Tim Duncan still going strong at 36; Braced for a double header at Los Angeles – NBA Update
With all the talk about the age factor going around in the playoffs, the “older” guys are showing how it’s done.
Kevin Garnett and the Celtics are tied 2-2 against the younger Philadelphia 76ers, Kobe and his Lakers are down 2-1 to the Thunder and the Spurs are 2-0 against the energetic and young Clippers team.
And of all the veterans, Tim Duncan is dominating this playoff season.
Duncan, at 36, scored 18 points off a 9 of 14 shooting night in game 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers and led his team to a comfortable victory. That helped his team gain a 2-0 advantage over the Clippers and move a step closer
to a fifth NBA championship for both the club and Duncan.
He also had a big night in game 1, scoring 26 points to lead his team in scoring. The Clippers young bigs Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were helpless against Duncan with no answers as to how to stop him. In both games so far,
Duncan has literally took them back to school and taught them some fundamentals about post-up and foot movement.
After all these years, Duncan is still the core around which the team is built. They keep passing the ball to him and let him making those trademark Tim Duncan shots, and most importantly he keeps delivering.
At his age, the fact that he has been the go-to-guy for so many years and still has the physical and mental toughness to do that in an intense environment such as the playoffs is proof of the fact that he is one of the best of
his era.
“He is getting older, just like you are, and all of us, but Tim Duncan is still the backbone of the program. He's the guy we build around. He sets the tone for us. Tony [Parker] and Manu [Ginobili] know that fully well” said Spurs
coach Gregg Popovich regarding Tim Duncan.
On a night when Tony Parker turned 30, there was a lot of talk about age in the Spurs locker room. When asked how he felt physically even though he was 36, Duncan said that he felt “great so far” but was not that excited about
having to play back to back games against the Clippers this weekend in Los Angeles.
With both the Lakers and Clippers sharing the Staples Center as home court and both being in the playoffs this season, the arena has a tough schedule to balance, leading to the Clippers having to play back to back games at home.
“Looking forward to the next one. Actually not looking forward to the back to back, but it is what it is” said Duncan when asked about the back to back games.
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