The Spurs play on the road tonight at 9 p.m. (Central) against the Utah Jazz in Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs.
Join Jeff McDonald and Tim Griffin for a live game chat (below) beginning at 8:30 p.m.
Tag: San Antonio Spurs
Leonard says ‘My motor’s still going’
After playing 64 regular-season games and all four games of the Spurs’ first-round playoff sweep of the Utah Jazz, forward Kawhi Leonard feels he is ready for whatever comes next.
“I feel real good physically,” the 20-year-old rookie from San Diego State said after Wednesday’s practice. “I’m just excited by that playoff intensity. It’s got my body motor still going. I’m ready to play right now.”
Leonard moved into the starting lineup after the March 16 trade that sent veteran Richard Jefferson to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Stephen Jackson and has remained there since, including the four first-round games against the Jazz. He logged an average of 20 minutes per game and produced averages of 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in his first taste of postseason play.
“I thought he did well,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He was steady. He didn’t make very many mistakes. He executed the defensive rotations, team-wise.
“On offense he seemed calm. He took his shots. I thought he did very well.”
Forewarned by veteran teammates about the increased physicality and intensity of the postseason, Leonard came through his first playoff experience unfazed.
“The first round was just what I expected: high-intensity basketball, everybody just continuing to try to win and get to the next round,” he said. “Nothing really surprised me in the games at all.”
Leonard’s preparation for the Western Conference semifinals has included watching each of the Clippers-Grizzlies games, but his focus during the hiatus between rounds has remained with the Spurs.
“I’ve been watching them play to see what those teams are doing during the playoffs and just to see what’s working for them,” he said, “but I’m staying with us trying to get better as a team right now and not worrying about who I’m guarding next.
“Once we find out who we’re playing, I’ll start getting some scouting on them and go from there.”
Twin peeks: The late starts of Clippers-Grizzlies games have allowed Spurs guard Manu Ginobili to focus on watching those games and take a few notes on how the potential second-round opponents are playing.
Ginobili said he gets his twin 2-year-old sons, Nicola and Dante, in their pajamas and off to bed just about tipoff time.
“The later the better,” he said of his TV viewing of playoff games. “They usually go to bed at 8:30 or 9, so before that, it’s very hard to watch anything. But once they are in bed, the games in the West are easy for me to watch.”
Money matters: By getting to the conference semifinals, the Spurs added $230,853 to their pool of playoff money that will be distributed to players once the playoff run ends.
Added to the $328,078 they earned for finishing with the best record in the West and the $194,016 that went to every team that participated in the first round, the Spurs’ share of the NBA’s $13 million playoff pool is up to $752,947.
mikemonroe@express-news.net
Twitter: @Monroe_SA
Mills hard at work despite recent binge
Spurs guard Patty Mills was one of the last players to leave the Spurs practice facility, firing hundreds of jumpers in extensive work with Spurs assistant Brett Brown after the team’s Saturday afternoon practice.
As he continued work, Spurs general manager R.C. Buford made a comment that probably best described Mills’ recent binge.
”Hey Patty,” Buford said, chuckling. “You can go home because the dance ends at midnight.”
Mills erupted for 27 points against Phoenix and 34 against Golden State to help the Spurs finish off the season with two victories.
His scoring over the final two games was the most by a Spur in a two-game period other than Tony Parker, who accomplished the feat three times this season.
Parker said he was proud of Mills’ performance and not especially surprised.
“I was voting for him when we were going to sign him,” Parker said. “I was like, ‘I play with him every summer and he’s pretty good.’ I was very happy for him. He was very aggressive. He played good basketball and I think he’ll help us during the playoffs.”