The Jazz made a nice little run to get back into this Game 4 against the Spurs, but the Spurs held it off and pushed the game back to double digits by spreading the floor and being themselves. They now lead by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, and their unique lineup of Manu Ginobili, Gary Neal, Stephen Jackson, Matt Bonner and Tiago Splitter did the job.
The Spurs have played that lineup a few times during the regular season, and it always seems to work. Ginobili and Neal are good enough to share the playmaking role, Splitter runs pick and roll very well and Bonner and Jackson provide three-point shooting. It’s a lineup that scored an average of 120 points per 100 possessions this season, and you can see why. Unless you have an elite defender on Ginobili, you can’t stop it.
Let’s just say Alec Burks and Al Jefferson had no chance guarding those guys.