Tag: In the News

Duncan may return by April

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

DENVER — Though the Spurs have yet to release an official timetable for Tim Duncan’s return from an ankle sprain, coach Gregg Popovich said Wednesday the two-time MVP could be back on the floor by the beginning of April.

Asked before the Spurs’ game against Denver if two weeks sounded like a plausible prognosis for Duncan, Popovich sounded optimistic his captain might be back sooner.

“I’m hoping it won’t be that long, a good four or five games for sure,” Popovich said. “Beyond that, I really won’t know until we get back.”

Duncan, who injured his left ankle Monday against Golden State, did not accompany the Spurs on their three-game road trip, instead remaining behind in San Antonio in a walking boot. An MRI conducted Tuesday confirmed the sprain and revealed no structural damage in Duncan’s ankle.

“Once he gets back on the court in a couple of days, we’ll be able to tell more,” Popovich said. “But four or five games for sure.”

By that estimate, Duncan could be back for the Spurs’ ?? final seven regular-season games, beginning April 1 at Houston.

Asked again Wednesday if team doctors had given any indication Duncan might miss the start of the playoffs, Popovich said, “No, no, no.”

SPLITTER STARTS: With Duncan shelved, rookie center Tiago Splitter earned his second career start, earning the nod over DeJuan Blair, who started the first 63 games of the season before moving to the bench earlier this month.

The deciding factor was height. Splitter is 6-foot-11, while Blair is 6-7.

“We’re a pretty small team,” Popovich said. “We’ve got to have some size on the court.”

Blair came off the bench Wednesday after missing the Golden State game with a sprained left wrist.

THE RING LEADER: Spurs guard Danny Green doesn’t have so much as a job guaranteed past the end of the season, but he does have something nobody else in the Spurs locker room does: an NCAA championship ring.

Green started for the North Carolina team that won the 2009 title, along with fellow future NBA players Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough. He keeps his ring in a lock box at home and knows better than to crow about his accomplishments on a team that features four players with NBA championship hardware.

“I can’t brag around these guys,” Green said. “They’ve got some big-time guys here.”

This year’s version of March Madness, meanwhile, has drawn battle lines in the Spurs’ locker room. Green’s Tar Heels will face Steve Novak’s former school, Marquette, in a Sweet 16 game Friday, while Richard Jefferson’s Arizona team will face assistant coach Chip Engelland’s Duke Blue Devils tonight.

“I feel like March Madness, even if you haven’t won a ring, is a fun time for guys,” Green said. “Guys like to fill out brackets and watch our teams play. We have our little battles and arguments and inside friendly bets. It’s a good time to watch basketball.”

The only other Spurs with alma maters still alive in the tournament are Matt Bonner (Florida) and assistant coach Jacque Vaughn (Kansas).

“The Heatles” finally make return appearance

Chris Bosh had been insistent he wanted the ball more inside shots.

He Miami teammates listened to him Thursday night.

Bosh erupted for 24 points — his biggest scoring effort since Feb. 16 and one of his top nine games this season — to lead the Heat’s 94-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. 

It couldn’t have come at a better time for the slumping Heat, which had dropped five straight games coming into Thursday’s game.  

“We had everything riding on this game, really, to be honest with you,” Bosh told the Associated Press.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Bosh’s big game was the most by an opposing forward or center this season in a non-overtime game in which both Lakers’ big men, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol both played more than 30 minutes.

The game snapped the Lakers’ eight-game winning streak as the Heat scored the final six points of the game after Kobe Bryant’s 3-pointer tied  the game with 2:26 left.

Bryant was clearly frustrated at the end of the game. And with the Lakers remaining in Miami Thursday night, he spent more than an hour after the game working on his shooting touch as his team prepares for a big game at Dallas Saturday night. 

Here’s a look at those who had big games and others who struggled Thursday night across the association.

STUDS

Miami F Chris Bosh: Notched 24 points and nine rebounds in the Heat’s 94-88 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, snapping their five-game losing streak.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and was a team-best plus-20 in the Mavericks’ 127-109 triumph over New York.

Denver C Nene: Tallied 22 points, seven rebounds and was plus-22 in the Nuggets’ resounding 116-97 victory at Phoenix.

Dallas F Shawn Marion: Made the most  of a rare start, producing totals of 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a plus-11 in the Mavericks’ triumph over the Knicks.

Dallas G Jason Terry: Hit 9-for-15 from the field and was plus-9 in a 21-point effort against the Knicks.

