Gregg Popovich | SAN ANTONIO SPURS TICKETS

Parker makes a pass at perfection

For Tony Parker, the nightly marching orders from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich are as simple as they are impossible.

“He wants me to be perfect,” Parker said.

Popovich does not dispute this depiction of what he demands from his 29-year-old point guard.

“He’s constantly in the area of getting hounded by me,” Popovich said. “He scores and I want assists. He assists, I tell him, ‘You gotta score.’”

Monday in New Orleans, in a 104-102 victory the listing Spurs absolutely had to have, Parker came as close to perfection as he ever could.

Using a prolific mixture of passing and scoring, Parker turned in a game for the annals, registering 20 points and a career-best 17 assists, becoming the second Spurs player to reach those totals in the same game.

The other: Wes Matthews, who did it in a win over Portland on April 16, 1986, a month before Parker’s fourth birthday.

The 17 assists tie Parker for fourth on the franchise’s single-game chart. It was the highest for a Spurs player since Dec. 17, 1997, when Avery Johnson doled out 20 in a game against Vancouver.

For Parker, games like Monday’s opus — which followed a 24-point, 13-assist stat-stuffing in a defeat at Houston — have been 10-plus seasons in the making.

“Pop’s been on him for years about his decision making,” forward Tim Duncan said. “When to attack, when to kick and trying to do both at the same time. He’s in a real rhythm right now.”

Forced to carry more of the offensive load with Manu Ginobili out, and forced to log extended minutes with backup T.J. Ford hurt, Parker is deftly dancing on the line between passing and scoring.

Heading into tonight’s game against Atlanta at the ATT Center, the three-time All-Star is averaging 17.7 points and a career-high 8.1 assists. In his past nine games, those numbers are 22 and 9.1.

Like a streak shooter who suddenly finds a hot hand, Parker has gotten on a roll with his passing, registering 30 assists in his past two games.

“There’s always that fine line between being aggressive and finding my teammates,” said Parker, who is playing through a lower back inflammation. “I just try to do my best and make Pop happy.”

Early in the game against New Orleans, Parker took that ethos to the extreme. He had eight assists before attempting his first field goal.

Certainly, his teammates contributed to Parker’s lofty assist total. In addition to hitting big men Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair on a handful of pick-and-rolls, Parker padded his assist numbers simply by finding open jump shooters.

“It helps when people make shots,” Parker said.

Still, there’s no denying Parker has come a long way since 2001, when he entered the league as a 19-year-old bent on scoring.

Earlier in his career, Parker acknowledges the mixed message coming from his coach — “Score! No, pass!” — played with his head.

“Sometimes, it hurt my game because I wouldn’t be as aggressive as I need to be,” Parker said.

These days, Parker’s only battle is with his own body. His back has been bothering him since Jan. 10 in Milwaukee. The minutes have been piling up on him, at least 34 in eight of the past nine games, with no rest in sight, at least until Ford returns sometime next month.

Until then, the games will keep coming, and Parker will approach them the way he usually does — terminally in pursuit of perfection, always in hopes of pleasing his hard-to-please head coach, chasing the impossible.

“He wants me to score, he wants be to pass, he wants me to do everything,” Parker said. “I have to be perfect.”

Sometimes, it’s just that simple.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Game analysis: Sunday’s loss will hurt more later

The Spurs’ hardest week of the season to date started Sunday night in a bad way.

After struggling down the stretch against Minnesota Friday night, the Spurs almost stole a victory at Dallas thanks to a dramatic bench performance before falling 101-100 in overtime.

As much as the Spurs might feel good about the bench’s effort, the realization that games against Memphis, Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City loom in the next six days remains daunting.

Sunday night might be a moral victory for some, but the Spurs still lost to a division foe and their most bitter rival to boot. They fell out of first place in a game where they limited Dirk Nowitzki to 10 points on 5-for-14 shooting and still lost.

The bench played well, but ran out of gas at the end.

It’s a loss that likely will hurt more on April 26 — the day the season ends — than it does now.

Game analysis: After a struggling effort by the regulars, the Spurs’ bench made a strong comeback before wearing out late in regulation and in overtime against the defending NBA champions.

Where the game was won: After Danny Green’s layup gave the Spurs a 98-95 lead with 1:18 left in overtime, Dallas went to its veterans to claim the comeback. Nowitzki overcame a frigid shooting night to hit a banker. Jason Terry then hit 12-foot turnaround and a pair of free throws to put them ahead 101-98. Gary Neal’s layup pulled them within a point, but Green’s game-winning 27-footer at the buzzer clanked off the rim to allow Dallas to escape.

