NBA Playoffs: Tim Duncan vs Blake Griffin Has Transformed Into The Marquee Matchup

Thus far in the NBA Playoffs, the matchup between Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin has stolen the show

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Spurs vs Clippers is a series that features the iconic and time-tested Big 3 of San Antonio going head-to-head with the exciting and youthful Big 3 of Los Angeles.

It also features two elite basketball minds that have established themselves as perennial Coach of the Year candidates in Greg Popovich and Doc Rivers. So you can see why it’s hard to imagine that the entire series has boiled down to the matchup of Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin.

But it has.

Tim Duncan comes from the Pop montra of team basketball reigning supreme. The Spurs are a collection of a couple big names past their prime and a slew of role players with one or two strengths who just seem to flow perfectly together. In years past, Duncan has led the charge for this organization (his two regular season MVPs and three Finals MVPs speak to that), but has always been met at the helm by Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

The bench, with Manu leading the way, has done alright for themselves in the first two games of this first round series. On the eve of fittingly being named the recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kawhi Leonard aided in the winning effort and held his own in the game 1 loss as well. Tony Parker has seemingly been missing in action, as he’s averaged just 5.5 points and three assists per game.

Those are numbers bested by every other starting point guard in the playoffs through two games.

In addition to notching his 5,000th career playoff point early in the 1st quarter of Wednesday’s game (becoming just the 5th player to reach that mark in NBA history), Tim Duncan has been having a very good series. Consecutive double-doubles in the opening games and solid work as a rim protector is a great way to get the playoffs underway.

On the other side of things, you have Blake Griffin. He plays on a team where flashiness and highlights are encouraged and are plentiful. Dubbed “Lob City” by many in the media for their frequent alley-oop flushes seemingly serve as a cornerstone for their offensive strategy.

Griffin sits at the heart of this team, the centerpiece that this franchise is built around after his acquisition back in 2009, via the first overall pick in the draft, which conveniently enough is also the way the Spurs got Duncan way back in 1997.

Surrounding Blake is arguably the best point guard in the NBA today, Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan (an athletic freak and elite shot blocker) and a cast of other role players who aren’t really as germane to this team’s success as the Spurs’ role players are to theirs.

In the first couple games of this series, you can’t say that the other core players on this team disappeared. Chris Paul had a game-high (32 points) scoring night during the Clippers’ game 1 victory, and DeAndre Jordan has literally done what he gets paid to do (rebound and contest shots) through the first two games of this round one matchup.

Blake Griffin amassed a triple-double (29 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) in Game 2 of the series and his game one performance (26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists) was nearly just as good. While he has been on the court in this series, the Clippers have bested the Spurs by a combined 28 points. He’s been fairly efficient and he’s provided solid defense in the series as well.

Duncan vs Griffin is a matchup that features the past and the future of power forwards. Duncan, from an older generation where consistency and fundamentals were the corner stones of the way the game was taught and played. Griffin, a product of a time where the highlight reel is glorified and putting someone on a poster is given more value than simply posting up.

Their clashing styles reflect their respective teams’ mindsets as well. So tonight we prepare ourselves for Game 3 in San Antonio with the series tied at 1 victory a piece. Will Duncan’s Spurs continue to build on their legacy?

Or is it time for the new school to take the next step?

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