Denver G Ty Lawson: Notched 20 points, 11 rebounds, four steals  and was plus-22 in the Nuggets’ victory over Phoenix.

Miami G Dwyane Wade: Produced 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in the Heat’s victory over the Lakers.

Miami F LeBron James: Tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and was plus-8 in the Heat’s streak-busting win over the  Lakers.

New York F Amar’e Stoudemire: Scored a game-high 36 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Knicks’ loss to Dallas.

Los Angeles Lakers G Kobe Bryant: Scored a team-high 24 points in the Lakers’ loss to the Heat.

Phoenix C Marcin Gortat: Produced 14 points, a career-high 18 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in the Suns’ home loss to Denver.  

DUDS

Phoenix G Vince Carter: Clanked through a 2-for-11 shooting effort, including missing all five 3-pointers, in the Suns’ loss to Denver.

The Phoenix Suns: Clanked through a 41.1 shooting night with 19 turnovers in a critical loss to their playoff hopes, dropping 1½ games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Los Angeles Lakers F Lamar Odom: Went 4-for-11 from the field and was minus-14 in the Lakers’ loss at Miami — snapping an eight-game winning streak.

New York F Carmelo Anthony: Struggled through a 5-for-15 shooting night and was minus-11 in the Knicks’ loss at Dallas.

Spurs sweating defensive breakdowns

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

Before Spurs players could hit the court Wednesday for their longest practice of the season — a 2 1/2-hour marathon in preparation for Friday’s game at Dallas — they first had to sit through the horror film that was their 110-80 loss at Miami two nights earlier.

In between, players discussed summer vacation plans — namely, how long they hoped to put them off.

“The way we are playing now, it will be a quick exit in the playoffs,” point guard Tony Parker said. “We need to forget about our record and go back to playing good Spurs basketball.”

Throughout the franchise’s championship past, the term “good Spurs basketball” has been synonymous with “playing some semblance of defense.”

That was the emphasis Wednesday, and it will continue to be during the season’s final month for the Spurs, who are trending downward defensively at the precise moment they’d hoped to be hitting their stride.

With 15 games left, and a seven-game lead in the loss column on Dallas and the L.A. Lakers, the Spurs (54-13) appear a shoo-in for a No. 1 playoff seed. How far they go with the top slot, coach Gregg Popovich said, will be largely tied to the strides they make — or don’t — on defense.

During the past five games, the league-leading Spurs have allowed teams to shoot 47.7 percent and average 104.6 points, numbers that rank in the bottom third of the league. This month, the Spurs have posted three losses to probable playoff teams by a combined 62 points.

“We’re not as good in that area as we used to be,” Popovich said. “We’re still struggling and trying to get better.”

Of the past nine NBA champions, only one — the 2005-06 Miami Heat — finished the season worse than sixth in field-goal percentage defense. Coming into Wednesday, the Spurs were tied with Dallas and Philadelphia for 10th.

After Wednesday’s epic practice and film session, veteran center Antonio McDyess attributed the team’s defensive woes to “a lack of communication, getting back on defense, assignments where we’re supposed to be someplace and we’re kind of off.”

“Going into the playoffs you have to be more focused,” McDyess said. “In the last four or five games, like Pop said, we lost focus on a lot of things.”

Ironically, the Spurs’ communication breakdown could be rooted, at least partially, in a personnel move designed to improve defensive consistency.

Four games ago, Popovich installed McDyess, a 14-year pro, as his starting center in place of second-year big man DeJuan Blair.

“As we get closer to playoff time, theoretically, I want to start the games with a bit more experience on the defensive end of the court, a little bit more size,” Popovich said. “We’ve been saving McDyess’ minutes all year for the stretch run and the playoffs.

“It might work, it might not, but it seems logical.”

Not only did the lineup shift produce a new combination among the starting frontline, it left Blair and Matt Bonner — two players who haven’t spent much time on the court together this season — paired on the second unit.

In four games since the switch, the Spurs have surrendered 110, 107, 103 and 104 points. Monday, Miami’s Chris Bosh had a good deal of his 30 points at the expense of Blair and Bonner.

“Some of the guys are not in sync with each other,” McDyess said. “I don’t think we’ve seen Matt and DeJuan playing a lot with each other this year. We’re trying to get them used to playing together.”

In light of the lineup changes, perhaps the Spurs’ defense needed to take a step back to readjust before it could take a step forward.

Perhaps.

“That’s no excuse against Miami,” Parker said. “Our defense was terrible.”

The Spurs have exactly one month to iron out the kinks. The postponement of their vacation plans depends on it.