Look at the monitor to see how close the Spurs came: The Spurs had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Green’s game-winning hoop was waved off when replays showed it was released a millisecond after the buzzer.

Give it up to the bench: Terry’s jumper gave Dallas a 67-49 lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter, the Spurs bench hit the Mavericks with a 35-8 spurt that gave them an 84-75 lead on Neal’s jumper with 5:33 left. Popovich stayed with them for the rest of regulation and the subs couldn’t make that cushion stand up as Dallas charged back.

Player of the game I: Spurs Nation favorite Terry earned a few more boos on his next trip to the ATT Center after erupting for a season-high 34 points on 14-for-23 shooting.

Player of the game II: It looked like it was 1999 all over after a couple of Vince Carter’s circus shots. It helped him score 21 points as the Spurs struggled to contain him throughout the game.

Player of the game III: Neal had been looking for a breakout game all season as he plays himself into shape after missing training camp with appendicitis. He might have gotten that effort Sunday with a season-high 19 points, seven assists and three 3-pointers as he helped boost San Antonio’s strong bench effort with 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Most unsung: Most observers think the Mavericks will miss Tyson Chandler as the season progresses. That might be true, but Rick Carlisle got a nice effort out of his pivot tandem of Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi. The center duo combined for only seven points, but contributed 16 rebounds and six blocked shots as they made life difficult inside for the Spurs throughout the game.

Did you notice I: The loudest cheerleaders for the Spurs at Sunday’s game were their starters on the bench. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were giggling like JV members throughout the fourth quarter as the Spurs’ bench nearly escaped with the victory.

Did you notice II: The men in the striped shirts didn’t have a good night — particularly down the stretch. First, game officials appeared to miss a traveling call on Nowitzki as he clumsly tried to get the ball up court while appearing to try to call a timeout before Dallas’ final possession of regulation. And Bill Kennedy was woefully out of place on the Spurs’ final play in overtime, running into Green before his desperation heave at the buzzer.

Stat of the game: After being outscored by the Dallas bench 26-4 to start the game, San Antonio’s substitutes accounted for its final 51 points of the game.

Stat of the game II : San Antonio hit 7 of 8 from 3-point territory in the fourth quarter after starting the game hitting 4 of 14 from beyond the arc.

Stat of the game III: The Spurs hit only 10 of 19 foul shots. Their 52.6 percentage was a season-low and was their lowest since shooting 50 percent from the line in a loss to Portland on March 28, 2011.

Weird stat of the game: Nowitzki was limited 10 points in 37:54. It marked only the eighth time in Nowitzki’s career that he has been limited to 10 points or less in at least 37 minutes.

Weird stat of the game II: After grabbing only two offensive rebounds Friday night at Minnesota, the Spurs bounced back to grab 14 against the Mavericks. It was one of their five top offensive rebounding efforts of the season.

Not a good sign: The Spurs hit 41.5 percent from the field, marking their second straight game below 42 percent. The Spurs have shot 41.4 percent in their two most recent road losses after hitting 52.9 percent in victories over New Orleans and Atlanta last week.

Best plus/minus scores: James Anderson was plus-17, Neal was plus-9 and Tiago Splitter and Green were plus-8.

Worst plus/minus scores: Kawhi Leonard and Parker were minus-10 and Richard Jefferson was minus-9.

Quote of the game: “You don’t see that very often, but we were on fire shooting threes. That got us back in the game. It was simple as that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich describing his bench’s late perimeter spurt.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will travel to Memphis for the back end of a back-to-back on Monday. They then will entertain Houston on Wednesday, New Orleans on Thursday and Oklahoma City on Saturday. Dallas will travel to Phoenix on Monday before home games Wednesday against Oklahoma City and Friday against Indiana.

Injuries: Manu Ginobili missed his 16th game (Spurs record 9-7) after undergoing surgery for a fractured fifth left metacarpal. T.J. Ford missed his 11th game (Spurs record 6-5) with a torn left hamstring. Minnesota starting point guard Jason Kidd is expected to miss about a week with a strained right calf. Nowitzki returned to action after missing the last four games with knee/conditioning issues.

Parker plunders Thunder

By Jeff McDonald

Tony Parker arrived in San Antonio in the summer of 2001 a skinny, unknown French point guard in an era when European players were still more novelty than necessity.

All Spurs coach Gregg Popovich asked him to do was replace the only championship point guard the franchise had ever had.

On a Saturday night more than a decade later, in the Spurs’ 107-96 victory over NBA-leading Oklahoma City, Parker replaced Avery Johnson in the record books. With nine assists, Parker passed Johnson as the team’s all-time leader with 4,477.

