Utah at San Antonio: Game 5 Recap
Your Western Conference champions are crowned
By Cub Buenning
As an objective purveyor of all things hoop, and specifically the NBA’s Western Conference, I feel a bit cheated as we watch the sun set on the conference finals. The East—for once—has put forth the better series and has given us four competitive games and an even 2-2 split. Our (by that, I mean the west) conference final really had already transpired when the Spurs and Suns met in that exciting, if not tumultuous 6-game thrill-ride of a series. While I have nothing but respect for not only Jerry Sloan, but the Utah Jazz as a whole, I feel wronged that we were forced to stomach this series. I said from the onset, that it was a match-up nightmare for the Jazz. To be honest, the Spurs have the advantage on pretty much every team they face before the ball is even tipped. They know how they are going to play; they know how they will go about doing it, and they almost always are successful in doing so.
Their Big 3 of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili present issues on every night, against every team. Each of them can go for 30, but each can also do more than just score. Duncan is a perennial First-Team All-Defensive player and his double-digit rebound evenings happen about as regularly as Lindsay Lohan checks into rehab. Parker can distribute with the best in the league, he can also run a fast-break as well as anyone (despite having inferior “finishers”) and he can control the half-court like few. Manu? Well, love him or hate him (I have both in me) he pushes this group to new levels regardless of whether he is in the starting lineup or not. He can hit the 3-ball (like many of his Spur teammates) he drives to the hoop with unmatched voracity, he is often overlooked as a rebounder, and his defensive annoyance is second to no other in the league. Remember, defense is about making it difficult on your opponent regardless of the atheistic beauty of the ultimate product.
THERE WAS A GAME, RIGHT? Kinda.
Last night, as the Jazz and Spurs prepared for Game 5, Utah looked to be even more “behind the eight-ball” with Deron Williams still hobbling from Game 4 and backcourt mate Derek Fisher still in transit back from NYC where his 10-month old daughter was going through her second round of chemotherapy for her rare eye disorder. The tone was defeatist from the beginning, as Sloan even urged his guys to not treat this game like an exhibition game.
Unfortunately for the Jazz faithful, this was about as far from a competitive conference finals game as has ever been played. San Antonio started hot, jumped all over their opponents defensively, and cruised to one of the easiest victories in this postseason, winning 109-84. Using first-quarter runs of 8-0 and 14-0, the Spurs held a gargantuan 30-11 lead with still 2:35 left. In the past few games, Ginobili’s spark off the bench had been a huge contributor to the Spurs pulling ahead, but his guys were taking care of things before the Argentine could even check into the game. Taking full advantage of a hobbled Williams, Parker drove, shot, and passed his way to a beautiful 21-5-5 evening despite logging a mere 27 minutes. The Jazz shot an abysmal 38% from the field and barely had three guys in double figures, being led by Andrei Kirilenko’s 13. At a couple intervals (including halftime) the Jazz were able to bring the Spurs back to within 16, but the game was never close.
Exhibition? Rafael Araujo, Ronnie Brewer, Beno Udrih, Matt Bonner, Dee Brown, and one of the Collins twins all logged minutes in this game. You tell me.
The Spurs will now sit and wait for the dust to settle out east. Many (myself included) thought that the competitive attrition out west would cause the eventual representative to be beat-up and tired by the time the Finals finally rolled around. Due to the lack of reseeding and the surprise Dallas upset, the Spurs now looked primed and ready to go for their fourth ‘chip in the last eight years. Detroit and Cleveland, on the other hand, are knee deep in a series that likely will go seven. Time for another banner in the River City.
TO THE FINALS!
24 Responses to “Utah at San Antonio: Game 5 Recap”
May.31 at 11:37 am
H to the izzo says:
Rafael Araujo is still in the NBA.Thats the kind of line that makes me think I have a chance of getting in
May.31 at 11:40 am
clair says:
hmmm… this is all a bad dream and i’m gonna wake up to find out that everything is as it should be and the spurs and suns will now be meeting in the western conference finals, right? right…
May.31 at 11:54 am
white hot eboy says:
SA is consistently the best team in the league for the last decade so it’s no suprise that they will be the favorites again this Finals and probably at the start of next season as well. (Yeah, the Lake Show was hot but those days are LONG gone). Although I cheer for the Heat, recognizing a teams greatness is not hard for a true NBA fan and the Spurs handle their business more often than not. If the Spurs play the Pistons I hope they snap their necks ealry and often. If they get the Cavs, I think Lebron breaks DWades’ free throw attempts records at a clip of 28 per game (mild exagaration, maybe) but the Sternbot will have the in for 2 Cavs wins to make it interesting.
May.31 at 12:02 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Duncan looks so thrilled to be holding that Western Conference trophy. “Hey Beno, c’mere, I’ve got somethin’ for ya!”
