By contrast, the Spurs did all the little things right. Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich found something for every player to do, making the most out of his roughly ten man rotation. The Spurs even managed to out-rebound Utah 44-35, an impressive feat considering Utah's past dominance of just about everyone on the boards.
Surely Popovich will find something to improve on between now and game three Saturday night, though. This humble fan's best guess is that he focuses on how to deal with aggressive double teams, which is a tactic Utah used to good effect when trying to claw back into the game. They did make it a point to at least get more aggressive with whoever had the ball, and oftentimes double teams would be send to both Ginobili and Parker when they were running the show. Both players do have a slight reputation for making turnovers when forced to see the court and make decisions quickly. I'm afraid that's the best Popovich will be able to come up with as far as criticism for his team goes.
People are bound to start wondering if Utah knows how to jump on a team, given their poor starts in both games leading to furious comeback attempts in the second half. I don't think Utah really has anything to worry about, though. All the pieces are in place, and once Utah learns how to do a few more of the little things San Antonio demonstrated tonight, they could be a team that forces its will on others just as the Spurs do now. They have a good big man and a capable point guard for years to come.
This series, though, is now out of their reach. And it's no fault of Utah's. They've just run up against a team that's better, straight up. Better inside, better on the perimeter, better defensively, better off the bench, better from a coaching prospective. Utah still might steal one at the former Delta Center, but it's clear at this point that only San Antonio can keep San Antonio from the NBA finals now.
Article comments
1 - Jen
105 is a lot of points! but DEtroit will get em in the Finals!
2 - Jared Wright
The Suns look up from sulking to scoff at the 105-point total. :)
And I dunno, I don't think anybody short of the Mavs can beat San Antonio when they're playing this well. Detroit's good. Very good. I just don't see them being able to offensively keep up, and there's no way they're going to hold the Spurs to less than 85 points like they are Cleveland.