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“Unathletic” Spurs run circles around a young Thunder squad

“When you win, you’re experienced. But if you lose, you are old and unathletic,” Gregg Popovich

The San Antonio Spurs have jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals against a much younger “more athletic” team that radio personalities had no problem telling their listeners the Spurs were.

Tony Parker has led a blitzing, fast pace that Spurs squad showed what crisp, team possessions look like. Pass, pass, shoot was the mantra of the game and Parker even found time to add 34 points en route to dishing out eight assists and collecting three rebounds.

“It was one of those nights. I felt in a good rhythm early on. I was making my outside shots and just trying to be aggressive. The first game (game 1) I was a little too much in a hurry. Tonight I took my time, especially on the pick-and-rolls when they doubled me.” Spurs PG Tony Parker

Rookie guard Kwahi Leonard was sensational and finished the game with a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) while Manu Ginobili was, well, Manu Ginobili ( 20 points, four assists) and Duncan was his veteran self producing 11 points, 12 rebounds and dishing out six assists.

“They were making shots. I mean, they were spraying them all over the floor and knocking them in. I thought (Kawhi) Leonard was making the shots. Ginobili made a lot of tough shots tonight. Parker was on fire … I like the guys’ mental toughness.” Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks

If the Thunder plan on making a series out of this they will have to win game 3. If they cannot take Thursday’s game, the Thunder will be on vacation by weeks end.

Spurs close out, close in on West’s top spot

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Spurs 87, Celtics 86: April 4, 2012

San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) makes a move against Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. The Spurs won 87-86. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) dishes the ball against Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen (20), forward Kevin Garnett (5) and forward Paul Pierce (34) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. The Spurs won 87-86. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) falls back as he is called for a foul against San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. The Spurs won 87-86. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Daniel Green (4) drives against Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett (5) and center Greg Stiemsma, far left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari, left, chats with former Massachusetts treasurer Joe Malone prior to an NBA basketball game between the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, left, loses control of the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen (20) looks to make a move with the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard Daniel Green (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) dunks against San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (9) leans into a shot against San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) as guard Tony Parker (9) watches during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) defends against a shot attempt by Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) in the last seconds of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. The Spurs won 87-86. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (AP)

By Mike Monroe

BOSTON — The Spurs had been the most efficient offensive team in basketball.

They averaged an NBA-best 107 points per game in the month of March and, for good measure, piled up a season-high 125 points Tuesday in Cleveland to begin April.

Their coach calls the scoring explosion a necessary adjustment for a team he rates no better than above-average on defense. It also had made them the league’s hottest team of late with eight straight wins.

When the offensive magic disappeared in the second half at TD Garden against the Celtics, winners of five in a row before Wednesday’s showdown, it took some old-fashioned defensive magic to secure a ninth consecutive win — an 87-86 victory in the Spurs’ lowest scoring game in more than three months.

But a win is a win. This one, coupled with the Thunder’s close loss in Miami on Wednesday, puts the Spurs only one game out of first place in the Western Conference.

Who better to demonstrate the Spurs’ old way than Tim Duncan, whose challenge of an 18-foot jumper by Boston’s Paul Pierce forced an awkward miss that helped the Spurs ? hold on?

Trailing by a point with 7.9 seconds left, the Celtics called a pair of 20-second timeouts to set up a play for Pierce.

With a foul to give before Boston would be in the bonus, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had instructed his players to foul Pierce before he could get off a shot. Told to switch on every screen, Duncan ended up defending Pierce after he took a pass from Rajon Rondo.

“I knew we had a foul to give, but once he turned that corner and got his shoulders squared to the basket, I wasn’t going to do it,” Duncan said. “Once he turned the corner and kind of squared his shoulder, when you reach out to grab somebody these days, they’re programmed to look like they’re shooting. I didn’t want to do it at that point.”

Instead, Duncan stretched his 6-foot-11 frame and made Pierce shoot a high-arching shot that was badly off line.

