With Kawhi Leonard (ankle) out indefinitely and Tony Parker (quad) out for the foreseeable future, the Spurs needed LaMarcus Aldridge to turn in one of his best performances just to stay afloat against a stacked Warriors team.
NBA playoff scores 2017: LaMarcus Aldridge came up short in Game 3
Aldridge got outplayed by JaVale McGee in Game 3. The Spurs need him to be much better to avoid a sweep.
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He didn’t.
Aldridge scored 18 points but on 7-of-17 shooting. The Warriors outscored the Spurs by 27 with their All-Star forward on the floor, and he was thoroughly outplayed by JaVale McGee in the first half. In the end, the Spurs dropped Game 3 at home, 120-108.
With Leonard sitting out, San Antonio needed a near-perfect game out of its power forward. It was the reason the Spurs signed him in the first place — Aldridge is a gifted offensive threat from multiple areas on the court.
But he looked like a shell of himself in the first half, scoring just six points on 3-of-9 shooting. By the time he found his rhythm, it was too late. The Warriors had pulled ahead by 18 behind a monster third quarter by Kevin Durant.
On a night where the Spurs got 56 points from the bench, including 21 from Manu Ginobili, they got nowhere near enough from their best active player.
Golden State credited its defensive success on Aldridge to a swarming effort by multiple teammates. Whenever Aldridge touched the ball, another Warriors player came to help. He only had one turnover on the night, but he never settled in offensively.
If the Spurs are going to pull off the impossible, Aldridge has to be phenomenal
Forget a 3-1 deficit; no team has ever dug itself out of a 3-0 hole. If any team was to make history, it would be Gregg Popovich’s. He’s the greatest living basketball coach for a reason, and the Warriors still lace their shoes against him because of it.
But as good as Jonathon Simmons has been, it can’t be his show. It can’t be a 39-year-old Ginobili’s show either. If Leonard doesn’t come back 200 percent healthy, it’s got to be Aldridge who takes control of the series.
He’s done it in the playoffs before. Aldridge had 28 points in Game 1, 20 coming before Leonard got hurt in the third quarter. He scored 34 points in 61.5 percent shooting in San Antonio’s Game 6 elimination win over the Rockets, and 26 points in Game 3 of the same series.
Aldridge has got to be outstanding in Game 4 if the Spurs want to avoid getting swept. His tenure in San Antonio may riding on it.
What you missed
- David Lee left Game 3 with a leg injury
- JaVale McGee was the MVP of the first half
- Draymond Green made someone fall, so the rest of the Warriors’ bench fell, too
- Here are some sad photos of Kawhi Leonard
- Mark Jackson would roll on the bed with his pillow if Durant was on his team
- Kevin Durant iced the Spurs with a 19-point third quarter
Final Score:
Warriors 120, Spurs 108 [Golden State of Mind recap | Pounding the Rock recap | SB Nation recap]
Top performers
Kevin Durant: 33 points (11-of-19 shooting), 10 rebounds, 4 assists
Manu Ginobili: 21 points (7-of-9 shooting)
Draymond Green: 10 points, 7 rebounds 7 assists
Stephen Curry: 21 points (8-of-15 shooting), 6 steals
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