San Antonio Spurs Playoffs: Player Grades from Game Three Win Over Los Angeles Clippers

C-. Tony Parker’s struggles in the playoffs continued on Friday night against the Clippers. The 6-foot-2 point guard left game three still searching for his shot after an abysmal 3-of-11 shooting performance for six points. Parker also struggled to facilitate ball movement, coming away with two turnovers to only three assists. The former Finals MVP did limit Chris Paul to seven points, however, that seemed to be more of a result of the Los Angeles point guard flat-out struggling rather than the Parker playing strong defense.. PG. San Antonio Spurs. TONY PARKER

DANNY GREEN. B. Danny Green followed up a solid game two performance with an even better effort in game three. The former second-round pick contributed 11 points and six rebounds in the win. He was also active defensively, picking up three steals. Green might have done his best work, however, in his individual defense on J.J. Redick. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard played tight defense on Redick, limiting the Clippers guard to only seven points on 2-of-7 shooting. That is significant considering Redick scored in double-digits the first two games.. SG. San Antonio Spurs

SF. San Antonio Spurs. KAWHI LEONARD. A+. Kawhi Leonard was once again marvelous, following up his 23 point performance in game two with an even better effort in game three. Leonard had his highest scoring output of his career on Friday night, recording 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting in 29 minutes. Even better, the San Diego State star got at it on the defensive side of the ball as well, coming away with three steals. Leonard also forced Matt Barnes to continue to struggle this series, limiting the Los Angeles forward to five points on 2-of-5 shooting.

San Antonio Spurs. TIM DUNCAN. B-. Tim Duncan might not have turned back the clock in game three, but, the five-time champion did not have to with the excellent performance given by his team. Duncan was on the floor for 31 minutes in the win, registering four points, seven rebounds, and four assists. The 6-foot-11 forward also made life difficult for anyone who dared to step into the paint, blocking three shots on Friday night. Duncan was able to control Blake Griffin somewhat as well. The Clippers starting power forward finished with 14 points, 6-of-15 shooting, and 10 rebounds.. PF

D. Tiago Splitter continued to play in limited minutes on Friday night. Although the Brazilian big man had been somewhat effective in the first two games of this series in low minutes, that was not the case in game three. Splitter struggled to two points, three rebounds, and two turnovers in 17 minutes. The four-year veteran also had difficulty containing DeAndre Jordan who had one of his more efficient scoring nights, 5-of-6 from the field. While it did not hurt the Spurs in this game, Splitter has to play better moving forward if San Antonio is to advance in this series.. C. San Antonio Spurs. TIAGO SPLITTER

SAN ANTONIO SPURS BENCH. B-. The San Antonio Spurs bench did a great job on Friday night keeping the pressure on the Los Angeles Clippers when the starters left. The Spurs bench accounted for 45 of the team’s 100 points. Leading the effort from the reserves were Boris Diaw and Marco Belinelli. Diaw had 15 points and six rebounds off the bench while Belinelli finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Credit San Antonio’s bench big time for the final margin being what it was.. .