“I stood in front of him and challenged his shot,” Duncan said. “If you go back and look at the history, at least what I’ve seen, that’s the shot he wants.”

Duncan’s defense preserved a lead the Spurs had attained after two late possessions they extended with hustle plays. Duncan snared an offensive rebound and found Gary Neal for a 3-pointer with a minute left. Manu Ginobili later grabbed the ball after it was knocked away from Duncan and found Matt Bonner for a 16-footer that turned out to be the difference-maker.

The game-winning shot wasn’t close to something the Spurs had planned. A lob pass from Ginobili to Duncan on a pick-and-roll had been batted away by Boston’s Kevin Garnett. It landed right back in the hands of Ginobili, who zipped it straight to Bonner, wide open on the left wing. Bonner’s mid-range shot swished with 46.5 seconds left.

“Just Manu being Manu,” Duncan said. “He scrambled, made a great play, looked for me. They’d been getting hands on the ball all night, and it kind of bounced back to him. I guess just keeping his head up he got the ball back and made a quick pass.”

Bonner had missed his previous four shots in the second half, but he knew it was only a matter of time until one fell.

“The laws of probability,” he said. “I think I missed my previous 93 shots. At least that’s what it felt like in my head. So I knew that one was going in.”

Bonner wasn’t the only Spurs player unable to shoot with typical precision after intermission. The Spurs made only 4 of 20 shots in the third quarter and scored only nine points, a season low for any quarter. Their 28 second-half points were also a season-low.

“We were fortunate at the end,” Popovich said. “Manu got a great offensive rebound. We got a couple extra possessions at the very end, and lots of times, that’s a team’s demise.”

mikemonroe@express-news.net
Twitter: @Monroe_SA

Game rewind: Spurs had a lot going right heading into Saturday’s win

Give the Spurs a day of rest, Gregg Popovich a day of practice and Manu Ginobili a chance to return to the lineup and good results should be expected.

The Spurs’ 103-89 victory over struggling New Jersey Saturday night wasn’t really much of a surprise.

It continued the Spurs’ strong charge through the Rodeo Road Trip as they stretched their winning streak to seven games.

During victories over Memphis, Philadelphia and New Jersey, the Spurs have been able to stay ahead during most of the games.

Out of possible 144 minutes over the last three games, the Spurs have been behind only 13 minutes, 31 seconds in those games. And most of that time (10:15) came in the Memphis game.

Those leads have enabled the Spurs to control game tempo and play like one of the league’s elite teams.

After the first three games of the road trip, the Spurs have put aside lingering concerns about their ability to play away from the ATT Center.

It’s been a good start after the first three games of the road trip. Here’s how the Spurs claimed their victory Saturday night.

The game, simply stated: With the return of Ginobili energizing them, the Spurs pounced on the NBA’s worst defensive team and cruised to an easy 103-89 victory over the Nets.

Where the game was won: Danny Green snapped out of a shooting slump to hit a pair of 3-pointers that started and punctuated a 10-4 run midway through the second quarter. Green’s first shot gave the Spurs a 31-24 lead with 8:25 left in the second quarter and his next one pushed the advantage to 38-28 with 5:41 left. Both came on passes from DeJuan Blair.

Closing it out: After Deron Williams’ three had pulled the Nets within 62-56 with 5:49 left in the third quarter, the Spurs finished the quarter on a 15-3 spurt that put the game away. The Nets missed their final 10 shots of the quarter and had three turnovers as they failed to score a field goal during that stretch.

Player of the game I: Gary Neal came off the bench to score 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting including two 3-pointers. Neal hit his first five shots as they did not miss until late in the third quarter as the biggest catalyst off the Spurs’ bench.

Player of the game II: Tim Duncan filled the score sheet with an efficient game, logging 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and a steal in 23:30 of playing time.

Player of the game III: Williams provided most of the Nets’ offense with 27 points and eight assists. But Williams struggled as the game continued, hitting only 5 of 15 shots after the first quarter.

