Tag: Gordon Hayward

Spurs’ huge playoff experience advantage has paid dividends

The Spurs have looked much more confident than Utah in the first two games of the series, dominating play virtually throughout in both games.

In the first two games, the Spurs have trailed for only 4 minutes, 40 seconds and have not been behind past the first quarter in either of the games.

One of the biggest reason could be the Spurs’ experience advantage.

In terms of playoff games, the Spurs have played more than double the number of games than Utah with a 622-310 edge.

Here’s the difference in playoffs games between the two teams heading into Saturday’s game. Totals include appearances made in the first two games of the series.

San Antonio Spurs 

Tim Duncan                178        Spurs

Tony Parker               140        Spurs   

Manu Ginobili              124       Spurs

Stephen Jackson           60       Spurs, Pacers, Warriors, Spurs

Boris Diaw                       41       Suns, Bobcats, Spurs

Matt Bonner                   34       Spurs

DeJuan Blair                   16        Spurs

Gary Neal                         8        Spurs

Patty Mills                         7       Trail Blazers, Spurs

Danny Green                    6        Spurs

Tiago Splitter                    4       Spurs

James Anderson              2        Spurs

Kawhi Leonard                2        Spurs

Total                              622       Overall     

Total with Spurs          544

Utah Jazz

Raja Bell                        68          76ers, Mavericks,  Suns

Josh Howard                 64         Mavericks, Jazz

Paul Millsap                  46          Jazz

Jamaal Tinsley             39          Pacers, Jazz

Devin Harris                 39          Mavericks, Jazz

C.J. Miles                      23           Jazz

Al Jefferson                     9          Celtics, Jazz 

Earl Watson                    8           Grizzlies

 Blake Ahearn                 2           Jazz

Alec Burks                       2           Jazz

DeMarre Carroll             2           Jazz

Jeremy Evans                 2           Jazz

Derrick Favors                2           Jazz

Gordon Hayward            2           Jazz

Enes Kanter                     2           Jazz

Total                             310

Total with Jazz              91

LAYER GAMES TEAMS(S) PLAYER GAMES TEAM(S)

Anderson 2 Spurs Ahearn 2 —

Blair 16 Spurs Bell 68 76ers/Mavericks/Suns

Bonner 33 Spurs Burks 2 —

Diaw 41 Suns/Bobcats/Spurs Carroll 2 —

Duncan 178 Spurs Evans 2 —

Ginobili 124 Spurs Favors 2 —

Green 6 Spurs Harris 39 Mavericks

Jackson 60 Spurs/Pacers/Warriors/Bobcats Hayward 2 —

Leonard 2 Spurs Howard 64 Mavericks

Mills 7 Trail Blazers/Spurs Jefferson 9 Celtics

Neal 8 Spurs Kanter 2 —

Parker 140 Spurs Miles 24 Jazz

Splitter 4 Spurs Millsap 46 Jazz

Tinsley 39 Pacers

Watson 9 Grizzlies

Total 622 Total 311

Spurs Total 544 Jazz Total 91

Spurs notebook: Jazz’s Jefferson can’t see any team beating S.A.

SALT LAKE CITY — For three games in the Western Conference playoffs, Utah center Al Jefferson has seen his team beaten every which way, and by a combined 58 points.

Finally, he has seen enough.

Before Sunday’s practice, Jefferson essentially declared the Spurs to be NBA champions-in-waiting.

“I just think we’re playing against a team that is at its peak,” Jefferson said. “I don’t see nobody beating them.”

Jefferson’s comments were striking, considering Utah’s series with the Spurs is still in progress.

Game 4 is tonight in Utah.

Apprised of Jefferson’s prediction after their own practice session at EnergySolutions Arena, the Spurs seemed flattered, but deemed it premature.

“The best team out there won’t be decided for a while yet,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to be that team, and we’re trying.”

It is a one-game-at-a-time approach echoed by Popovich’s captain, Tim Duncan, even with the Spurs on the verge of sweeping a playoff series for the first time since the 2007 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Even with the Spurs going 41-7 since Jan. 30.

“We’re still growing a little bit,” Duncan said. “It’s early in the playoffs. We have some ways to go before we can define what kind of team we’re going to be.”

Jefferson thinks he knows the Spurs’ ceiling. Whether he’s correct will be determined over the next six weeks or so.

“Right now, they just playing well, man,” Jefferson said. “I ain’t never seen nothing like this.”

Checkmate for Parker: Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin made his first strategic move of the series in Game 3 when he assigned 6-foot-8 small forward Gordon Hayward to guard Tony Parker for long stretches.

The move might have backfired.

Not only did it fail to faze Parker — who finished with 27 points to raise his average in the series to 24.3 — it seemed to take Hayward out of his own game. Hayward ended with four points and made just 1 of 10 shots.

