Seven of the eight first-round contests are at 2-0 through the first two games. The only series knotted 1-1? The Spurs Clippers contest we knew was gonna be the tightest of the first two weeks. Game 2 lived up to that billing with just the second overtime game of this postseason, bookending the first five nights of the NBA Playoffs (The Raptors and Wizards opened the NBA Playoffs with the first overtime game).

What a doozy of a game. Let’s dive in, instead of taking a dive.

Timeless Tim Duncan

The Spurs center/power forward (OK, center) started 6-of-6 from the field, negating the defense of DeAndre Jordan — the same guy Doc Rivers is convinced should win the Defensive Player of the Year award. It wasn’t just DJ who suffered through Tim’s textbook footwork and ability to knock down shots.

Blake Griffin tried his hand at stopping Timmy, and was just as impotent. The Big Fundamental finished with a team-high 28 points (14/23 shooting), 11 rebounds and four assists. Yes, he said after the game the fourth quarter was probably the worst of his 236 NBA Playoff games (100 of which he’s recorded at least 20 points and 10 rebounds), and he did miss three straight bunnies in the final session of regulation, but with Tony Parker ineffective and then gone for most of the stretch run, Manu Ginobili fouling out and Kawhi Leonard still too young to wrest control of the game, Duncan led the Spurs to the 111-107 OT win.

Bouncy and Bungling Blake Griffin

Blake scored a game-high 29 points (12/25 shooting) and became just the second player in Clippers franchise history to record a playoff triple-double with 12 rebounds and 11 assists. He also unloaded on the Spurs in the final session when Danny Green forgot to pre-rotate on the near pick-and-roll the Clippers love to run with Blake as the roll man. Usually it’s CP3 who makes that pass, but JJ Redick knows how to feed the beastly Blake too:

That wasn’t the first time Blake unloaded. While Aron Baynes was eulogized after Blake stole his soul in Game 1, this time it was Boris Diaw who faced the ignominy of Griffin’s high-flier act.

Griffin baptized Diaw in the first quarter with this open court in-and-out dribble before the one-handed flush.

And he spun backdoor on Boris to flush this pretty lob from Jamal Crawford later on in the game.

While Gryffindor made his usual assortment of highlight plays, and took it to the Spurs instead of settling for that janky outside jumper (to be fair, he has improved on it), he also committed a huge turnover late in regulation and overtime, two of five such TO’s on the night. None were as bad as when he coughed the ball up to Boris Diaw as the Clippers led 94-92 with under 30 seconds to play.

Pop Initiates Hack-a-Jordan Mode

With 5:44 left in the fourth quarter and the Spurs leading 88-80, Gregg Popovich started the Hack-a-Jordan strategy that saw DJ go 12-for-28 the last time the Spurs and Clippers faced off in the regular season. In that final regular season game, the Clippers prevailed by four. DJ finished last night with 20 points and 15 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, but he was 6-of-17 from the stripe.

To be fair to DJ, he missed seven in a row but also hit three in a row, and the strategy seemed to backfire, getting the Spurs out of their offensive rhythm — specifically Duncan, who missed his bunnies near the rim during this stretch. The Spurs prevailed, but we’re not sure it’s worth it unless they’re trying to slow the Clippers down, rather than keep a lead.

Patty Mills In A Pinch

With Tony Parker out — it was reported during the game that not only is Parker dealing with an ailing left ankle and hip, he also felt tightness in his right Achilles, the byproduct of all the left-side lower body issues — Patty Mills swooped in with four big points towards the end of the last period. Two of those points came when he was fouled with under 10 seconds to play in regulation when he leaked out after Blake got stripped. He drilled the free throws to force OT (CP3 missed a jumper at the buzzer to win).

In the final five minutes, Mills was 2-of-2 from the field and 4-of-4 from the stripe to score eight points and help lead a Spurs team missing Manu and TP to the win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6hRQNXkCIo

More Joey Crawford Mischief

It’s OK to laugh at Joey Crawford sometimes. He forgets the fans and viewers aren’t there for him and can take over games. Plus, his gripe with the Spurs is well known; he once tossed Tim Duncan from a game for laughing at him from the Spurs’ bench. David Stern suspended Crawford indefinitely after Duncan contends Crawford challenged him to a fight. The Spurs and Crawford do not mix.

So of course Crawford was working Game 2 last night at Staples Center. And he couldn’t go the whole game without inadvertently (we think) screwing the Spurs. It happened, of all things, when he whistled Doc Rivers for a technical in the second quarter. The problem? He blew the whistle right as Marco Bellinelli was wide-open in the short corner during a Spurs fast break. Refs almost never stop the middle of a play like that to issue a T, but most refs aren’t Joey.

Oh Danny. He also failed to call Tim Duncan when he purposefully fouled DeAndre Jordan in the fourth quarter (see above), and J.J. Redick hit a three-pointer on that possession instead.

The Spurs overcame a lot of injuries, and Crawford, to get the split on the road and “Take California.”