved defensive effort on him. The Spurs are definitely in an unenviable position, and one where they are  looking in the mirror wondering what else could be done on the defensive end against the lava hot shooting Warriors? They won’t have much time to think about it as game 3 is almost upon us on Friday night. Hopefully, the Spurs find their shooting touch on the plane to Oakland as well.

Who’s Hot: Klay Thompson. Thompson was ridiculous. For as hot as Curry was in game 1, he made that looks like child’s play in the first half. Thompson in the first half scored 29, made 7 three pointers. Almost single handily giving the Warriors a 19 point halftime lead. Not only was his shooting great but his defense on Tony Parker was good once again. Thompson adds a giant wrinkle, onto a team that already looks like they all cylinders working.

Whos not: Gary Neal. Gary Neal this post season has been, let me see how I can put this. Pathetic. His shooting tonight 2 of 9, only illustrated how horribly deficient of a guard he is, when his shot is not going down. If his shot is not falling, it does not honestly make up for his lack of defense. For Neal to deserve more minutes he has to hit shots, and right now, I honestly can’t justify him getting any minutes.

Turning Point: The game didn’t really have any set point but the most notable big play to most likely win was at the end of the third, the Spurs rolling, cut the lead to 8, failing to score on one end, the Spurs had the Warriors stopped, playing fantastic defense, then Danny Green sagged on a Jarrett Jack drive and left Klay Thompson all alone. The screaming you heard was me at Danny Green. Of course he couldn’t hear me but, eh whatever. Thompson’s three made it 83-72 going into the fourth. A shot after the game could be pointed to as one that helped stop the bleeding enough to win the game.

What’s Next: Game 3. in easily one of the most loudest arenas seen probably since the Delta Center days of the ole Utah Jazz of Malone and Stockton. The Spurs have a GIANT hill to climb in winning A game let alone two in the Warrior’s home arena. A split would be fantastic news for the Spurs in what is turning out to be a season on the bring. Game time will be 9:30 central on ESPN.

Report Card

Tony Parker 20 points, 7 of 17 shooting, 3 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals.

Exhausted That’s about what Tony Parker looked like in the second half and its no wonder having guard Barnes, Stephan Curry, Klay Thompson, and hell even at one point Carl Landry.Other than that Parker was OK, his jumper was still off, his offense suffered one must think because of all the work he is doing on the defensive end. He missed close, he missed long, he turned the ball over as many times as he had assists. For the Spurs to win, Parker has to play better on the offensive end and help run the offense a little more efficiently.

Grade, C+

Danny Green 10 points, 4 of 12 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Oy vey Icy-hot. On a night where he was more icy than hot, and in a game where had he been tepid-luke warm the Spurs may have prevailed, Green was a disappointment. Green didn’t do much to fetter away talk that he is not a performer come playoff time with his shooting, however, his defense on Curry and others was quite good. Oh except the times he inexplicably collapsed in the lane and left Klay Thompson open for 3s. For the Spurs to win, if the Warriors are going to dare Green to shoot, he HAS to make his shots. Parker can’t get room and Duncan can’t get room unless Green and others hit their shots. A disappointing night for sure for the guard from North Carolina.

Grade D-

Kawhi Leonard 11 points 5 of 11 shooting, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal

A hard grade for me to give here because Kawhi was great defensively, forcing Curry and others into tough shots and forcing misses. Rebounding was spectacular. On offense, they even tried to post him up on Stephan Curry at times when matched up, which was quite strange because they have not run post up play 1 for Leonard all season. Way to experiment in the playoffs Pop. Leonard’s offense was underwhelming. He missed WIDE open shots, even in close shots, and to be quite honest when I pulled up the box score i was surprised he only missed 6, because it sure seemed like he missed more than that. Leonard is now a big 4 member. Theres no way around it. The Spurs need Leonard to score, especially in a game where scoring was hard to come by. Leonard’s melt down at the free throw line was troubling as well, and to be even more honest, Kawhi played alot like rookie Kawhi tonight. That said, I expect big things out of Kawhi in Oracle Arena. He seems to revel in the big lights and big times.

Grade B-

Matt Bonner 2 points, 1 of 3 shooting, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.

Bonner was back to typical playoff Bonner. My colleagues jabbed me after round 1, but sadly, the soft red head reared his ugly head again with Pop panicking and starting him for some unknown reason. Bonner is not a playoff player to be relied on or used in a regular rotation. Its that simple, and the fact that the coach is too stubborn to notice, is troubling.

Grade F

Tim Duncan 23 points 9 of 20 shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block,

Duncan’s game 1 was not a great one even though the numbers said otherwise, however it was revealed he still was suffering from the stomach flu, so he got a giant pass from me. However tonight,he left me wanting more. He reverted to Western Finals in 2012 Duncan by being hesitant on his jumpers. Passing up open ones, and not going hard to the basket and drawing fouls on Bogut. It really is a shame if Duncan can’t muster any better efforts, because IMO for the Spurs to win, they need Duncan to exploit the giant mismatch that he has over Golden State. Duncan however only got 1 shot attempt in the fourth quarter. ONE!!! A loss for words, am I.

Grade, B+

Bench 25 points, 9 of 26 shooting, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block

The bench aint the same bench that was taking apart teams in the regular season nor against LA. The Spurs bench underwhelmed again as Gary Neal stunk on both ends. Boris Diaw gets a pass because the coach for some reason hardly used him. Joseph saw even less minutes than game 1, and Manu Ginobili played almost an identical game 2 as he did in game 1. His shooting was off, decision making was bad again, and overall was just meh. Tiago Splitter was a welcomed sight and played well scoring 5 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. Hopefully he is starting for game 3 on Friday.

Bench D-