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Buck Harvey: What Popovich couldn’t say — it wasn’t our night

MIAMI — Gregg Popovich went at his guys again, because this is what he does. He tells them what he thinks they need to hear on a certain night and, Tuesday, he thought they needed a scolding.

“We should be embarrassed,” he said.

He thinks this will help them next time. But he also knows this stance is better than acknowledging what really happened. There wasn’t much the Spurs could have done, no matter how physical they became, because this is what happens when LeBron James makes outside shots.

Mostly, you lose.

Mostly, you don’t lose like this. The Spurs scored 35 points in the first quarter without shooting a free throw, which might be an NBA first. Then, in the span of the third quarter, the Spurs went from a 14-point lead to wondering when Popovich would pull the starters to get ready for Orlando tonight.

Ever seen anything like it?

“Never,” said Richard Jefferson, and he’s been in the league for only 10 years.

There was certainly something to Popovich’s I-felt-we-folded speech. The Heat played the first half as if all of them had caught James’ cold, then began the second by blitzing and cutting. The Spurs, led by a suddenly unsure Tony Parker, had no response.

Still, when someone such as Mike Miller comes off the bench, playing for the first time all season, and throws in all six of his shots, all 3-pointers, well, how physical would the Spurs have had to be? Rarely do teams lose with an 18-point windfall like that.

But it started with James, not Miller, and with a similar reversal. While Miller hadn’t attempted a 3-pointer this season before Tuesday, James had made only three.

James swished that many in the third quarter alone, and maybe he only thought that was fair. When Danny Green ended the second quarter as he did the first, with a last-second 3, it happened at halfcourt with James next to him.

James looked at his bench with wide eyes, as if to say, can you believe it?

In the third quarter, James gave another look. Then, after his third 3-pointer, Popovich called time out, and James gave a long, significant stare at the Spurs’ bench.

Why?

“If they are going to back off,” he said, “I’m going to shoot.”

But everyone backs off of him, and that’s been the genesis of his playoff collapses in Cleveland and last year against Dallas. James can lose all confidence in his jumper and, with that gone, he loses confidence in everything else.

Bruce Bowen used the strategy in the 2007 Finals. If you give James anything, you give him the area behind the arc where he’s less than 33 percent for his career. Kawhi Leonard played James as Bowen did, but James turned into what he can be, which is the best player in the world.

Tim Duncan witnessed both 2007 and Tuesday. And afterward, when told what Popovich had said to the media, Duncan’s answer was telling.

“LeBron was coming down hitting tough ones,” he said. “That’s what you want guys to do. Every once in a while, someone’s going to get in the zone.”

Embarrassed?

Duncan didn’t sound that way.

That said, everything can’t be attributed to the other team shooting well. Duncan and the Spurs are one of only three teams that are winless on the road, and they face another test tonight in Orlando.

So Popovich will push on, correcting what he can, chewing out the Spurs when he isn’t encouraging them. And, in doing so, he will never give in to the reality of these nights, not as Parker did when he was asked about James.

“There is,” Parker shrugged, “not much you can do.”

bharvey@express-news.net

– Associated Press photos

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Heat 120, Spurs 98: Jan. 17, 2012

San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan (21) looks to pass as Miami Heat’s Mike Miller (13) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker (9) passes the ball as Miami Heat’s LeBron James, left, looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) wipes his face during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) shoots over San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (2) and DeJuan Blair (45) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra puts his hand to his head during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) looks to pass as San Antonio Spurs’ Daniel Green (4) and Matt Bonner (15) defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s Norris Cole (30) looks to pass the ball as San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan (21) and Richard Jefferson (24) defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s Chris Bosh (1) shoots as San Antonio Spurs’ DeJuan Blair (45) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade cheers from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. The Heat defeated the Spurs 120-98. Wade did not play due to a sprained right ankle. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Miami Heat’s Mike Miller (13) reacts after shooting a 3-pointer as San Antonio Spurs’ Danny Green (4) looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. Miller contributed 18 points as the Heat won 120-98. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’, from left, DeJuan Blair, Richard Jefferson, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Danny Green watch from the bench in the closing seconds of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. The Heat won 120-98. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs’ Danny Green (4) drives to the basket as Miami Heat’s James Jones (22) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. The Heat won 120-98. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich watches his team during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Miami. The Heat won 120-98. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (AP)

Game rewind: Desperate times call for ‘Twin Towers,’ zone

Gregg Popovich lamented last week that the lack of practice time resulting from the lockout had made him drastically alter his coaching plans from a typical season.

