Tag: DeJuan Blair

Game rewind: Pop seething about ‘soft’ second-half effort

It was a tale of two halves Tuesday night for the Spurs.

The first part of their game Tuesday against Miami might have been their best performance of the young season. They led by 17 points late in the second quarter and had a 14-point halftime lead after Danny Green’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

After that, the bottom fell out as the Spurs struggled through one of their worst halves in team history. They were outscored by 27 in the third quarter as Miami cruised to an easy 120-98 victory.

The final margin actually looked a little more appealing after Miami led by up to 26 late in the game. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan rested during the fourth quarter and most of the other San Antonio starters were missing in garbage time.

It’s hard to believe a team could play so well in the first half and so awful in the same game. It was one of the most amazing collapses in recent NBA history.

Here’s a look at how it happened. 

Game analysis: Even with Dwyane Wade out of the lineup, the Spurs had no answer for remaining Heatles LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Toss in a sizzling first-game perimeter shooting performance by Mike Miller and it was understandable why the game got out of hand in the fourth quarter.

Where the game was won: The Heat blew the game open with a 25-1 run in the middle of the third quarter punctuated by a 3-pointer by James, another by Mario  Chalmers and another from James that put them ahead 78-68 with 3:28 left in the third quarter. 

A little earlier … The Spurs hit 12 of their first 15 shots and led by 17 points with 3 minutes remaining in the first half.  They even left with a surge of momentum when Green hit a buzzer beater from beyond midcourt that gave them a 63-49 halftime lead.

Player of the game I:  It took awhile for James to get going, but he once he got started, the Spurs couldn’t stop him. James erupted for 33 points, including 17 in the third quarter. James  also added 10 assists, five rebounds, hit four 3-pointers and was a team-best plus-19 to help Miami end a three-game losing streak.

Player of the game II:  Bosh was a force all over the court, notching 30 points, a game-high eight rebounds, five assists and four steals in a strong all-around performance.

Player of the game III: Green was the Spurs’ major offensive  force with a team-best 20 points, including 11 in the second half. He hit a career-best six 3-pointers, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Most unsung: Miller was expected to play a few minutes in his first game back after missing the Heat’s first 12 games recovering from sports hernia surgery.  When he was inserted into the game, he hit all six 3-pointers to account for 18 points in 15 minutes.

Did you notice: James personally outscored the Spurs in the third quarter, 17-12.

Did you notice II: The Spurs got into early foul trouble in the first quarter when they were whistled for nine fouls before Miami picked up its first one. By then, Tiago Splitter was benched with three fouls in 73 seconds  and two more for  Duncan and DeJuan Blair before  the first quarter ended.

Stat of the game: Miami outscored San Antonio 39-12 in the third quarter. It matched the second-largest differential for any quarter in Heat history, and matched the second-worst differential for a period in Spurs history, according to STATS LLC.

Stat of the game II: The Spurs’ road losing streak was extended to five games to start the season.

Stat of the game III: Miami hit 6 of 8 from 3-point territory in the third quarter and finished with a season-best 16 3-pointers.  

Weird stat of the game: The Spurs’ 17-point second-quarter advantage is the largest lead they’ve squandered this season in a game they eventually lost.

Quote of the game: “They just outphysicaled us and beat our — in the second half. We should be embarrassed by that, playing that soft,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on his team’s second-half collapse.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs travel to Orlando in the back end of a difficult back-to-back Wednesday night. They have lost their last three games there by an average margin of 20 points a game. After a day off, they will return home Friday to meet Sacramento before traveling to Houston on Saturday. The Heat will host the Lakers Thursday night before a home back-to-back against Philadelphia Saturday and Milwaukee on Sunday.

Injuries: Manu Ginobili missed his ninth game after undergoing surgery for a fractured fifth left metacarpal.  T.J. Ford missed his fourth game with a torn left hamstring sustained last week in Milwaukee. Gary Neal returned to the lineup despite a contusion of the right quadriceps. Miami played without Wade (sprained ankle) and center Dexter Pittman (flu-like symptoms). Miller returned  to the lineup for the first time this season after missing all of the previous Heat games after recovering from sports hernia surgery.

Spurs intend to hurdle roadblock

MIAMI — Maybe it’s just the jet lag. Maybe it’s a touch of homesickness.

Maybe the mattresses at their luxury hotels have suddenly become too lumpy. Maybe the seats on their charter plane have become too cramped.

Or maybe, as Tim Duncan suggests, there really is no good explanation for the Spurs’ newfound fear of travel.

The fact of the matter is this: The Spurs are 9-0 at the ATT Center this season, 0-4 when they leave Bexar County.

“There’s no rhyme or reason to why we’re winning one place and not the other,” Duncan said. “We just have to play better on the road.”

Having already perfected the art of winning at home, the Spurs figure tonight in Miami is as good a time as any to take their winning act on the road.

The Spurs have not won a road game of any sort — postseason, regular season or preseason — since posting a 97-90 victory at Atlanta last April 5.

This season, they’ve been routed in Houston, Minnesota and Oklahoma City and dropped a three-point game in Milwaukee.

“In a situation like this, home games become even more important, and road games are even tougher to get,” forward Richard Jefferson said. “You have to play better on the road than you do at home.”

On the surface, the back-to-back that begins tonight in Miami and continues Wednesday at Orlando is not the most desirable place to stage a road revival.

The All-Star laden Heat, defending Eastern Conference champions, beat the Spurs by 30 at AmericanAirlines Arena last season (a week after — go figure — losing by 30 in San Antonio).

