Marc Gasol | SAN ANTONIO SPURS TICKETS

Duncan-led Spurs deny Memphis in the fourth

By Jeff McDonald

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tony Parker scanned the box score after the Spurs’ 89-84 victory over Memphis on Monday.

When he got to the line next to Tim Duncan’s name, Parker’s eyes got big.

Nineteen points. Seventeen rebounds. Five blocks. All of it crucial in the Spurs’ grind-it-out win to open the nine-game rodeo road trip.

“Those are big numbers,” Parker said, “at 45 years old.”

Parker went for the obvious joke, exaggerating the one number that needed exaggerating. Duncan is not yet 45, but at 35 and with the mileage of four title runs on his odometer, there are nights he looks it.

Not Monday in Memphis. And not lately.

With the feisty Grizzlies trying hard to ruin the Spurs’ return trip to the FedEx Forum, storming back from 14 points down to take a six-point lead in the fourth quarter, Duncan — the Spurs’ venerable captain — kept the whole thing from capsizing.

The 17 rebounds were a season high for any Spurs player. So were the five blocked shots. For Duncan, who scored seven of the Spurs’ final nine points, it was the fourth consecutive game with either 19 points or 15 rebounds.

Two of Duncan’s blocks came in the final 34 seconds, with Memphis pushing to crawl within one. First Duncan denied Rudy Gay at the rim, then Marc Gasol.

“The blocks are really what did it,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Those kinds of things are what he does at the end of games, where games are won.”

Parker continued his one-man All-Star campaign with 21 points and seven assists, a decent enough follow-up to his 42-point, nine-assist epic Saturday in a victory over Oklahoma City.

Tiago Splitter added 14 points off the bench for the Spurs, who answered a furious Memphis rally with one of their own to notch their season-best fifth win in a row.

With the Spurs (17-9) opening an 18-day, nine-game road swing equaling the longest in franchise history, Monday’s victory was an important one. They earned it in large part with defense, holding Memphis to just 37.3-percent shooting and 11 fourth-quarter points.

“More than anything, it was just a mentality,” said Popovich, whose team had beaten Memphis (12-13) by 10 here a week earlier. “You’re on the road, they make a great run. I’ve seen teams fold in those circumstances. We just kept banging away.”

Earlier this season, Popovich’s own team might have folded in those circumstances. Last month, in a 120-98 loss at Miami, Popovich accused his players of exactly that.

In that regard, Monday’s game demonstrated how far the Spurs have come. They are still just 4-8 on the road, but have won four of their past six.

“A month ago, we probably wouldn’t have had enough confidence to win a game like this,” said reserve forward Danny Green, who was 0 for 8 but instrumental in helping hold Gay to a 9-for-26 shooting night. “The young guys have grown up a lot.”

Of course, when the going gets tough for the Spurs, it also helps to have the old guy around.

There have been nights in the past when Popovich used to glance at a box score like Monday’s, shrug his shoulders and laugh about how he’d come to take Duncan’s steady greatness for granted.

Asked if Duncan’s advancing age has caused him to become more appreciative of what the 13-time All-Star can still give, Popovich, like Parker, went for a joke.

“I’m tired of coaching him, actually,” Popovich said.

Then, he paused.

“He’s somebody who is pretty special,” Popovich said.

In his 15th season, Duncan can’t give Popovich special every night. But he can some nights.

Monday in Memphis was one.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

– Associated Press photos

1 of 10 | Share

Spurs 89, Grizzlies 84: Feb. 6, 2012

Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay (22) shoots from the outside under pressure by San Antonio Spurs guard Kawhi Leonard (2) and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, of France,(9) in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies forward Marreese Speights (5) blocks a shot by San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair, middle, in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) shoots under pressure by San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies forward Marreese Speights (5) draws the offensive foul by San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair(45) in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Spurs center Tiago Splitter passes a loose ball to San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair, left, under pressure by Memphis Grizzlies forward Dante Cunningham in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, of Spain, (33) shoots under pressure by San Antonio Spurs forward Danny Green (4) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, of France, (9) looks for an open man under pressure by Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies forward Josh Davis battles for a rebound with San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan(21) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo (32) shoots under pressure by San Antonio Spurs forward Danny Green (4) and San Antonio Spurs guard Cory Joseph (5 )in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Spurs’ energy in road win jolts Grizzlies

By Jeff McDonald

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Less than an hour before tipoff Monday night at the FedEx Forum, Matt Bonner gingerly made his way from the visitors’ locker room and headed down the corridor toward the floor.

