San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich argues with officials after the team’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series on Monday. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
At least three illegal things happened in one wild inbounds play with 13.5 seconds left that may come to define a series that saw Oklahoma City snatch home court from San Antonio.
– First, Manu Ginobili’s foot was over the line while defending the pass. Violation.
– Second, Dion Waiters reached over the line to elbow Ginobili out of the way in order to make the pass. Violation.
– Third, Waiters jumped to release the pass. Violation.
So who was wronged the most?
Afterward, referee Ken Mauer was forced to explain that officials missed the call on Waiters elbow-push. That should have been an offensive foul, he said. But what if the crew had caught Ginobili’s foot on the line first? What if they didn’t catch either of the first two, but tagged Waiters for leaving his feet on the pass, when he was supposed to hold his spot?
The weird basketball universe justice of it all was that the Spurs stole the ball and got the last possession anyway. They weren’t able to do anything with it. They got the last shot, didn’t make it, and lost the game.
The NBA did the right thing by its fans by explaining what it didn’t see and missed. The Thunder did the right thing by themselves in scrambling around defensively and finally corralling the ball to seal the game after the Spurs got a decent 3-point attempt by Patty Mills, one of their most trusted long-range shooters.
And the Spurs got a lesson they already knew — watch out for letdowns. The Thunder was a completely different team in Game 2, ready to play from the start. And OKC made a couple couple of nice adjustments, the primary of which were switches in defensive assignments. Serge Ibaka started on LaMarcus Aldridge, pushing Steven Adams over to Tim Duncan. Kevin Durant was taken off of Kawhi Leonard and placed on Danny Green, giving the Thunder more length on a deadly 3-point shooter.
Simultaneously, Leonard dealt with a steady diet of ex-CU Buff star Andre Roberson and Dion Waiters checking him defensively. That worked, too, as the duo made every shot Leonard took a tough one. Leonard didn’t get fast break run-outs in Game 2 the way he had in Game 1, taking away the easy baskets that push point totals up and demoralize opponents.
Beyond that, making shots was Oklahoma City’s best strength. That allowed them to set up their defense. They basically never helped on LaMarcus Aldridge allowing him to work one-on-one the entire night. Oklahoma City players stayed attached to shooters and stayed attached to would-be offensive rebounders. OKC did a much better job of keeping dribble penetration to a minimum and shored up holes in pick-and-roll coverages as well. All that meant was their defense wasn’t forced to collapse and rotate all night long, which leads to the open 3-point looks that San Antonio used to bury the Thunder in Game 1.
It was well done in a solid bounce back game for Oklahoma City.
But the non-calls stole the night.
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @chrisadempseyor email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