When asked about emplying a zone defense with his current group, Popovich chuckled at the thought.

Something happened Monday night. Maybe it was New Orleans’ blistering start that saw the Hornets hit nine of their first 12 shots. Or the fact that his defense needed a spark from somewhere.

Whatever the reason, Popovich pulled a zone defense out of his bag of tricks. That shift was enough that the Hornets cooled down a little.

In a similarly dire position down the stretch later in the game, Popovich employed Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter in the same lineup for the first extended period this season.

Duncan entered the game with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter with Spliter already in the lineup. Together, they helped the Spurs hold on for 104-102 victory.

That willingness to take a gamble helped the Spurs snap their two-game losing streak and showed the strength of Popovich’s convictions to try something different when he felt like it was needed.

Here’s a few other tidbits about the Spurs’ second road victory of the season.

Game analysis: Hot early New Orleans boosted them into an early lead for most of the first half. But a vintage performance by a rested Duncan enabled the Spurs to escape with a tight victory settled on the final possession.

Where the game was won: Two nights after sitting out the loss against Houston against his will, Duncan was rested and ready down the stretch against the Hornets. His 13-foot running hook with 1.4 seconds left gave the Spurs the lead. And on the final possession, the Spurs got a rare stop when Carl Landry misfired on a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Bring on the bench: New Orleans jumped to an early 22-13 lead with 5:12 left in the first quarter before a hustling performance prompted by the San Antonio bench helped pull the Spurs back in the game. The inserion of Matt Bonner, Cory Joseph and Danny Green helped the Spurs regain the lead by the end of the quarter.

Player of the game I: Duncan had his best game this year, producing a season-high 28 points and a team-high seven rebounds. For good measure, he even threw in the game-winning shot.

Player of the game II: Tony Parker had a memorable night running the Spurs offense, scoring 20 points and dishing out a career-high 17 assists.

Player of the game III: Chris Paul may be gone, but the Hornets look like they have a keeper at point guard in Jarrett Jack, who led them with 26 points and eight assists and also grabbed six rebounds. Jack scored 17 points in the second half as he directed the Hornets’ best offensive game of the season.

Most unsung: Richard Jefferson’s shooting touch returned after he hit for 14 points with four 3-pointers. And his defense on Trevor Ariza down the stretch helped him cool down the Hornets’ mosts athletic player as Jefferson played all but 53 seconds after halftime.

Did you notice: Was it some kind of “Cougar Reunion” at the Hornets’ game? What else could explain the presence of movie stars Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah and Brooke Shields sitting together in the courtside seats at the game.

Did you notice II: The Spurs struggled on the boards throughout most of the game. Their problems on the offensive glass were particularly pronounced as they grabbed only one offensive rebound through the first three quarters of the game.

Stat of the game: Duncan matched Parker’s current season high with 28 points — most by a Spurs player this season.

Stat of the game II: The Spurs’ 3-point shooting improved for the fourth consecutive game to 43.8 percent. The Spurs shot at least 43.8 percent in six of their first nine games this season, but had not reached that level since the loss at Oklahoma City in the ninth game of the season.

Stat of the game III: New Orleans topped the 50 percent mark in shooting for only the second time this season and the 100-point mark offensively for the first time and still lost. It was the Hornets’ eighth straight loss and 13th in their last 14 games after opening the season 2-0.