He looked like a man in need of a massage, an Advil and a nap, in some order.

After playing a key role in the Spurs’ marathon bench run a night earlier in Dallas, Bonner admitted to being spent even before the game in Memphis began.

The effect of the lockout schedule?

“Nah,” the 31-year-old sharpshooter said. “I’m just a year older.”

Crusty by reputation only, the Spurs stunningly steamed into Memphis a night after dropping an overtime heartbreaker in Dallas and rolled the Grizzlies, 83-73.

Bonner supplied much of the offense, dropping in five 3-pointers for 15 points, while Tim Duncan (14), Richard Jefferson (13), Kawhi Leonard (12) and Danny Green (11) all reached double digits.

It was the Spurs’ energy — and the Grizzlies’ lack thereof — that earned their most lopsided road victory of the season.

“It was a hell of an effort to come back with the intensity they played with,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who won at the FedEx Forum for the first time since March 2010. “It was really nice to see.”

In that, Popovich’s decision of a night earlier to play his reserves for the final 19:44, including overtime, of a 101-100 loss in Dallas seemed to pay off.

In Memphis, the Spurs built a big lead — 20 points heading into the fourth quarter — so Popovich could rest his exhausted bench.

Having expended a full tank in coming back from 18 points only to lose the night before, and riding a two-game losing streak into Memphis, the Spurs sensed danger before their charter flight had even left Dallas air space.

“It didn’t look good last night,” guard Tony Parker said. “When we lost that game, we were like, ‘Man, we have to play in Memphis on the back-to-back, and Memphis is waiting for us?’?”

Instead, the Spurs (13-9) came out fighting and firing.

In a sense, albeit with much lower stakes, they did to the Grizzlies what the Grizzlies had done to them in last season’s six-game playoff upset. Sure, Memphis is without injured forward Zach Randolph, but the Spurs didn’t have even a one-armed Manu Ginobili.

Monday, the Spurs guarded, holding Memphis to 37 percent shooting and leading scorer Rudy Gay to a 0-for-7 clunker.

They rebounded, earning a 46-37 edge, including 14-9 on the offensive end, against a team that mopped the glass with them in April.

They corralled more than their share of loose balls, including one late in the third quarter that set the fuse on the Spurs’ rout.

Memphis’ Sam Young drove baseline for what looked like an easy layup, only to have Duncan reject it. The rebound went up for grabs, and Green wrestled it away from Young.

The ball ended up in Bonner’s hands on the other end, and he swished a trailing 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 64-47 lead.

“That’s what we’re going to have to bank on,” Duncan said. “We have a hard time generating offense sometimes. The one thing we can bring is that energy.”

How did a Spurs team that lost a game at Milwaukee earlier this season while shooting 60 percent win one Monday while shooting 40? Energy.

Did someone say energy? Memphis coach Lionel Hollins, whose team fell to 10-10 with a four-game losing skid, blasted his team for lacking it.

“When you don’t make shots, you don’t rebound and you don’t defend, you’re going to lose,” Hollins said.

It is possible the Spurs’ energy infusion was a carryover from the second half in Dallas, when the team’s young bench players went Jolt Cola and nearly pulled off a comeback win.

“After we lost last night, I think a lot of us wanted to come in here and give a much better effort,” Duncan said. “Like our second squad gave us last night.”

Even a night after Dallas, it seems, the Spurs’ younger players were still inspiring those who feel just a year older.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

– Associated Press photos

1 of 7 | Share

Spurs 83, Grizzlies 73: Jan. 30, 2012

Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) looks to pass around San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair (45) and guard Tony Parker (9), of France, in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, runs into San Antonio Spurs forward Tiago Splitter (22), of Brazil, in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9), of France, shoots past Memphis Grizzlies guard Josh Selby (2) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo (32) drives past San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) for a shot in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) drives while fouled by Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

San Antonio Spurs guard Matt Bonner (15) stretches for a rebound under pressure by Memphis Grizzlies guard Sam Young (4) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, drives on San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)

Is Blair right fit as Spurs’ center?

