Apr 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9) shoots the ball against Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) and center DeAndre Jordan (6) during the third quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
13. Tony Parker
The entire night, it truly felt like something was missing from the San Antonio Spurs’ game. It was Tony Parker. He was on the court physically, but his ability to take over and captain the Spurs on offense was seemingly left in last years’ playoffs. They need to him to be as aggressive and dynamics ever if they have any hope of coming back to win this series.
14. Big Minutes
Fans were treated to 41 minutes of Blake griffin on Sunday night. In addition to that, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan each worked their way up and down the court for 36 minutes. It’s hard to imagine that those types of big minute performances can be sustained by them for any extended stretch of time.
15. 15
That’s not just how many points the Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs by in Sunday’s game. It’s also not in reference to how many points are on this list. That’s how many more shots the Spurs took in Game 1 of the series than the Clippers did.
Had they made half of those attempts this is a tie game. They had the opportunity to win the first game and steal home court advantage, they just didn’t capitalize on it.
Game 2 is slated for a 10:30 p.m.(ET) start on Wednesday. There’s an opportunity for this to be one of the better playoff series for fans of the game to have experienced in recent years. These foes, despite being very different, are on a fairly even scale in a time when that doesn’t happen prior to the conference finals.
It’ll be interesting so see what adjustments are made in the second game, and where the momentum will be as they head to San Antonio for games 3 and 4.