Tag: National Basketball Association

Spurs ready to close out Round Two on the Road

After a 118-103 victory Saturday night, a heart shot to the Portland Trailblazers, the San Antonio Spurs are preparing to sweep and move back home to wait for the winners of the Oklahoma Thunder/LA Clippers match up.  That series is currently tied at two games apiece and Spurs fans hope that it goes all seven games.  The closeout game is the hardest in the NBA Playoffs and  Tony Parker, who is averaging 26.3 per game this series, knows it will take all the Spurs effort to put the Blazers away.

“The close-out is always the hardest game,” Parker said.  “We know Portland is going to come out and play with a lot of motivation. They (the Blazers) have nothing to lose. I’m sure they want to win a game in front of their hometown. We’re going to have to match their energy, but it would be great to get it and get a rest.”

The Blazers know that they will have to perform at a higher level if they want to stretch this series out any but fighting from behind is something they cannot do if they expect to win.

“It’s the same story, We kept digging ourselves a hole,” Portland point guard Wesley Matthews said.

“You dig a hole and then fight back and give yourself a chance, and they have an answer,” Portland guard Damian Lillard said.

If the Blazers pull off a victory tonight, Game Five is scheduled for Wednesday May 14th.  Great seats and cheap tickets will be available here so get yours soon!

Spurs take first game of opening series

The San Antonio Spurs came out of Game One of the 2014 NBA Playoffs with a 90-85 victory behind veteran point guard Tony Parker’s 20 points and nine assists and Tim Duncan’s 10 rebounds.

The Mavericks came out of the gate sluggish but by the beginning of the fourth quarter had built a nice 10-point lead.  Then the Spurs woke up and went on a 19-4 run and held Dallas scoreless for more than seven minutes.   The normally steady Zach Randolph was hounded by the Spurs defense and was a dismal 1-8 in 28 minutes holding him well below his regular season average 19.7 PPG shooting better than 51%.

“It was just one of them nights,” Randolph said after the game. “I’ve been double-teamed the whole season. A lot of my shots were off. I didn’t get as good a look as I wanted to. It was just the rhythm of the game. I’ve got to be better, as I told my teammates. I’ve got to be better for them.”

For PG Tony Parker, this was the beginning of fulfillment of a promise he made to Tim Duncan after losing in game 7 of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the Miami Heat.

“I promised to him that we will go back, go back to The Finals and get an opportunity to win the whole thing,” Parker said in May. “I’m trying to do my best, trying to be aggressive every night, and I think everybody on the team, we really wanted to do it for him.”

Let the games continue!  Game two is scheduled for Wednesday April 23rd at the AT&T Center.  Great seats and tickets remain.  Get yours now before they’re all gone!

 

Spurs streak ends at 19

February 21st thru April 3rd of 2014 will go down as the (one of the) fifth longest streaks in NBA History.  Come April 6th, it will be back to business for Gregg Popovich and his crew of merry grey beards.

“We never thought about the streak in the first place,” Popovich said after the loss to Oklahoma.  “To us, it is just another game.”

Such is the way it has been for many a season here in San Antonio for the Spurs and their fans.  Always the underdogs, no matter the record the team is currently sporting, the Spurs take their wins just like their losses; with zero complaint and zero fanfare.

“To us, it is just another game.”

A lot of coaches will tell you that but when Popovich says it, you take it at face value and accept it.  This loss, which Popovich has been waiting for, is perfectly timed out in the big scheme of things.  Losing to an athletic Thunder team on the 2nd night of a back to back, well the planets were aligned.  Rest assured that, should the Thunder and Spurs meet in the playoffs, they will play One game at a time…just like the well oiled machine they are.

“To us, it is just another game.”

The Spurs take on the Memphis Grizzlies this Sunday.  Great seats are still available so be sure to get your tickets now!