Rowan Kavner
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – One team owns the league’s top-rated offense. The other team’s a defending champion possessing the third-ranked defense in the league.
The starting units for the Clippers and Spurs, respectively, are as formidable as any two teams facing off in the NBA Playoffs. Here’s a breakdown of the matchups as the series begins at STAPLES Center Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Point Guards
Chris Paul
Guard
3•
Tony Parker
Guard
9•
Chris Paul vs. Tony Parker – It doesn’t get much better than this. Paul’s averaging 19.1 points per game, and his 10.2 assists per game led the NBA this season. He’s scored at least 20 points in three of his four matchups this season against the Spurs. In the lone matchup he didn’t reach the 20-point mark, he finished an assist short of a triple-double.
Paul’s nailed a career-high 139 3-pointers this season. Only one time in Paul’s career has he shot better from deep than his 39.8 percent mark this year. He also played all 82 games for the first time in his 10-year career.
Parker dealt with hamstring problems throughout the year, missing 14 games. But despite dropping to 14.4 points per game and 4.9 assists per game this season, he’s had some vintage Parker performances, particularly against the Clippers. He had 21 points and 13 assists in the most recent matchup and 26 points in the second matchup. He also shot a career-high 42.7 percent from 3-point range this year.
Shooting Guards
J.J. Redick
Guard
4•
Danny Green
Guard-Forward
14•
J.J. Redick vs. Danny Green – Redick just wrapped up his best NBA season ever, averaging career highs in points per game (16.4), 3-pointers per game (2.6), field goal percentage (47.7) and 3-point percentage (43.7). Being healthy the majority of the year definitely helped. Redick’s biggest scoring output against the Spurs came in the second matchup, when he scored 21. He’s also been to the playoffs every season of his career.
“J.J.’s built like a playoff-type player in a lot of ways,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “Jokingly, and it’s probably true, if it wasn’t for Christian Laettner, it would’ve been J.J. That 30-for-30 thing would’ve been about J.J. He’s used to being the guy that people want to stop, people hate, people don’t like, and that’s the playoffs in a lot of ways. For him, this is great.”
Green also averaged a career-high in points per game (11.7) and 3-pointers per game (2.4). His biggest scoring output against the Clippers came in a 16-point performance in the third matchup of the season. If Redick or Green starts feeling it from 3, it’ll be tough to stop either player.
Small Forwards
Matt Barnes
Forward
22•
Kawhi Leonard
Forward
2•
Matt Barnes vs. Kawhi Leonard – Speaking of 3-point shooting, Barnes made a career-high 1.8 3-pointers per game this year. Only once in his career did he shoot better than his 36.2 percent mark from behind the arc this season. But it’ll be much more about his defense than his offense this series if he needs to mark Leonard.
Leonard’s being prepped to be the next perennial star for the Spurs. “They don’t change much, but they keep adding that one guy every five or six years that adds to their Big Three,” Rivers said. Now, it’s becoming Leonard’s time. He averaged career highs in points per game (16.5), assists per game (2.5) and steals per game (2.3) this year. He’s one of the best defenders in the league, but he's capable of going off offensively at any point. Leonard missed one of the matchups against the Clippers this season, but he scored at least 24 points in two of the three games he played.
Power Forwards
Blake Griffin
Forward
32•
Tim Duncan
Forward
21•
Blake Griffin vs. Tim Duncan – Speaking of not getting better than this, the first-round matchup pits a player who’s been selected to five straight All-Star Games and would’ve started this year for the Western Conference All-Star team if he wasn’t hurt against a 15-time All-Star, two-time MVP and five-time NBA champion.
Griffin’s developed more range this season, unafraid to use the jump shot at the top of the key to his advantage. He said all season he’s been working to find the right mix of shooting and attacking, and now is when that’ll need to pay off. In addition to his 21.9 points per game, Griffin’s averaged a career-high 5.3 assists per game this season. Griffin missed one game against the Spurs while sitting out from his staph infection. But he scored at least 22 points in all three matchups he played in, including a 31-point, 13-rebounds performance in a win.
While the Spurs have dealt with multiple injuries this season, Duncan’s managed to stay healthy. He only sat out five games this season, while averaging 13.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and two blocks per game. Duncan went for 30 points and 11 rebounds in the most recent matchup against the Clippers, and he’ll likely see a heavy dose of DeAndre Jordan when he’s on the offensive end of the floor.
Centers
DeAndre Jordan
Center
6•
Tiago Splitter
Center
22•
DeAndre Jordan vs. Tiago Splitter – What a year it’s been for Jordan, whose 71 percent shooting from the floor trailed only Wilt Chamberlain for the all-time single season record. Jordan kept dunking on the offensive end and kept pulling down boards on the other end. He led the league and set a franchise record with 1,226 rebounds this season, averaging 15 per game. Jordan had two games with at least 18 rebounds apiece against the Spurs this season. His 26-point, 18-rebound performance in the most recent matchup marked his career high in points.
Splitter’s health will be something to watch all series, as a nagging calf injury leaves his status in question. Head coach Gregg Popovich reportedly called Splitter a game-time decision. Splitter and Matt Bonner are both listed as questionable for the opener. If Splitter can’t go, it’s likely Aron Baynes will start in the middle. Splitter missed the final six games of the season with the injury, and he only played in 52 games this season.
Sixth Man
Jamal Crawford
Guard
11•
Manu Ginobili
Guard
20•
Jamal Crawford vs. Manu Ginobili – This matchup features two players as capable as anyone of coming off the bench and changing a series. Crawford’s the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and a candidate to become the first player to ever win the award three times, averaging 15.8 points per game.
That number dipped below 16 late in the season only because he was working his way back from a calf injury that sidelined him for 17 games. Crawford made it a point to play in the final four games of the regular season in an attempt to get his rhythm back. He had a 26-point performance in his most recent matchup against the Spurs.
Ginobili’s points per game dipped to 10.5 this season, but the playoffs could be another story. In his last nine seasons, he’s only averaged fewer than 14.3 points per game in the playoffs one time. He had a 19-point, 10-assist game against the Clippers earlier this year, and he only missed 12 games this season.
Head Coaches
Doc Rivers vs. Gregg Popovich – The mutual respect is evident between the two coaches, who both know what it feels like to win a championship and both know what it feels like to be coach of the year. Rivers has won a championship once, in 2008 with the Celtics. Popovich has won it five times and is the reigning champion.
“He’s great,” Rivers said. “I think every coach in the league wants to be like Pop. Players want to be like Mike (Jordan), we want to be like Pop.”
It was clear the respect was mutual. Popovich said earlier this year that a certain perception would take place if Rivers took over anything because of his leadership ability: “I don’t say that just because he’s a friend. He’s got a heck of a presence, he’s highly intelligent, he’s incisive, he’s got a personality, and that pervades whatever situation he might be involved in. Whether he was running a bank or running an NBA team, that’s the truth.”