NBA teams
Michael C. Wright, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

After scorching Thunder in first two games, Aldridge has cooled off

NBA, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich points to big man LaMarcus Aldridge's progression as a key ingredient to the team's success this season.

But for the Spurs to continue ripping through the Western Conference playoffs, they need Aldridge, acquired last offseason after nine seasons in Portland, ringing up more hoops clinics like his outings in Games 1 and 2 of the semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The teams -- deadlocked at 2-2 in this best-of-seven series -- clash again Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.

"He's progressed from the beginning of the year until now just in the sense that he's learned an entirely new system with entirely new players," Popovich said, "and as important as he is to the group, that progression had to take place or we wouldn't be where we are right now."

Trekking to the Spurs' ultimate destination of a sixth NBA title, however, might require even more from Aldridge, a five-time All-Star, who joined the Spurs last summer on a four-year deal worth $84 million.

"I just do what we need. It's not about me. It's about the team," Aldridge said. "If it ends up being like that, then fine."

Spurs reserve Boris Diaw acknowledged that the physical nature of this series is wearing on both teams' big men, as it features so many marvels in the paint such as himself, Aldridge and Tim Duncan matching wits and brawn against Thunder bigs Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Serge Ibaka.

"Yeah, it's physical," Diaw said. "It's a playoff. We didn't expect less anyway. We get to sub a lot, except LaMarcus. It's rough on him because he's playing a lot of minutes."

But Aldridge has held his own; at least for the first half of this series.

In Game 1, Aldridge scored 38 points and didn't even play in the fourth quarter. In Game 2, Aldridge had 41 points. In the first two games, Aldridge connected on 75 percent of his attempts.

That dominance seemed even more pronounced in matchups against Adams and Ibaka. With the Oklahoma City duo serving as the primary defenders, Aldridge averaged 33 points, hitting 79.4 percent of his contested attempts against them, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Ibaka and Kanter provide the majority of Oklahoma City's defense against Aldridge. All but 14 of Aldridge's attempts throughout the series have come against those two players, and according to Stats & Info, he's connecting on better than 60 percent against each of them.

Interestingly, the Thunder are guarding Aldridge one-on-one for the most part. Of the 43 times he has posted up, Oklahoma City sent a double-team on just three occasions, and the Spurs failed to score on all of those possessions.

"When I tried to go quick to the baseline, they doubled early, and I think that's their scheme," Aldridge said after Game 3. "If I try to go baseline, they're going to double-team me. Other than that, they played me straight-up."

In the series, Aldridge hasn't had any of his 83 shot attempts blocked, which is impressive because 46 of those shots came against Ibaka, one of the NBA's premier shot-blockers.

But Aldridge's production has tapered off in the past two games, just like San Antonio's ball movement on offense.

"We are not playing our regular-season type of games," Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said. "We are going to the post. Not every time, but often. It was working out great, but [in Game 4], we just didn't score enough."

In San Antonio's 111-97 loss in Game 4 on Sunday, Aldridge shot 8-for-18 for 20 points and 6 rebounds. In Game 3, Aldridge scored 24 points on 8-for-21 shooting and averaged 18 points in matchups featuring Ibaka and Adams as the primary defenders. The duo contested 15 of Aldridge's 19 attempts, and he hit only 36.8 percent of those shots (7-for-19).

Perhaps the Thunder figured out Aldridge's sweet spots on the court. Of the 43 times Aldridge has posted up in this series, all but seven of his attempts came from the left side of the block.

But the Thunder dismissed that idea.

"He's just missing shots. That's all it is," Adams said. "We're sticking to the same principles. He's just missing shots, thankfully."

Adams did acknowledge that OKC is trying "to just mess up where he catches the ball; just catch it out of his hot spots."

It has apparently worked over the past two games. Now, San Antonio needs to find an effective counterpunch to kick-start Aldridge's offense again so he can perform with as much impact as he did during the regular season and in the first two games of this series.

"Well, for his first year in the system, he's done an amazing job," Popovich said. "Most people, it takes them awhile, more than the first year to figure it all out."

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