Clippers Dominate Spurs 107-92: The 5 Things We Learned

Apr 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the first quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t have executed a better win over the defending champions. They fired on all cylinders at both ends of the floor and showcased the perfect way to defeat Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs.

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They came out fast in the first quarter, pushing the pace and jumping out to a 30-18 lead. Then, in the third quarter, Blake Griffin started making Aron Baynes feel completely and utterly useless. He didn’t just posterize him once, or even twice. But three, terrifying times.

Griffin showed again that he’s by far one of the most shocking athletes we have in the NBA today, and he was able to give his Clippers a much needed win at home to begin the toughest playoff series of his entire career.

The mentality that the Clippers approached last night with was exactly what they needed, too. Blake even said earlier this week that “we’re the underdogs in this”, which is the best attitude you can have when taking on the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.

L.A. showed no signs of any nerves as they took on the five time champs, and played their style of game all night.

They played fast, Chris Paul was aggressive, Blake Griffin was scary aggressive, and quite frankly, they couldn’t have played any better.

As well as they played, though, it’s not going to happen every night. They can’t keep beating the Spurs that easily and it’s unlikely they can win in any less than seven games. No matter how impressive they were last night. Plus San Antonio still moved the ball effectively (tallying 25 assists) and they won’t shoot 36.6 percent from the floor every night.

However, last night L.A. proved to the Clipper-naysayers just how good of a series we may have on our hands.

So, before we head onto game two, here’s five key takeaways from last night.