Most unsung: Blair provided his strongest game in several weeks, providing 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Attendance: The Nets mean for Saturday night to be a nod to the Nets’ ABA roots, but the crowd at the Prudential Center didn’t respond very well. It appeared the Spurs had a sizable contingent among the crowd of 15,272 — nearly 3,000 less than the building’s capacity. The struggling Nets have attracted two sellouts all season and none since LeBron James and Miami visited in their third game.

Did you notice I: Ginobili seemed to be favoring his injured left hand early in the game. That reflexive action will dissipate with the more playing time he receives.

Did you notice II: Spurs television analyst Sean Elliott called Blair him “the dancing bear” because of a couple of agile moves. But when Blair is active and productive in the post, it gives the Spurs’ offense a completely different look.

Stat of the game: The Spurs hit 52.5 percent from the field. It was their best shooting effort since hitting 54.7 percent in the victory at New Orleans on Jan. 23 and among their five best shooting efforts this season.

Stat of the game II: San Antonio limited New Jersey to 89 points. It marked the 10th consecutive opponent the Spurs have limited to less than 100 points in regulation.

Stat of the game III: One of the Nets’ few strengths coming into the game was their perimeter shooting as they ranked 11th in the league in 3-point percentage. But they clanked to a 29.2 percent effort against the Spurs — one of their nine worst 3-point shooting efforts of the season.

Stat of the game IV: The victory was the Spurs’ seventh in a row and is their longest streak since winning eight straight games between Jan. 7-21, 2011.

Stat of the game V: It was the sixth straight loss for New Jersey, which fell to 3-10 at home.

Stat of the game VI: Duncan notched a double-double in points and rebounds for the fourth straight game. It marked the first time he acheived that feat since the final game of the regular season and first three games of the playoffs against Memphis last season.

Weird stat of the game: The four Williamses on the Nets roster — Deron, Jordan, Shawne and Shelden — combined to hit 10 for 35 from the field (28.7 percent). The rest of the Nets team went 25 for 52 (48.1 percent).

Weird stat of the game II: The Spurs efficiently picked apart the Nets for 25 assists on their 42 field goals. All but one Spurs player produced at least one assist as Kawhi Leonard was the only player to miss out.

Weird stat of the game III: Green snapped his field-goal streak at 17 consecutive misses before hitting a 3-pointer with 8:25 left in the second quarter. His last successful field goal before that came in the third quarter of the Spurs’ Feb. 4 victory over Oklahoma City — a span of nearly a week.

Not a good sign: Tony Parker cooled down after his recent blitz to make the All-Star team. He hit 4 of 11 from the field and scored 12 points. His 36.3 percent shooting from the field was one of his six worst shooting efforts of the season and his points ranked among his seven lowest-scoring outings of the season.

Best plus/minus scores: Parker was plus-15, Green was plus-12, Neal was plus-11 and Tiago Splitter was plus-10.

Worst plus/minus scores: Cory Joseph was minus-4 and James Anderson was minus-1.

Quote of the game: “Conditioning-wise, I’m behind. Basketball-wise, I’m behind. I know the only way to get back is to play,” Ginobili, to reporters about his return to the lineup.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will take two days off — their second two-day break in less than a week — before a back-to-back Tuesday night in Detroit and Wednesday night in Toronto. They will return home briefly before beginning the Western part of the road trip Saturday afternoon at the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nets will have three days off before hosting Memphis on Wednesday and road games Thursday at Indiana and Saturday at Chicago.

Injuries: T.J. Ford missed his 18th game (Spurs record 13-5) with a torn left hamstring. New Jersey was missing center Mehmet Okur (sore lower back), guard DeShawn Stevenson (sore right knee), guard Keith Bogans (fractured left ankle/torn deltoid ligament), guard Damion James (right foot surgery) and center Brook Lopez (broken right foot).