With Kawhi Leonard winning his second back-to-back defensive player of the year award, the Spurs are set to take a 2 game lead in the NBA Playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Completely dominating the competition all through out game 1, the San Antonio Spurs are expected to move along and beat the Grizzlies once more at home, before taking the series to Memphis. After thrashing the Grizzlies, the Spurs seem to be headed further along on the NBA Playoffs, and now more so with the award presented to their Star player, Leonard.
“The Claw”, as the Sports media calls him, has had a stint of three incredible years, starting off winning the NBA Finals MVP, after completely outshining LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and teammates Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Ever since then, Leonard became a regular and an essential piece for Coach Pop’s strategy and perhaps the main reason why the Spurs only lost one game in the 2016 regular season. Now in the NBA Playoffs, Leonard is taking a more prominent and leader-like role for this San Antonio team. He will be ready to take over the role that Tim Duncan will leave behind when he choses to retire.
As for Memphis, they must be commended on their spirit and determination on a losing effort. Especially with Marc Gasol and Mike Conley out with injuries for the season, the Grizzlies came to try to contain the Spurs. Veteran Vince Carter, had a pretty good first half, ultimately ending with 16 points. Lance Stephenson, put up 15 in total, but he was completely smothered by none other that The Claw himself. NBA Playoffs bets hold the Grizzlies as +18½ underdogs, at the risk of being swept. Perhaps the Grizzlies might find some fighting spirit when the series moves to Memphis, but even at home the projection for the Grizzlies looks rather grim.
For San Antonio, what could be expected is for the starters to take control of the game from early on and look for a big lead before the half. Currently the line for the first half of Game 2 reads -11½, and the Spurs will no doubt take at the very least a 15-point lead. Leading the game to be done by the third quarter, where most likely Coach Pop will rest most of their starters and let the bench sustain their lead. Memphis, will not be able to cut down that much from the lad so, the 18½ point spread will be easy for the Spurs to cover on game 2 of the NBA Playoffs.
As for the total on Tuesday’s game, it currently reads at 187, which is considerably low, but mainly because the Grizzlies don’t appear to present much of any offensive threat to the Spurs. This game is not going to be very competitive and sadly for a team riddled with injuries, Memphis is the main candidate for an early exit from this year’s edition of the NBA Playoffs. Kawhi Leonard will end up putting another awesome performance on both sides of the court, and for anything that should be fun to watch.