San Antonio’s shooting is full of holes in playoff losses
San Antonio Spurs forward Boris Diaw puts up a shot over
The game of basketball can be so simple at times and so maddening at times.
Sunday, the game was maddening for the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio has been betrayed by its shooting in both losses to the Clippers in the Western Conference first-round playoff series.
The Spurs made only 44% of their shots in the Game 4 loss, and just 24% (six for 25) of their three-pointers.
They shot only 36.6% from the field in the Game 1 loss, including 30.3% (10 for 33) from long range.
What’s so maddening about this for the Spurs is that they were one of the better-shooting teams in the NBA during the regular season.
They were the third-best shooting team (46.8%) and tied for fifth-best on three-pointers (36.7%).
But the playoffs are bringing out the worst in their shooting, and it has left the Spurs tied at 2-2 in the best-of-seven series that resumes with Game 5 on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
Spurs shooting guard Danny Green is having the worst time of it.
His only shots in Game 4 were three-pointers, and he missed all six of them. He didn’t score.
He was two-for 11 from the field in the Game 1 loss, one-for-seven from three-point range.
The Spurs know that to win this series, Green and the rest of their shooters have to knock down shots.
“We can’t control our shooting, obviously,” Tim Duncan said. “They defended the three-point line very well. We’re confident in our shooters and that Danny won’t miss six again. If we get these guys shots, they’ll knock them down for us. Obviously we need those to win.”
Twitter: @BA_Turner
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
