Damn Threes Again

Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals was still being played at Memphis's FedExForum.

With three minutes left before halftime, the Grizzlies led the Spurs by seven points, and Link headed to the bench for a breather with peace of mind.

Today, like the Grizzlies, the Spurs had gone straight to a one-big, four-small lineup from the opening tip, abandoning their use of nominal starters.

But in terms of offensive firepower, the Grizzlies still had the edge.

After all, the Grizzlies' players were individually stronger than the Spurs'. Whether it was Duncan, Parker, or Ginobili, they were all too old now to efficiently create one-on-one offense against tough defense the way Link could.

The Spurs' offense was strong because they could always create easy shooting opportunities, which was how they maintained such a high field-goal percentage.

But against the Grizzlies' highly mobile defense, the Spurs were clearly being restricted in that regard.

Without easy looks, the Spurs' offensive threat dropped dramatically.

And so, the Spurs remained behind. It seemed they did not have any particularly good answers in this game either.

Joerger calmly subbed Link out, letting him save some energy for the second half. That way, once the second half began, the Grizzlies could put the game away at any moment.

"The Spurs simply lack offensive explosiveness. If they keep grinding it out with the Grizzlies like this, it'll be difficult for them to turn things around. Right now, the Spurs need someone to step up and score repeatedly, but they don't seem to have a player like that."

Hubie Brown shook his head. Perhaps the biggest drawback of a team-oriented squad was its lack of scoring explosiveness in crucial moments.

At that moment, Popovich made a hand signal toward the court.

When Danny Green saw Popovich's instruction, his