The San Antonio Spurs demolished the Utah Jazz in Game 2 of their seven game series to take a 
commanding 2-0 lead. From the looks of the first couple games, the Spurs will be busting out their brooms soon and looking ahead to the next round.
What went right?
In a word, plenty!
What impressed me most was how well the Spurs showcased their depth and their ability to spread the ball around. Seven players scored in double figures: all five starters plus Gary Neal and DeJuan Blair. Surprisingly, Manu only had four points and they still won by 31! It was a great team effort from everyone, and the depth this team has makes them extremely tough to beat in a seven game series.
The Spurs also shot incredibly well. I’m not sure if they somehow rigged their rim to be twice the size as normal, but it sure looked that way. They shot 57.3% from the field including 45.5% from beyond the arc, and they made all 10 of their free throws on their way to scoring 114 points.
Another thing to take from last night’s game was the performances of Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard. I wrote before the series started that they were going to be question marks because of their playoff inexperience, but that that I thought they would handle the pressure well. Leonard shot 6-7 from the field, including 3-4 from 3 for 17 points and Green shot 5-8 from the field including 3-5 from 3-for-13 points. They definitely showed they’re ready to contribute to this team’s postseason run.
Defensively they did a great job too. They held the Jazz to 34.4% shooting and 1-6 from outside the arc. The Jazz only had 36 points in the paint compared to the Spurs’ 62, an area that was of great concern going into the series.
You can probably pick out a 100 other things the Spurs did right in Game 2, they were impressive from start to finish. Spurs fans have to be happy as their team heads off to Utah.
What went wrong?
After a 31-point victory, it’s hard to pick out anything that the Spurs didn’t do well, but they definitely weren’t perfect.
For one, they got crushed on the offensive glass. The Jazz had 18 offensive rebounds compared to the Spurs’ five. Of course, a lot of that was because everything was going in for the Spurs and the Jazz couldn’t put the ball in the basket to save their lives last night. But there were a number of opportunities where the Jazz got as many as five shot attempts because they just kept pounding the boards. Luckily, it didn’t come back to hurt the Spurs in Game 2, but it could in the future.
There was also a pretty big discrepancy in free throw shooting. The Spurs only shot 10 while the Jazz shot 23. The Jazz are clearly a very good free throw shooting team, making 20 of them, so the Spurs will have to be careful of that in a close game (if that ever happens).
Aside from that, it’s hard to criticize anything else about the Spurs’ performance in Game 2. I don’t think anyone out there can argue that San Antonio is by far the better team, and this series is probably already over, but Utah can be a tough place to play. The Jazz were 28-5 at home this year, and they’ll definitely be out for revenge after last night’s embarrassment.
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