May.31 at 12:19 pm
Redrum says:
next time any of the ESPN announcers do a Southpark “Timmy!!!” or shout “GINOBILI!!!” I am going on a shooting spree… seriously… IT IS FREAKING ANNOYING AND LAME!!! STOP IT!!! let me try this: WWWAAAZZAAAUUUPP!!! wanna shoot me, yeah?
May.31 at 12:22 pm
clair says:
“Duncan looks so thrilled” is a phrase not used enough.
May.31 at 12:23 pm
dez says:
wait, the NBA playoffs are still going on?
May.31 at 12:25 pm
Sesa says:
I’ve quit my job just to watch NBA playoffs… and this is what I got.
OMG, please let the Cavs win.
May.31 at 12:30 pm
7 says:
this thought keeps coming back to me..on how Lang frequently mentions Spurs methodology and how it wins them games(i liken them to Chelsea, it may not be pretty but they win games)..and yet his SLAM finals prediction was not the Spurs..
May.31 at 12:32 pm
Redrum says:
oh.. there was a game as well… The Spurs are an example of a franchise, and Buford an example of a GM of how you can win rings with good scouting… TP and Gino were draft and now paid peanuts… SO GMs that whine that their stars pay devour the salary cap and hence cannot get quality support for them should give a ring to Buford. (KG and Kobe spring to mind) Heck, he would have made millions if he created a GM School! PS. I am sleep deprived for a week now… just to explain the nonsense I have been posting…
May.31 at 1:43 pm
Co Co says:
Even though I have been defending the weak Eastern conference all playoffs mostly saying Detroit has a good chance to beat whoever comes out of the west, I don’t believe that anymore. You all were right, the Winner of that Phx/Spurs series will be the eventual champ. I’m convinced, but my heart is still in the east so I’ll be rooting unabashedly for Detroit if they make it, not so much Cleveland.
May.31 at 2:24 pm
Air Haiti says:
As much as i dont like tim duncan..u can say what you want but he is a winner 4real
May.31 at 3:54 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Honestly Cub, I’m a little disappointed you even bothered to watch this game, let alone write about. I’ve sent the precedent for conscientious (sp?) objection to non-competitive playoff series, and I hope you know you’re free to follow.
May.31 at 3:54 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Actually, I’ve “set” the precedent. Not that it matters.
May.31 at 4:00 pm
Cub Buenning says:
Ryan, my note taking stopped just minutes into the second quarter. Hence the bulk of my piece being more on the Spurs in general than the actual game.
This series was dreadfully close to that brilliant ORL/DET series that you so astutely covered.
May.31 at 4:26 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Yeah, I guess I should’ve read your post before I commented…
May.31 at 4:35 pm
Holiday says:
Although I still believe that game 4 was BS, I got to hand it to the Spurs there a great team and the Jazz flat out lost lant night, no excuses! But next year is gonna be different cause this team is just getting better and better and they have nothing to be ashamed of, it was a great season!
May.31 at 6:45 pm
whooo! says:
how bout boozer, fisher, and deron williams ALL calling out certain players who didn’t show up? i wonder if it was entirely that, or a matter of the spurs executing em to death. duncan said they like to kick their opponent when they’re down (so dirty…), and this game, they pretty much snapped the jazz’s neck. i was shocked how uncompetitive it was for this game, cuz utah’s got a legit team w/ some real good players. this year’s experience will be huge for em, and i’m sure they’ll ship certain guys in the postseason to add a real 2-guard and a couple grittier guys.
May.31 at 7:44 pm
David says:
Why is it that the Spurs can be so good, for the last several years, yet they generate so little excitement (outside of SAN, I’m sure)? I mean, we can agree that the main players are all very capable and that the coaching is obviously great, but it’s like they’re too good for many teams. Game 7 of the’05 finals was an anti-climax because they just came out and crushed the Pistons. Actually -weren’t most/all of the wins in that series one-sided?
May.31 at 9:26 pm
whooo! says:
david, the ‘05 finals was 4 blowouts, followed by an incredible game 5. game 7 was a letdown b/c both sides had problems, duncan shooting 30 shots just to get 20+, billups not shooting at all… the 4th quarter opened up tied. bowen had a huge block against chauncy that sealed it in the last couple mins. that was a very evenly matched series that coulda gone either way.
May.31 at 11:54 pm
Mitt Romney bio says:
Apparently you didn’t watch the game H to the izzo. Or maybe you’re just stupid. Araujo had probably the best stats of any of the Utah players coming off the bench. If I remember right he had 7 points in 11 minutes. He’s wasn’t league MVP but his play deserves a little respect.
Jun.1 at 6:45 am
Chou says:
I say Araujo has the potential to be the next Cherokee Parks.
Jun.2 at 12:01 am
Stuie says:
Im dissapointed there wasnt a better showing from the mavs and suns. The spurs have been in the western confrence finals game for ever and its not like the bull either. You didnt get tired of the bulls because they were constantly winning championships.
Jun.8 at 11:00 pm
lavarius says:
tim duncan is the best in the nba