Weird stat of the game: New Orleans shot at least 50 percent in every quarter of the game. The Hornets became the first Spurs opponent to accomplish that feat this season.

Weird stat of the game II: The Spurs grabbed only 27 rebounds in Monday’s game. In the last 26 seasons, the Spurs have grabbed that few rebounds in a game only 15 times before Monday. The Spurs record in those games is 2-14.

Weird stat of the game III: The Hornets went 12 for 13 from the line for 92.3 percent, marking back-to-back nights where Spurs opponents have hit better than 90 percent from the line. Houston was at 91.7 in the Spurs’ loss Saturday night. It was the first time that has happened since the 2010 playoffs against Dallas.

Weird stat of the game IV: The Spurs’ starters were a collective minus-38 in plus-minus. The San Antonio bench was a collective plus-48.

Best plus/minus scores: Danny Green was plus-14, Matt Bonner and James Anderson were plus-13.

Worst plus/minus scores: DeJuan Blair was minus-15, Jefferson was minus-11.

Quote of the game: “It was a mix of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson—a kind of sky-hook, and we’ll take it,” Parker, to reporters on Duncan’s game-winning shot.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs have the day off before returning home Wednesday night against Atlanta, Friday night at Minnesota and Sunday night at Dallas. For the Hornets, they play Wednesday at Oklahoma City and home games Friday against Orlando and Sunday with Atlanta.

Injuries: Manu Ginobili missed his 13th game (record 8-5) after undergoing surgery for a fractured fifth left metacarpal. T.J. Ford missed his eighth game (record 5-3) with a torn left hamstring. New Orleans guard Eric Gordon (bruised right knee) and guard Xavier Henry (resolving ankle sprain) both missed Monday’s game.

What Spurs, Trail Blazers said after Friday’s game

Here’s a sampling of the post-game comments from both locker rooms after the Spurs’ 99-83 victory over Portland Friday night.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich:

(On turnovers in the first quarter)

“Well, I thought we obviously did a better job in the second quarter. In the second half I think they had 36 points or so, and you’re not going to do that very often. I thought we earned it. We competed well. We had a lot of guys that competed defensively and rebounding wise in the second half and it generated a lot for us. Then Tony (Parker) ran the show and kept us even for the whole game. We had some individual performances by guys that were really great. Obviously, Tiago (Splitter) and Danny Green did a great job. Kawhi (Leonard) had a wonderful all around game. We got a lot of good play to go with the defense, so it worked out for us tonight.

(On assessing Kawhi Leonard’s defensive I.Q.)

“Well he definitely has a knack defensively. He has a good nose for the ball. He seems to understand what is going on out there and he reads situations pretty well. That is a nice natural gift.

(On Tiago Splitter’s improvement from last season)

“He has the same exact skills that he had last year. He is just healthy and he’s playing. He is more confident. That is the one place where his game has changed from the past, but everything else is the same. He has been doing this for years in Europe and everywhere. He is a blue-collar guy who just does the basics really, really well. He is a great competitor.”

(On the absence of Marcus Camby)

“He is a tough nut to crack down there. He is really good. He had a couple of blocks before he got hurt and it certainly does change things on the boards for them and defensively.”

Spurs forward Tiago Splitter:

(On the bench stepping up tonight)

“Yeah, we did a pretty good job coming off the bench helping the guys ands playing hard. We played hard defense. Gary (Neal) played like the point guard and Danny (Green) brought energy and it’s hard to match-up against us.”

(On the performance of the young players on this team)

“Yeah, when you’re going to play against Portland, you have to play hard and that’s what we did. They played tough and physical, we have to do that.”

(On the turnovers in the first quarter and making it up in the second half)

“Once again, there were a lot of turnovers like you said, but we run the floor well. We made easy buckets and we had great defense. If we play like this every night, it’s going to be tough to beat the Spurs.”

(On the match-up against LaMarcus Aldridge)

“He’s a great player. We tried to guard him from having a great night of shooting, yet he made some unbelievable shots. We got the win and that’s what matters.”