Parker, meanwhile, pumped in 16 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

“He’s kind of seen it all,” Duncan said. “I thought (Hayward) did a pretty good job early on, affecting him with his size a little bit, but Tony figured it out.”

Other ways to help: Manu Ginobili’s shooting struggles continued with a 2-for-6 night in Game 3. Yet he still found a way to contribute to the Spurs’ 102-90 victory with a season-high 10 assists.

“Whether it’s a rebound or scoring or assists, making a steal, he figures out what needs to be done in a game,” Popovich said. “Those 10 assists really helped us.”

Ginobili is still looking for his first made 3-pointer in eight tries in the series, and the 17 points he’s totaled have been surpassed by seven teammates.

As long as the Spurs’ offense is humming — and it’s averaging 107.3 points in the playoffs so far — Ginobili is content to be a setup man.

“The team is playing good offense,” he said. “Tony is taking us where we want to be. There’s no need to force the issue to try to make shots.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

Spurs fear a lack of fear itself

By Jeff McDonald

SALT LAKE CITY — For two games in their Western Conference first-round series against Utah, the Spurs have successfully guarded against Al Jefferson’s repertoire of herky-jerky post moves.

They have guarded against Devin Harris’ quickness and Paul Millsap’s blue-collar ruggedness.

Tonight, as the series shifts to rowdy EnergySolutions Arena with the top-seeded Spurs up 2-0 and solidly in command, they are poised to come face-to-face with their most formidable foe yet in these playoffs.

Overconfidence.

“From game to game, there’s always a danger of letdowns,” said Tim Duncan, the Spurs’ 36-year-old captain. “We’re going to fight against that, but there’s no promises in any way.”

In their quest to put a lock on the series, it seems the only thing the Spurs have to fear now is the lack of fear itself.

The Spurs won the first two games by a staggering total of 46 points. Their 106-91 victory in Game 1 looked like a nail-biter compared to the 114-83 ransacking the Spurs delivered in Game 2.

The 31-point margin in Game 2 marked the Spurs’ third-largest win in team playoff history. For Utah, it was the franchise’s second-worst postseason defeat, surpassed in humiliation ?only by a 96-54 loss to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals.

How each team responds now will determine how much life is left in this series.

“It’s easy to fold your tent,” Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. “But fight is fight, and competitors compete. Guys who want to quit will quit.”

So far, the Spurs have treated the eighth-seeded Jazz like a D-League team, with All-Star point guard Tony Parker obliterating Utah’s backcourt en route to a combined 46 points and 17 assists. Their Duncan-led frontcourt has outplayed Jefferson and Millsap in helping post a 120-80 edge in paint points.

In Game 2, the Spurs were ahead 20-8 before star sixth man Manu Ginobili had even stripped off his warmups.

It speaks to the Spurs’ sense of professionalism and self-restraint that they haven’t yet begun planning dinner reservations in Memphis or Los Angeles.

“What I see is ultimate focus,” forward Stephen Jackson said. “Nobody is talking about the next series. Everyone is focused about what’s in front of us.”

The Spurs’ battle against overconfidence began before coach Gregg Popovich left the interview podium after Wednesday’s Game 2 romp, when he reminded that the runaway victory was “nothing to be satisfied about.”

In Utah, the Spurs are expecting to find a different Jazz team than the one that presented so little resistance in San Antonio.

“I know Pop’s really antsy about us coming out and getting jumped on,” Duncan said.

If nothing else, the Spurs are anticipating an amped-up performance from the Utah crowd, generally considered one of the NBA’s most rambunctious.

Those who were around in 2007 haven’t forgotten the Spurs’ last trip to Salt Lake for a playoff game, when players and coaches exited the court to a hail of debris after a Game 4 victory in that year’s Western Conference finals.

“They’re going to play even harder, with a great atmosphere,” said Ginobili, one of the few Spurs yet to find his footing. “They’re going to be fired up. Hopefully, we don’t relax and keep fighting.”

Down 2-0 in a series against a Spurs team that hasn’t lost a game since April 11, the Jazz would love to have such worries.

Their mission now, as impossible as anything Tom Cruise ever tried: Win four out of five against a Spurs team that has only lost three times since March 9.

“We’re fighting for our lives,” Utah forward Gordon Hayward said.

To stay alive, the Jazz will make adjustments. They will feed Jefferson in the post. They will rely on Harris’ quickness, and Millsap’s ruggedness.

In the end, however, Utah’s best hope for survival might be out of its hands. Ultimately, Game 3 could come down to how well the Spurs handle their own prosperity.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

SPURS LEAD BEST-OF-7 SERIES 2-0

Game 1:

Game 2:

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

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

* Game 5 Wednesday: 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