The San Antonio Spurs destroyed the LA Clippers in a four game sweep to advance to their seventh Conference Finals with Tim Duncan and under the control of Head Coach Greg Popovich. The series between the Spurs and Clippers was never close. The Spurs choked the life out of LA in games one and two at home then broke the Clippers' back in game three on the road with a 24 point comeback. In game four the Clippers showed a lot of fight, but the Spurs were in control the whole time. Bottom line is the Spurs have now won 18 straight games, eight of those coming this post season.
If you saw my West Semis picks then you know I had the Clippers upsetting the Spurs in seven games.
The Defense:
The Clippers over achieved in their opening series against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies had home court advantage and on paper outmatched the Clippers at every position except at Point-Guard. (Yes, I do believe Zach Randolph is a better player right now then Blake Griffin). The Clippers played their best basketball all year in their first round series with the Grizzlies and closed the Grizz out on the road in game seven.
Now, fuel that with recent history and it created the perfect storm for a Clippers upset pick in the conference semis. The Spurs had not yet proven they were able to perform after long periods away from competition and after last years post season one would think that too much time off could affect the veteran club. Just last year the Grizzlies became the fourth eight seed in playoff history to upset a one seed. The Spurs had dominated the entire 2010-2011 season and rested their stars often throughout the 82 game grind. The young up-tempo Grizzlies drained the life out of the Spurs early making it seem as if rust had crept into the Spurs' locker room and crippled their star players.
Fast forward to now and it just looked like it would happen again. San Antonio had eight days off following their sweep of the Utah Jazz in round one. The young Clippers had just upset Memphis and were coming into round two well oiled and poised to flex their athleticism all over the Spurs. I thought the Spurs would keep the series close, but felt the Clippers would shock the world in a game seven.
Instead the series played out as it should. The Spurs were well rested and Tim Duncan was a monster. The Clippers were tired and looked outmatched from the start.
The result: the five, sorry four time champions swept LA 4-0. I don't plan to bet against the Spurs in the conference finals; no matter who they play.
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