Tag: Gary Neal

Game rewind: Fiesta time means peaking for playoffs

It’s typically a time of river parades, gorditas, street festivals and the NBA playoffs.

Fiesta in San Antonio is the city’s biggest party of the year. And it typically coincides with the start of the NBA’s second season.

But this season’s lockout has delayed the start of the playoffs by a week. It means that Fiesta is starting without meaningful Spurs games for a change — for at least a week.

The Spurs’ 121-97 beatdown of the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night ranked as one of their most impressive victories of the season. But with four games remaining, the start of the playoffs is still approaching. 

When asked if he almost wished he could start the playoffs immediately, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sounded like he wanted to squeeze in all of the extra teaching time he could before the playoffs begin next weekend.

“We’ve been playing pretty well,” Popovich said. “But the playoffs are a situation where you have to do it night after night for awhile. This is just a small step.”

Spurs guard Tony Parker also isn’t looking ahead to the playoffs with four regular-season games still remaining in the season.

“We don’t really think about that,” Parker said. “It’s been a crazy season and we’re all used to it now. I think Pop did a great job all season long to manage everybody’s minutes. We have another four games and then the fun starts.”

The Spurs finish the regular season next Thursday at Golden State, ending a back-to-back preceded by a game at Phoenix the previous night.

ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said during Friday’s broadcast that he expected the Spurs to begin their first round with a playoff game on Saturday, April 28.

Popovich has been reminding anybody who would listen about his team’s difficult closing schedule. And when asked before the game when he would like to start the playoffs, he said he would like to start the playoffs as late as any team.

“I’m going to guess that’s not a factor in the playoff scheduling. It  doesn’t matter what I think,” Popovich said. “I’d like to play on Monday.”

And considering the compressed time of  the lockout season, Popovich could care less if the playoffs start after the last cascarone is smashed in the Alamo City.

There’s still a few regular season games left. And here’s a look at some of the highlights of the Spurs’ impressive victory over the Lakers.

The game, simply stated:  A vintage performance from Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili powered the Spurs past the Lakers for the second time in four nights, even with the return of Kobe Bryant to the Lakers’ lineup.

Early strong start: After spotting the Lakers an early lead, the Spurs employed a 13-4 run to give them a 15-7 lead capped by a 3-pointer by Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs maintained the lead throughout the rest of the first quarter, taking their largest early lead at 32-25 on Ginobili’s 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left. But Andrew Bynum’s quick basket at the buzzer pulled the Lakers within 32-25 at the break.

Taking the lead for good: Bryant’s two foul shots provided the Lakers with a 44-42 lead with 4:51 left in the first half. From there, the Spurs ran off 10 unanswered points  on a turnaround jumper by Duncan, another 3-pointer by Leonard, a fastbreak layup by Boris Diaw and a 3-pointer from Ginobili that gave them a 52-44 lead with 2:58 left. From there, the Spurs never trailed.

The dagger: After Bryant’s jumper pulled the Lakers within 56-54 with 11:37 left in the third quarter, the Spurs put the game away with a 27-11 spurt in the next eight minutes. The run was kick-started by three-point plays from Duncan and Danny Green and also included nine points from Parker. Ginobili’s jumper and two foul shots gave the Spurs an 83-65 lead with 3:30 left. The Lakers never came within 14 points during the rest of the game.  

Player of the game I: Duncan was aggressive early as he hit six of eight shots in the first quarter. That big start helped propel him to a game-high 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. And he didn’t play in the fourth quarter after logging 26:03 of playing time.

Player of the game II: Parker outplayed Ramon Sessions for the second game as he notched 20 points and 10 assists in 27:46. Parker was particularly strong in the third-quarter rush that helped put the game away, hitting four of five shots in the quarter before sitting for the rest of the game.

Player of the game III: Ginobili is starting to look more like the game-changing performer he’s been throughout his career. Whether making bullet passes into traffic, hitting 3-pointers or being a defensive pest, Ginobili had a big night with 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Unsung hero: Boris Diaw provided a lift both offensively and defensively. He produced eight points and five rebounds and helped handcuff Pau Gasol in a strong, underrated defensive effort that helped the Spurs take control in the third quarter.

Attendance: The Spurs might have been away for the last six days, but another sellout crowd of 18,581 turned out Friday night at the ATT Center for the first of three games in the regular season’s final homestand. It was the Spurs’ 25th capacity crowd in 31 home games this season, including 22 of their last 24 home dates and their 18th in a row. The last non-capacity home game came Feb. 2 against New Orleans.