Spurs forward DeJuan Blair:

(On what worked tonight for him and the team)

“It was by just playing defense. We played great defense despite starting out sluggish, but we came out in the second quarter and really started playing. It was really good.”

(On whether fatigue played a major factor in turnovers in the first half)

“No, it was just through not being strong with the ball. We let the ball get away from us a couple times but we got it together in the second quarter. We played a heck of a game as we played pretty good defense in the second half.”

(On the match-up against LaMarcus Aldridge)

“LaMarcus is a tough matchup as he’s a great player. I tried to play him as good as possible and we came out with the victory. I had a lot of help as Tiago (Splitter) played him great. It was wonderful.”

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan:

(On what happened during the stretch of the game)

“We got to play with a purpose out there. I think we were just kind of freelancing with what we do and we got to work together on both ends of the floor. Defensively, even though we got off to a pretty decent start, offensively in the first quarter we had 31 points but we gave up 27. Then offensively, we stopped recognizing what was working, which was going inside to L.A. (LaMarcus Aldridge). We got to understand how we want to play, which is from the inside-out and play out of that. I thought we went away from that.”

(On the team’s defense after Marcus Camby’s injury)

“(Marcus) Camby is basically the backbone of that defense. He kind of anchors a lot of things and you know, for us we’ve been in that kind of situation before. Kurt Thomas has to come in and play, and LaMarcus (Aldridge). We can slide him to the five but he got into foul trouble. Injuries are going to happen, so we need to be more aggressive. They out-rebounded us tonight. They don’t have any monsters in the paint. Tim (Duncan) is good and (DeJuan) Blair does a good job, but that’s not a lot of length. Rebounding is about work and we know that. We need to be a better rebounding team, so everybody has to play a part in that. I thought there were some times where we were assuming a teammate was going to get the board.”

(On the team’s effort in the game)

“We got to understand what we need to do and we got to do it. We’ve done it. I thought tonight we got a little away from what we were supposed to do. Defensively, as well as offensively, I think everyone wants to put up numbers, but we got to play within our offense and it’s not ‘first opportunity, take the shot.’ It’s not a run-and-gun system. We need to get some execution, some type of rhythm and we didn’t get that tonight.”

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge:

(How would you describe the game?)

“It was a tough loss. We had control of both halves and then we just let it slip away. It wasn’t even their starters tonight. Their second unit came in tonight and played big for them. They put pressure on us, crashed the boards hard and they just had more energy than us tonight. We had control, we just didn’t stay solid.”

(What changed for you guys in the game tonight toward the end?)

“I think in the first quarter, I was definitely rolling so it was a little bit easier. Going into the second half, they doubled and forced me baseline so things were not as easy as it was in the first quarter. But we’ve dealt with that all year, so we have to be more solid.”

(On losing Marcus Camby)

“Definitely losing him is always tough, he’s a big time rebounder and shot blocker. He’s big for us and he’s our starting center, so losing him was tough, but Kurt came in did his job. It makes it tough for substitutions after that because you get used to having Camby, then Kurt. Then now you have to find somebody who can back up Kurt. Coach will figure it out. But, like I said, losing Camby was not our reason for losing this game. We just had control and we didn’t stay solid the whole game.

Portland Trail Blazers center, Marcus Camby:

(Feelings in general of the game)

“It was definitely frustrating. We seemed to be playing good basketball. I didn’t get to see the rest of the game today. We’re going to have to figure out how to play on the road. The schedule has been in our favor the first part because we had a lot of home games and we solidified our home court.”

(Thoughts after initial injury)

“I thought I was going to be able to just get up and walk it off or run it off. I just really can’t put a lot of weight on it now. So, I’m going to stick to the treatments and try to get out on the court as quickly as possible.”

(Any words to teammates after injury?)

“We have a lot of bigs that are going to have the opportunity to play and show what they got. Guys have been working hard at practice, so now they are going to get the opportunity. So, hopefully they can make the best of the opportunity. ”