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

For Spurs center DeJuan Blair, the toughest part about Russia wasn’t learning a new language. It wasn’t living in a foreign country, alone and further from home than he’s ever been.

It wasn’t reimagining how to play basketball, having to mold his game with the run-and-gun, everybody-shoots-it ethos of the Russian Leagues.

For Blair, the toughest part about spending two months of the NBA lockout playing for Krasnye Krylya, in the Russian metropolis of Samara, was finding suitable sustenance to feed his ample belly.

“I found a T.G.I. Fridays and a McDonald’s,” Blair said, “so I was good.”

Back in San Antonio, and somehow more svelte than when he left for Russia, Blair finds himself amid one of the most heated battles of Spurs training camp.

After watching the Spurs’ frontline get consistently manhandled by Memphis meat-eaters Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol in last April’s playoffs, coach Gregg Popovich declared the hunt for a starting big man to pair with All-Star Tim Duncan to be the team’s top personnel priority.

Though the Spurs haven’t ruled out bringing in outside reinforcements, via free agency or trade, Popovich will also audition a handful of in-house candidates.

The 22-year-old Blair, who started the first 63 games last season and averaged 8.3 points and seven rebounds, is among them. So is second-year center Tiago Splitter, the former first-round pick who struggled in search of steady playing time as a rookie.

“I hope I’ve got a bigger role this year,” Splitter said. “It’s not in my hands, it’s in the coaches’ hands, but I’m prepared.”

? Neither Blair nor Splitter spreads the floor much on offense, which could lead the Spurs — somewhat reluctantly — back to 3-point specialist Matt Bonner, who led the NBA in long-range accuracy but appears better suited to spot duty.

Popovich’s search for a starting center dovetails with his stated desire to improve the Spurs defensively. Antonio McDyess, 37, would be in the mix, if not for the expectation he will retire.

“There’s got to be enough size there,” Popovich said. “We need a (big man) that can guard. If you get one that can guard, the more that guys spread the floor, the better off you are.”

With the 35-year-old Duncan having slipped from dominating MVP levels, his new sidekick will be asked to carry a greater load than ever.

In terms of sheer size, Splitter is the most prototypical candidate on the camp roster. The 6-foot-11 former Spanish League MVP battled injuries throughout his rookie season, appearing in 60 games and starting six.

“I think I learned a lot last year,” said Splitter, who will turn 27 on New Year’s Day. “It wasn’t a waste of time. I grew a lot. This year, I’m way more ready to play than last year.”

For the 6-foot-7 Blair, Lilliputian by NBA big-man standards, size has never been an asset. Often, he can be overmatched by larger, longer frontlines.

During the lockout, Blair watched DVDs of his first two NBA seasons. He didn’t always recognize the player he saw.

“I was trying to be a robot,” Blair said. “I wasn’t playing like me.”

The natural, free-flowing — and, yes, exuberant — player he was in two college seasons at Pittsburgh rarely showed in a Spurs jersey.

“I just want to bring that DeJuan Blair back,” Blair said. “I was having fun, smiling on the court and doing a lot of things I don’t think I did the past two seasons. I think I’ll have a lot more rage like I had my last season at Pitt.”

Blair’s weight has been an issue throughout his first two pro seasons. At one point last year, he flirted with 300 pounds.

After the playoff ouster against Memphis, in which Blair did not play in Game 5 or 6, Popovich challenged him to show more “responsibility and maturity.”

“That will get him to the next level,” Popovich said. “Short of that, he’ll have a hard time.”

Blair believes two months in Russia have matured him. His slimmer waistline, achieved despite an Americanized diet overseas, shows it.

The time alone, he says, provided much food for thought.

“Just being over there in that environment, I thought a lot,” Blair said. “I grew up a lot.”

Whether a grown-up Blair is the Spurs’ answer at center remains to be seen. With two weeks and counting before the start of the season, the search continues.