Did you notice I: Bryant made one allowance to his bruised shin as he wore a heavy black sock over his lower left leg, with a padded sleeve protecting the injured area of his bruised shin. And he looked like he had missed shooting during his recent injury as he shot on both of the Lakers’ first two possessions, scoring a three-point play on the first play and missing a 3-pointer on the next one. He finished with a team-high 18 points, including 11 in the third quarter.

Did you notice II: After struggling in containing Andrew Bynum in the first game against the Lakers, DeJuan Blair hardly played during the next two games against them. Blair was benched in the Spurs’ victory in Los Angeles Tuesday night as the only Spur who failed to see action. And he logged 7:03 against them Friday night — all in the fourth quarter when the game was long settled.

Stat of the game I: The Spurs hit a season-best 61.0 percent from the field. It ranked as one of the top 10 shooting efforts of the Popovich coaching tenure and the Spurs’ highest field-goal percentage since hitting 64.3 percent in a victory over Detroit on March 9, 2011.

Stat of the game II: After notching a career-best 30 rebounds against the Spurs on April 11, Andrew Bynum produced nine total rebounds in the next two games against the Spurs in a combined 62:25. 

Stat of the game III: The Spurs hung 121 points on the Lakers after scoring 127 points against Sacramento on Wednesday. The 248 combined points in the two games are the best of the season in back-to-back contests.

Stat of the game IV: Duncan (21 points), Ginobili (20 points) and Parker (20 points) all scored at least 20 points in the same game for the first time since April 1, 2011. In that game, Parker scored 31 and Ginobili and Duncan added 23 points apiece in a 119-114 overtime loss at Houston.  

Stat of the game V: The victory, along with Oklahoma City’s 103-92 victory at Sacramento, kept the Spurs (46-16) a half-game ahead of the Thunder (46-17) for the best record in the Western Conference. The Spurs have four games remaining and the Thunder have three. The Spurs already have clinched the tiebreaker between them after winning the regular season series, meaning that Oklahoma City must finish ahead of them to claim the top playoff seed. The Spurs’ magic number to clinch the title is three. Any combination of three Spurs’ victories or Thunder losses will seal the No. 1 seed in the West for the Spurs.

Stat of the game VI: The Spurs have won six straight games, 20 of their last 23 games and an NBA-best 34 triumphs in their last 41 games.

Stat of the game VII: The Spurs shot 94.4 percent from the foul line, their second-highest free throw percentage of the season.  They hit 15 of 15 shots for 100 percent against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 28.

Stat of the game VIII: The victory over the Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak to them in the ATT Center.

Weird stat of the night I: The Spurs shot a season-best 61 percent against the Lakers on Friday after shooting 58.8 percent against Sacramento on Wednesday and 59.5 percent on Tuesday against the Lakers. It’s the first time since 1985-86 the Spurs have hit better than 58 percent in three consecutive games.

Weird stat of the night II: In all three games in the series against the Lakers this season, there was a margin of at least 26 points in each game. The Lakers had a 26-point margin in their first game and the Spurs had margins of 27 points in the second game at Los Angeles and 26 points Friday night.

Weird stat of the night III: The Spurs had a 22-4 edge in fastbreak points. It marked the third time in the last five games the Spurs notched at least 20 fastbreak points and 19 in another. In the previous 57 games this season, the Spurs topped 20 fastbreak points four times.  And in their last three games, the Spurs have converted 25 of 31 fastbreak opportunities.

Weird stat of the night IV: The Spurs’ bench had another big night with a 60-36 edge over the Lakers’ bench. In the three games against them this season, the Spurs bench outscored the Lakers’ bench by a combined margin of 147-85 — an average of 20.7 points per game.  

Weird stat of the night V: The Spurs notched a 24-point victory over the Lakers after beating them by 21 points on Tuesday. It marked the second time in four nights they recorded the Lakers’ worst defeat of the season.

Weird stat of the night VI: With 121 points, the Spurs were tied for their fifth-highest scoring effort of the season. Of their seven games with at least 120 points this season, five have come in April.

Weird stat of the night VII: With the victory, the Spurs claimed their 44th straight home victory when ahead at the half. The last time the Spurs lost a game while leading at the half came on Nov. 26, 2010, when they lost to Dallas after nursing a two-point halftime advantage in an eventual 103-94 defeat.

Not a good sign: Very little went wrong for the Spurs, who did struggle a tad in the second quarter when they shot 44.4 percent from the field and failed to score a second-chance point.

Best plus/minus scores: Duncan was plus-26, Parker was plus-24 and Green was plus-20.

Worst plus/minus scores: Gary Neal was minus-4, Stephen Jackson was minus-2 and Matt Bonner was minus-1.

