Building off his excellent performance in Game 6 of the second-round against the Houston Rockets, Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge opened Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals by making a noticeable and emphatic impact against the Warriors on Sunday. Aldridge dropped 11 points in the first quarter, with the exclamation point on his strong showing with a one-handed posterization on JaVale McGee and Draymond Green to end the period.
After collecting a Warriors turnover, Aldridge took off running a two-man fast break with Spurs guard Dejounte Murray. On the give-and-go, Aldridge caught the return pass from the rookie and elevated for a powerful slam over both McGee and Green:
LAMARCUS. ALDRIDGE. 😳 https://t.co/y3zL5UWgi5
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 14, 2017
Here’s another angle of Aldridge’s amazing slam:
LMAyyyyy pic.twitter.com/nbItmxDeGv
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) May 14, 2017
After having some inconsistencies against the Rockets, the dunk quickly reminded everyone that Aldridge is still legit and one of the better power forwards in the league:
WAIT DID ALDRIDGE JUST THROW A HAMMER DOWN ON MULTIPLE WARRIORS?!
— Robby Kalland (@RKalland) May 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/863847447004622848
Oh, hi, welcome to the LaMarcus Aldridge Is Really Good bandwagon.
— Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph) May 14, 2017
Never doubted you for a minute, LaMarcus
— Evans Clinchy (@evansclinchy) May 14, 2017
LMA is tired of the BS.
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) May 14, 2017
Even Aldridge’s old Trail Blazers teammate Damian Lillard was hyped by the dunk:
L train
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) May 14, 2017
Thanks in large part to Aldridge’ scoring outburst, the Spurs ended the first quarter up by 14 points, 30-16. That’s only the first quarter of the series, but if Aldridge continues to dominate inside for the Spurs as Golden State goes small, San Antonio may actually have a chance against the vaunted Warriors.
