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San Antonio Spurs – Kawhi Leonard & Tiago Splitter Shine Instead of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili & Tim Duncan
While the San Antonio Spurs have figured out how to stop Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, getting their big three going all at one has been a bit more difficult in the playoffs. So while Tim Duncan was benched in crunch time and the Tony Parker – Manu Ginobili tandem proved to be on one of their worst days this season, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter proved there’s plenty of depth behind the old, beaten up names.
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Spurs Formula to Victory – Attacking Stephen Curry and Stopping the Three Point Shots
It seems that as we approach game 6 between the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors, the Spurs are coming in confident they have the Warriors figured out. Yes, Harrison Barnes has been surprising after an OK rookie season, but comes down to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson making three point shots. Once you take that away, while forcing Curry to be the on-ball defender as much as possible, and it seems that Mark Jackson doesn’t have too many rabbits to pull out of his hat.
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San Antonio Spurs – Tony Parker Makes Stephen Curry Look Injured
Don’t always believe it when NBA players and their head coaches speak of injuries. It’s all about perception, and when Tony Parker leads the San Antonio Spurs to a huge win in Game 5 while making Stephen Curry (with the help of others) look like someone who doesn’t really know what he’s doing for once, the injury card for Curry suddenly becomes a lot more significant, trying to make us forget the point guard in front of him is older and just as injured.
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San Antonio Spurs – Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili & Tony Parker Messed Up in the Clutch
It’s usually about the San Antonio Spurs being better than everyone when their big three are playing together, especially when they’re all healthy and ready to go. But in game 4 of the Western conference semifinals, the intensity and physicality of the game seemed to be a bit too much for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, all disappointing as the team collapsed in the final 10 minutes of a game they had in their hands.
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San Antonio Spurs – Tim Duncan Forgotten in the Fourth Quarter
While Tim Duncan isn’t having the easiest of time so far in the Western Conference semifinals, completely forgetting about the number one reason the San Antonio Spurs are four-time NBA champions in the fourth quarter might have been the biggest mistake Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili made in their game 2 loss.
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Manu Ginobili Shines & Stephen Curry Doesn’t in the Clutch
Sometimes history is stronger than anything else: The Golden State Warriors haven’t been able to beat the San Antonio Spurs in Texas for over 16 years, so even a huge performance for most of the game by Stephen Curry eventually gets subdued by the wonderful Kawhi Leonard, while Manu Ginobili on an awful shooting night comes up with the winning shot to keep things in order.
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San Antonio Spurs – Abusing a Helpless Team
The San Antonio Spurs don’t have to be at their best to make this first round series a pretty easy one to get through, with an opposition that’s not really the deepest team around. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili don’t have to give it their all, while Tony Parker is healthy enough once again to shoulder the load, especially in the crucial minutes to create enough separation to get by.
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San Antonio Spurs – Tim Duncan Continues to Play Like Age Means Nothing
It shouldn’t really be surprising anymore, considering everything we’ve seen from Tim Duncan this season, but somehow it still is. Without Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker in the roster, the elder statesman of the San Antonio Spurs continues to put up incredible numbers, not just for someone his age with that kind of mileage on his aching body, and more than anything show that he still might be the best big man in the NBA.
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San Antonio Spurs – Tim Duncan Clears the Way for Tony Parker
They couldn’t make it easy for Tony Parker on his return game, playing for the first time in three weeks after being taken out by an ankle injury. He still was the best player on the court, the MVP if you will (like San Antonio Spurs fan love to chant about), helping the best team in the Western Conference make it through a tough overtime game against a team that’s moving further away from the NBA playoffs.
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San Antonio Spurs – Tim Duncan on Best Big Man in NBA Mode
It has been harder on Tim Duncan at certain moments this season to shine, but still, you don’t expect a 36 year old man to turn on the time machine so often and play like these are his MVP days every night. And still, without Tony Parker, it seems that’s just what the San Antonio Spurs need him to be doing.