Quote of the game: “We’re the same old guys. We don’t get overly confident or overly under confident, it’s just another game and anything can happen. You don’t get too excited about a win at this point. You get excited about wins in the playoffs,” Popovich, on the importance of beating the Lakers twice after losing to them in convincing fashion last week.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will finish their season with approaching home games Sunday against Cleveland and Monday against Portland before a road back-to-back Wednesday at Phoenix and Thursday at Golden State. The Lakers have remaining games Sunday at home against Oklahoma City and Thursday at Sacramento.

Injuries: Neither team had injuries to report.

Spurs strike first, blast Jazz in Game 1

By Jeff McDonald

Tony Parker had an offseason to stew, a lockout to fume, an entire NBA regular season to simmer.

By the time Game 1 against Utah tipped off Sunday afternoon, Parker’s wait for playoff redemption had reached a boiling point. He was primed. He was pumped. He was raring to go.

And then, he literally came bursting out of his shoe.

This is how Parker’s day of atonement began, in a 106-91 victory over the Jazz at the ATT Center: 96 seconds in, Nike in hand, sheepishly begging for a 20-second timeout to rectify a wardrobe malfunction.

His afternoon would improve substantially after that. Parker finished with 28 points and eight assists, helping the top-seeded Spurs put last season’s first-round disaster against Memphis one day further behind them.

“I wanted to make sure I set the table in Game 1, and make sure I was aggressive,” Parker said. “And then build on that.”

The victory staked the Spurs to their first 1-0 lead in a series since the 2008 first round, when they needed miracle 3-pointers from Michael Finley and Tim Duncan to beat Phoenix in overtime.

So long ago was that game that Kawhi Leonard — the Spurs’ starter at small forward Sunday — was a junior in high school then.

The Spurs had a much different Game 1 on the brain when they walked into the ATT Center just after breakfast Sunday. Last year, the Spurs dropped the opener to Memphis, setting the tone for a six-game first-round defeat.

Parker, the Spurs’ All-Star point guard, didn’t exactly have a poor series — he averaged 19.2 points and 5.2 assists — but the perception was that he’d been outplayed by the Grizzlies’ Mike Conley. It was a perception Popovich clung to when he saw a much more focused Parker guiding the French national team in September.

“Pop was mad at me,” Parker said. “He thought I played harder with the national team.”

Parker didn’t agree with the charge, but he knew how his coach expected him to react.

“I told him I’d have a good year this year, and make sure I played with a different attitude,” he said.

The new, somehow improved Parker was again on display in Game 1 against Utah. Behind a flurry of drives and bevy of acrobatic finishes, Parker had 16 points at half. He had 20 at the end of a third quarter that saw the Spurs open up a double-digit lead with 3-pointers from Gary Neal, Stephen Jackson and Matt Bonner.

Early in the fourth, after the Spurs had missed four straight shots, Popovich made the obvious move to stop a scoring drought. He called a play for Parker. The point guard responded by driving for a 3-point play, and later robbed Jamaal Tinsley and found his way to the free-throw line.

Popovich would have been surprised, if he hadn’t seen this Parker every night since about December.

“He’s the reason we’ve been successful this season, and he continued it (Sunday),” Popovich said.

Though Tim Duncan chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, and Jackson re-introduced himself to the playoffs with 14 points and a pair of 3-pointers, the day belonged to Parker.

“He’s why everyone’s chanting M-V-P,” Jackson said, referring to the home-crowd serenade the accompanied all 10 of Parker’s free-throw tries.

Utah point guard Devin Harris, meanwhile, would not be this year’s Mike Conley — or, for that matter, 2006′s Harris. He was largely absent from Game 1, finishing with seven points.

Paul Millsap led Utah with 20 points and nine rebounds, but the Spurs owned the paint, getting 58 points there — second-most in the club’s postseason history.

“They’re not going to give anything away — you’ve got to go out there and take it,” Harris said. “Obviously, they did what they’re supposed to do.”

As opposed to the season before, when Memphis took Game 1, then became just the second No. 8 seed in the best-of-seven era to advance past the first round.

Boris Diaw, whose start at forward Sunday doubled the French quotient of the Spurs’ first five, said he and Parker didn’t talk about the Memphis series at all. Still, Diaw could sense an extra fire in Parker’s eyes before tipoff.

“He had a focused mentality, and you have to,” said Diaw, who had nine points and five rebound in his Spurs playoff debut. “This isn’t a regular-season game.”

So excited was Parker for Game 1 that he almost immediately ran out of his shoe. Once he strapped it back on, he ran past the Jazz.

Afterward, Parker said all the right things.