Meanwhile, the Magic have become a perennial Spurs roadblock, winning the past three meetings in Orlando by a combined 52 points.

Considering NBA schedule-makers will not allow the Spurs to play only in San Antonio, they’d better figure out how to win an away game if they plan on finishing the season better than .500.

For starters, center DeJuan Blair said, “we’ve got to bring more intensity on the road.”

The Spurs could get a bit of a break tonight, with Miami All-Star guard Dwyane Wade expected to miss the game with an ankle injury. Still, LeBron James — Wade’s All-Star backcourt mate — picked up the slack to the tune of 32.5 points, 11 assists and 7.5 rebounds in a pair of games flying solo the week before last.

Wade’s status might not matter if the Spurs can’t find a way to suspend their road-home Jekyll-and-Hyde routine. The sample size is small, but so far the Spurs have been a different team outside San Antonio city limits.

They are averaging 103.4 points at home, 95 on the road. They are allowing 106.3 points on the road and 90.3 at home.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is succinct in diagnosing the difference.

“We suck on the road,” he said. “We’re really good at home.”

This is a relatively novel phenomenon for the Spurs, who have traditionally been one of the NBA’s saltiest away teams. Last season, the Spurs won their first eight road games en route to a 25-16 road record.

The best explanation anyone can offer for the Spurs’ recently discovered ability to impersonate a treadmarked armadillo: an increased reliance on younger players.

Popovich starts a 22-year-old at center (Blair) and a 20-year-old rookie at guard (Kawhi Leonard). His bench includes third-year swingman Danny Green, a pair of second-year players in center Tiago Splitter and guard Gary Neal and another 20-year-old rookie in point guard Cory Joseph.

Winning on the road, Popovich said, is a learned skill younger players take time to master.

“There are always a couple moments in a road game where it can be a five- or six-point game, and all of a sudden it’s eight or 10,” Popovich said. “You sort of lose your mojo.”

Duncan figures it is past time for the Spurs to find it in someone else’s gym.

“We’ve protected our home court,” Duncan said. “Now it’s time to get one on the road.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Spurs patient with youngsters

NEW ORLEANS — Nearly a month into this stranger-than-fiction post-lockout season, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has come to appreciate the upside of guiding the youngest team he’s ever had.

“We’ve actually got a guy who can dunk now,” Popovich joked after a recent shootaround. “He did it today in practice, and three of us just about fell over.”

In the four-plus years since their last NBA championship, the Spurs have evolved from old, veteran and savvy to young, nimble and callow. Once playfully derided by their coach as “older than dirt,” the Spurs start a 20-year-rookie at shooting guard (Kawhi Leonard) and a 22-year-old at center (DeJuan Blair).

The bench rotation includes another 20-year-old rookie in point guard Cory Joseph, 24-year-old swingman Danny Green, and a pair of older second-year players in 27-year-old center Tiago Splitter and 26-year-old guard Gary Neal.

Take away 34-year-old Manu Ginobili, out with a broken hand, and 35-year-old Tim Duncan — who sat out Saturday night’s loss in Houston for rest reasons — and it’s been like a flashback to Popovich’s days as a college coach at Pomona-Pitzer.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Popovich said. “They’re good kids. It’s great to be able to teach and see them want to learn as much as they do.”

Five of the Spurs’ top nine scorers have less than three NBA seasons on their résumé, but there is a downside for relying on youth and inexperience.

Typical for a younger team, the Spurs have struggled on the road (they are 1-6). Closing tight games can be an adventure (they are 1-2 in the past three games, all decided by three points or fewer).

Tonight in New Orleans, the 10-7 Spurs look to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season. At 3-13, the Hornets own the worst record in the Western Conference, and should be easy pickings.

With a young team, however, you never know. It’s why Popovich stuck with “older than dirt” for so long.

For Duncan, who woke up one day as the Spurs’ oldest player, working alongside such youth has been both an education and an adventure. Leonard and Joseph, the two rookies, were in first grade when Duncan made his NBA debut in 1997.

“It takes time,” Duncan said. “It’s about us being used to them, them being used to us, being used to being in tough situations in hostile territory. They’re coming along.”

So far, Popovich has handled the unpredictability of youth with as much patience as he can muster.

When Leonard had a typical rookie moment late in the fourth quarter at Houston — passing up an open jumper, turning the ball over in traffic, then committing a loose-ball foul against Kevin Martin — Popovich didn’t explode.

“He just told me to be confident and take the wide-open shot,” said

Leonard, a fill-in starter while Ginobili is out. “Things happen. I’m still a rookie.”

The infusion of youth has invigorated Popovich, stirring his instincts as a teacher. Yet with the lockout-compressed schedule eliminating almost all practice time, he has often been like a professor without a classroom.

“Shootaround days become even more important,” Popovich said. “They’re sort of like mini practices now, since you don’t have a real practice. You actually have an opportunity to maybe repeat some things so the young guys start to pick things up.”

When Popovich does get a chance to stage a practice, the gym can look like a three-ring circus.

“Logistically, it’s different,” Popovich said. “I’m sure some drills and basketball things a coach would do for young guys, Duncan doesn’t want to see it anymore. These young guys, you’ve got to go back to the basics. You have different people doing different things.”

Leonard, the 15th pick out of San Diego State, didn’t know what to expect when the Spurs traded for him on draft night. He had heard stories of his soon-to-be new coach, some good, some horrifying.

Leonard’s first meeting with Popovich calmed his nerves.

“He sat me down and told me exactly what they expected of me,” Leonard said.

There is no truth to the rumor Popovich asked for more dunks, but it has been a notable side effect.

jmcdonald@express-news.net