2017 NBA Playoffs roundup, day 16: Rockets fire away, Cavaliers dominate Raptors as expected

De Spurs Need Dewayne Dedmon

The San Antonio Spurs have to be better in Game 2. This isn’t some fan perspective or wishful thinking, it’s a fact: The San Antonio Spurs have to be better in Game 2, if only because they sure as hell can’t get any worse.

Their top-ranked defense gave up 69 points in the first half and 126 points in regulation. David Lee was tormented on that end all night. LaMarcus Aldridge didn’t fare much better, and his offense was an absolute train wreck too (four points, 2-of-7 shooting, -36 in 25 minutes).

With a collection of slow, poor defenders in the frontcourt, Pop will be truly challenged in this series. In Game 1, he utterly failed.

It takes stones to say this about arguably the greatest NBA coach of all time, but it’s true: Starting David Lee was the wrong move against this team. In fact, playing any two bigs at once against this three-point shooting team should be a tough decision.

With Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson capable of spreading the floor as small-ball 4s, San Antonio needs to go small. They may not have the personnel to do so, but after watching Aldridge, Lee and Pau Gasol get absolutely torched in Game 1, it’s safe to say Dewayne Dedmon needs more than seven minutes in Game 2.

It’s clear that Pop doesn’t trust Dedmon at the moment. In the final four games of the Spurs’ first round series, he played a grand total of 15 minutes. But in a matchup with such a formidable frontcourt, that made sense. As perhaps the only mobile, defensively inclined, shot-blocking big on the roster, Dedmon NEEDS to start and play substantial minutes against Houston.

This isn’t some earth-shattering decision either; Dedmon averaged 17.5 minutes per game this season and started in 37 of his 76 appearances after Pop wisely moved Gasol to sixth man duty.

Will Pop make the adjustment? It’s hard to say. Giving Dedmon seven minutes in Game 1 — all of them in garbage time — is a bad sign, and his ejection after a few verbal and physical spats with the Rockets won’t inspire confidence from his head coach either.

The Spurs need Aldridge to stop his sudden and rapid descent into “washed up” territory. They need David Lee to be productive in limited minutes, they need Tony Parker to not look like he’s 55, they need the bench to match Houston’s second unit and they even need Kawhi Leonard (21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, but on 5-of-14 shooting with a -16) to be better.

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But if the Spurs are going to prevent these Rockets air strikes that felt more like nukes in Game 1, it needs to start with Dewayne Dedmon getting rotational minutes again.