“It’s going to be a long series,” he said.

But this much was clear after Sunday: If Parker keeps piling up games like he did Sunday, it will be a much shorter one.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

SPURS LEAD BEST-OF-7 SERIES 1-0

Game 1: @Spurs 106, Jazz 91 |

Game 2 Wednesday: Jazz @Spurs, 6 p.m.
TV: FSNSW, TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

Game 3 Saturday: Spurs @Jazz, 9 p.m.
TV: FSNSW, TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

Game 4 May 7: Spurs @Jazz, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 5 May 9: Jazz @Spurs, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 6 May 11: Spurs @Jazz, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 7 May 13: Jazz @Spurs, TBD
TV: TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* — As needed in best-of-7 series

Game rewind: Second-half turnaround helps spark Spurs comeback

For a time Thursday night, the Spurs appeared to be reverting to the form that led to their embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers the night before.

A drought of nearly six minutes enabled Memphis to take control of the game and push their lead to nine points late in the second quarter. The Grizzlies were having their way inside as the Spurs appeared to be falling into the same lapses that led to the humiliating loss a night earlier.

“We got pushed around and beat up against the Lakers,” Spurs forward Stephen Jackson said. “They were the most physical team and it showed. Today, we hit back and were more aggressive, especially in the second half.”

The Spurs shot 57.6 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Grizzlies 23-15 after being outrebounded by eight in the first half. Vintage performances by Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili down the stretch enabled the Spurs to claim a 107-97 victory.

“Pop came in and got on our butts and we went out in the second half and were a more physical team,” Jackson said. “This is becoming playoff ball and how we need to get ready. This is how it’s going to be in the playoffs.”

After the two-game losing streak there were some questions coming into the Memphis game. Duncan and Ginobili answered them in the second half.

Here’s how the Spurs finished off a season sweep against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season.

The game, simply stated: After a slow start, Ginobili and Duncan had huge games as the Spurs’ offense kicked into gear and led the to victory against one of the NBA’s toughest defenses in the NBA.  

Early surge: The Spurs took a 23-17 lead after 3-pointers by Ginobili and Jackson in a 25-second span late in the first half. They maintained their six-point lead on a dunk by Tiago Splitter after a nice feed from Ginobili with 31.9 seconds left in the quarter.

Memphis charges ahead: Another Splitter dunk pushed the Spurs’ lead to eight on their first possession of the second quarter and Danny Green’s 3-pointer gave them a 36-31 advantage with 8:14 left. Memphis utilized frigid San Antonio shooting to stun them with a 16-2 spurt capped by a 10-foot jumper by Marc Gasol  for a 45-38 lead with 2:08 left in the half. During the drought, the Spurs missed seven straight shots and made three turnovers before Duncan’s jumper stopped it. 

Late flurry before the half: Boris Diaw provided five points at the end of the first half on a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup that pulled the Spurs within 49-45 at intermission. It also earned him a start for the second half.  

The turning point: The Spurs took control during a 19-4 run late in the third quarter that extended into the fourth quarter. Matt Bonner gave the Spurs the lead for good at 72-70 on a 3-pointer with 2:55 left in the third quarter. Gary Neal added five more points later in the quarter. The Spurs finished it off with six points to start the fourth quarter on two Ginobili baskets sandwiching a hoop by Bonner. Ginobili’s final basket in the run gave them an 88-74 lead with 9:37 left.

Memphis answers: Green’s 3-pointer gave the Spurs a 94-81 edge with 7:41 left. Memphis countered with 11 straight points capped by a fast-break 3-pointer by O.J. Mayo that pulled them within 94-92 with 2:54 left. The sputtering Spurs missed six shots and committed  four turnovers during the Grizzlies’ charge, including three turnovers on consecutive possessions.

The clincher: Green sank two free throws with 2:27 left to end the scoring drought. Duncan then provided a critical three-point play and a tip-in before Ginobili sank six straight free throws in the final  minute to ice the victory.

Player of the game I: After guaranteeing his team would respond after the loss to the Lakers, Duncan erupted for a season-high 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.  Duncan scored 20 of his points in the second half.

Player of the game II: Ginobili is coming to peak form as he went for 20 points, six rebounds and four assists and hit 11 straight foul shots. Seventeen of his points came int the second half.

Player of the game III: Marc Gasol was productive inside for the Grizzlies with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists. But he only took eight shots and the Grizzlies’ reliance on their outside game hurt them down the stretch.

Unsung hero: His status was questionable after missing the Lakers’ game with stomach flu, but Gary Neal hit a couple of big shots late in the third quarter during the Spurs’ run and finished with seven points.