Popovich, ever the whip to Parker’s backside, feigned being unimpressed.

“He’s been here a long time,” Popovich said with a shrug and, if you looked closely enough, a smile. “He should have a lot of assists.”

In passing Johnson on the Spurs’ assist chart, however, Parker did something his predecessor could never do.

On his record-breaking night for giving, Parker also pumped in 42 points, his highest total in three seasons, to send the Spurs (16-9) off on their annual rodeo road trip on a season-best four-game winning streak.

For Parker, it was the first 40-point game since the 2008-09 campaign, when he had three, including a 55-point opus at Minnesota. It was one point shy of the ATT Center record of 43, set by Manu Ginobili against Orlando in 2010.

“I was rolling tonight,” said Parker, making a case to coaches voting for West All-Star reserves. “Every time I popped, I felt better in my head. I was in attack mode.”

For that, Parker again credits Popovich.

When he rolled into the ATT Center on Saturday night, Parker knew he needed seven assists to pass Johnson, now coach of the New Jersey Nets. His quest met with stiff resistance from his coach.

“Pop comes in before the game and says, ‘You need to take 25, 30 shots or we’re not going to win,’?” Parker said.

When Parker opened the game a little too pass-happy for Popovich’s liking, the coach gently reminded him of the pre-game orders.

“The first timeout, Pop screamed at me, ‘Shoot the ball!?” Parker said.

It didn’t take much prodding after that. Parker eventually got his record-breaking assist on a pick-and-pop jumper from Tim Duncan with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

Parker met his quota for field-goal attempts, going 16 of 29. Outside of the points, and the record, the most impressive number on Parker’s box score was zero — as in no turnovers.

“We knew we had to score a lot of points against these guys,” Popovich said. “(Parker) went into the game with that in mind. He was aggressive all night.”

Before the game, Popovich announced plans to have rookie Kawhi Leonard defend Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, the two-time NBA scoring champion.

“If he keeps him below 40, I’m gonna slap him on the ass and say, ‘Great job young man,’?” Popovich said.

Leonard earned his kudos. Durant finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Little did Popovich know he would have a 40-point scorer in his own huddle.

Outdueling Russell Westbrook, perhaps not coincidentally another scoring point guard up for All-Star consideration, Parker punctuated his record-snapping third quarter with 16 points.

When Parker hit a pair of free throws with 2:02 left in the frame, the Spurs led the Thunder (18-5) by 24.

Duncan, who played with both Johnson and Parker, laughed when asked if he could think of two point guards more dissimilar than the Little General and the French Blur.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine that,” Duncan said. “Knowing (Parker) is a scoring point guard more than anything, but he’s evolved over the years. He knows how to do it all, and you saw that tonight.”

Having changed places with Johnson in the Spurs’ record book, having at last replaced the irreplaceable, Parker can one day look forward to joining him in the ATT Center rafters.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

– Photos by Tom Reel

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Spurs 107, Thunder 96: Feb. 4, 2012

SPORTS Spurs center Tim Duncan puts up a shot against Kendrick Perkins as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker gets Nazr Mohammed (8) and a teammate hanging in there as he fakes to the basket as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker makes a quick spin move to get to the hoop on Nazr Mohammed as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs forward Matt Bonner is rejected at the net by Kendrick perkins as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker continues the move against Reggie Jackson which gets him to the bucket in the second half as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs forward Tiago Splitter puts up a layup against Nick Cllision as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker returns to play for the fourth quarter as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs center Tim Duncan rips down a defensive rebound in the second half as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker threatens to go in the lane against Reggie Jackson as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Danny Green causes havoc under the hoop as he pushes the ball through on a pass as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs forward Matt Bonner cranks up a three pointer as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs center Tiago Splitter works against Kendrick Perkins under the hoop as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker twists under Kendricks Perkins for a bucket in the first half as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Thunder forward kevin Durant is forced to pass by tough defensive applied by Kawhi Leonard as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Spurs guard Tony Parker slips inside of Reggie Jackson for a clear look at the bucket as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Thunder guard Russell Westbrook gets smothered by Tony Parker and DeJuan Blair trying to control a loose ball in the first half as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Thunder guard Russell Westbrook gets kicked and stepped on trying to control a loose ball in the first half as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Tony Parker passes off after driving into the lane as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Thunder forward Nick Collision dives for a loose ball in front of Danny Green and Matt Bonner as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS Thunder center Kendrick Perkins pivots on Tim Duncan as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS The Silver dancers perform as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPORTS The Silver Dancers perform as the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma City Thunder at the ATT Center on February 4, 2012 Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)