San Antonio Spurs: 5 keys to series vs. Warriors
4. Have multiple options on offense
While Aldridge has been huge all year for the San Antonio Spurs, no man is an island. Aldridge cannot carry this team by himself. This was shown in the year the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Spurs in the playoffs. Aldridge had multiple 40-point games and the Spurs still lost the series.
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Usually this scoring role would belong to Leonard. As he has been out almost all season, other Spurs players have had to step up. Danny Green was good at the start of the year. He changed his style of play from being a 3-point marksman to aggressively looking for the drive.
Dejounte Murray also had a really good start to the season where he was playing like a four- or five-year veteran, rather than the second-year player he is. However, lately it has been Rudy Gay and Patty Mills who have provided the secondary options on offense.
Gay posted 13.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game over his last 10 games. He shot 48.6 percent from the field and therefore has to be respected by the defense.
Mills averaged 12.8 points, 3.4 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game in that same span. His 37.2 percent from 3-point range has allowed more room on the court for Aldridge. If both these players can continue to provide an option, the Warriors will not be able to send too much help defensively to Aldridge, which is going to be crucial for the outcome of the series.