Attendance: A playoff rematch with Memphis for the Spurs prompted another sellout crowd of 18,581 for the Spurs — even on the back side of a back-to-back. It was the Spurs’ 23rd capacity crowd in 29 home games this season, including 20 of their last 22 home games and their 16th in a row. The last non-capacity home game came Feb. 2 against New Orleans.

Did you notice I: Bonner had an eventful night. He started by missing his first four 3-pointers before hitting the shot that gave the Spurs the lead for good late in the third quarter. He also was involved in a physical defensive battle with Zach Randolph, fronting him as he tried to keep the ball away from Memphis’ most productive inside weapon. And Bonner finished up with a punishing head-to-head collision late in the game where he crashed into Marc Gasol.

Did you notice II: For the second straight game, the height of Memphis made DeJuan Blair a non-factor. After playing 13:23 and less than two minutes in the second half against the Lakers on Wednesday, he logged 11:48 against Memphis and did not play after halftime.

Did you notice III: Considering his dominance in last season’s playoff, it would have been expected that Randolph would have been a key component down the stretch for the Grizzlies. Instead, Randolph got one shot — a weak 3-pointer at the end of a 24-second shot clock — in the fourth quarter. Rudy Gay had nine attempts and hit two of them, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range.  

Stat of the game I: Duncan matched his season high with 28 points, equalling his 28-point effort Jan. 23 at New Orleans.  

Stat of the game II: After being outrebounded 60-33 Wednesday night against the Lakers, the Spurs and Memphis were even with 41 rebounds. The Spurs outrebounded Memphis in the second half, 23-15.  

Stat of the game III: The Spurs snapped the Grizzlies’ 11-game streak of limiting opponents to less than 100 points, becoming the first team to score more than 100 since the Los Angeles Clippers on March 24.

Stat of the game IV: The victory pulled the Spurs within half a game of idle Oklahoma City. The two teams are even in the loss column. San Antonio has 41 victories, compared to Oklahoma City’s 42. The Spurs have nine games remaining and the Thunder have eight games left.

Stat of the game V:  San Antonio shot 57.6 percent (19 of 33 from the field) in the second half compared to Memphis’ 35.6 percent (16 of 45).

Stat of the game VI: The Spurs avoided losing three games in a row for the first time since the final two regular season games of last season and their opening game loss in the playoffs to Memphis.

Weird stat of the night I: Tony Parker matched his season high with seven turnovers, set Jan. 10 against Milwaukee. Six of them came in the second half — three in the third quarter and three in the fourth quarter.  It tied for the second-most turnovers in his career as his high is eight.

Weird stat of the night II: The Spurs limited Memphis to 29.2 percent shooting in the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies still scored 23 points and came within two points of outscoring them in the quarter.

Weird stat of the night III: Manu Ginobili hit all 11 foul shots, marking the second time in three games he has had at least 11 free throws. In Ginobili’s career, he’s had 82 games (regular season and playoff) with at least 10 foul shots. The Spurs are 67-15 in those games.

Weird stat of the night IV: The Spurs had 18 turnovers — one of their nine highest totals and their most in a game since they had 18 against Philadelphia on March 25.

Weird stat of the night V: Despite matching his season low with two rebounds against the Lakers Wednesday night, Duncan’s big game enabled him to continue a strong recent stretch. Over his last four games, he’s shooting 62.5 percent from the field (30 of 48) and averaging 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds.  

Weird stat of the night VI: The only Spurs who were positive in plus minus against the Lakers were James Anderson and Patty Mills. They were the only players who did not see action Thursday night against Memphis.

Not a good sign: The Spurs endured two scoring droughts of more than five minutes apiece and still won. That’s not a trend that Gregg Popovich wants to carry into the playoffs.

Best plus/minus scores: Bonner was plus-22, Bonner, Jackson and Tiago Splitter all were plus-11 and Parker was plus-10.

Worst plus/minus scores: Diaw was minus-7, Blair was minus-5 and Kawhi Leonard was minus-4. The Spurs’ bench was a collective plus-48 and the starters were plus-2.

Quote of the game: “He stepped it up to a whole other level. He was phenomenal. He was a monster,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on Duncan’s big night.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will host Phoenix on Saturday before beginning a punishing road back-to-back-to-back with games Monday at Golden State, Tuesday at the Lakers and Wednesday at Sacramento. The Grizzlies return home to face Utah on Saturday before road games Sunday at New Orleans and Tuesday at Minnesota.

Injuries: The Spurs were healthy. Memphis played without defensive stopper Tony Allen, who has missed five games with a severe facial laceration.