Tag: Orlando

Game rewind: Balanced attack hammers Dallas in many ways

Gregg Popovich can play his “mad scientist” routine over the next few weeks as he tweaks his rotation in preparation for the playoffs.

The benefits of adding Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw could be seen immediately with the way the Spurs attacked Dallas in an impressive 104-87 triumph.

Considering that leading scorer Tony Parker and top low-post threat Tiago Splitter were missing, Jackson was barely a week into the Spurs fold and Diaw only a few hours from joining the team, it shows what the Spurs should be able to do as they build some continuity.

Friday’s effort exhibited much versatility. The Spurs attacked Dallas for 50 points in the paint and also added 21 second-chance points. And they didn’t shoot as well as normal as the NBA’s leading 3-point shooting team shot a pedestrian 36 percent.

“We have a lot of guys and we are very deep and very versatile,” said Spurs guard Danny Green, who contributed a game-high 18 points to lead the victory. “We’ve added a couple of new pieces, even before when we had a lot of guys.”

Green credited how the team has overcome a stretch of recent injuries for having a beneficial effect for the roster.

“The injuries helped us to become a lot deeper,” Green said. “It’s given our young guys a chance to play, grow, mature and get used to playing on the floor. It’s helping them grow and get better.”

Now with the starters returning during the most arduous part of the season, Green expected similar balanced scoring binges to be seen.

“Our starters are coming back and it makes us a more well-rounded team and a lot deeper,” Green said. “We’ve got guys who can do many things – not just shoot threes.”

We saw that Friday night, when the Spurs put the game away with a punishing 22-2 run midway through the second half. Six different players scored during the spree that effectively put the game away.

“It was a team victory,” Manu Ginobili said. “We did not have Tony Parker. Also, not having Splitter hurt us.  But we got a great game from Stephen Jackson, Boris and Kawhi (Leonard.) It was a great team effort.”

If the group keeps playing like it did on Friday, we might see the most balanced Spurs  team since the championship seasons.

Here’s how they did it.

The game, simply stated: The Spurs dominated the defending world champions from the beginning, pounding them inside with scoring and rebounding. Even without leading scorer Parker and top low-post threat Splitter, the Spurs look like they are ready to challenge the most difficult part of their schedule to date.

Where the game was won: After Jason Kidd’s 3-pointer gave Dallas a 63-58 lead – its largest of the game – with 4:17 left in the third quarter, the Spurs erupted on a 22-2 run to blow the game open.  They scored the final 12 points of the third quarter, starting with a banker by Matt Bonner and finishing with a 3-pointer from Ginobili and a rare bank-shot 3-pointer by Gary Neal to finish the quarter.  And they kept it going with a 10-2 spurt to start the fourth quarter that included a Jackson layup, another Ginobili three, a reverse layup from Green and a three from Jackson.

Getting close: After trailing for almost the entire first half, Dallas took its biggest lead on a 15-4 run capped by Kidd’s three and the 63-58 lead. The Spurs missed six straight shots during the run and had a turnover for good measure during a run of 5 minutes, 40 seconds.  

Player of the game I: Green continued his hot recent play with a team-high 18 points, six rebounds and a career-high six assists.

Player of the game II: Matt Bonner shook off the effects of a recent bout with back spasms to hit for 14 points including 4 of 5 from 3-point territory.  Bonner also added five assists and two blocked shots in a game showcasing his versatility.  

Player of the game III: Tim Duncan bounced back from a punishing early foul by Brian Cardinal to produce a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds along with three assists.

Most unsung: The new roster moves have given Popovich a lot  more defensive  flexibility as well, as was seen in the Spurs’ coverage of Nowitzki. Popovich rotated Leonard, Diaw and Jackson, leading to a miserable 5-for-21 shooting effort for the Dallas All-Star forward.  

Attendance: The Mavericks are always a huge draw for the Spurs, although it was a little surprising that there were a surprising number of Dallas fans who attended – particularly in the more expensive seats near the court at the ATT Center. Another sellout crowd of 18,581 attended. It was the Spurs’ 17th capacity crowd in 23 home games this season, including 14 of their last 16 games and 10th in a row. Their last non-capacity game came Feb. 2 against New Orleans. 

Did you notice I: The intensity of the game was at its highest late in the second quarter when Brian Cardinal was whistled for a flagrant foul on Duncan. But as the Spurs’ captain recovered on the floor, some of the raw emotion was stripped away as the Taco Cabana “Kiss Cam” played during the timeout.

Did you notice II: Cardinal played only 4:20 in the first half and didn’t re-enter the game until 2:04 was left in the game. Duncan probably was ready for a rest, but Popovich took no chances as he removed him before he could tangle with Duncan again at the end of the game.

Stat of the game I: The Spurs raced to their fifth victory in six games as they start an arduous back-to-back-to-back – their first of the season.

Stat of the game II: After grabbing a season best 56 rebounds Wednesday night, the Spurs almost duplicated it with 54 rebounds – only one behind the most by a Dallas opponent this season.

Stat of the game III: Duncan produced 15 points and 12 rebounds for his 16th double-double this season and his fourth in his last five games. It also marked his 14th straight game scoring in double figures and his 23rd in the last 24 games.  

Stat of the game IV: The Spurs became only the 11th opponent to top 100 points against the Mavericks. Dallas’ record in those games is 2-9.

Stat of the game V: Dallas was limited to 31 percent shooting in the second half and 26.1 percent in the third quarter.

Stat of the game VI: The Spurs rang up a 50-16 edge in paint points, despite not having two of their foremost inside players with Parker’s driving layups and Splitter’s inside game missing. Since a loss against Denver on March 4, the Spurs have reached at least 50 paint points in six of their last eight games. And in the two they didn’t, they scored 44 and 48 paint points.

Stat of the game VII: The Spurs limited Dallas to 16 paint points. It tied the season low by a Spurs opponent set in a victory over Houston on Feb. 1.

Stat of the game VIII: During the Spurs’ closing 12-0 run in the third quarter, Dallas missed its final nine shots.

Weird stat of the night I: Nowitzki started the game by hitting four of his first six shots, before hitting only one of his last 15 attempts. He missed his last 13 shots of the game.  

Weird stat of the night II: The Spurs’ victory marked the first time they have won without Parker in the lineup this season in three games. They are 2-5 in the last seven games he has missed.

Weird stat of the night III: Bonner had five assists to match his career high, with four coming in the second half.

Weird statof the night IV: The Mavericks were limited to four offensive rebounds, including none in the fourth quarter.

Not a good sign: Neal against had trouble with Dallas’ pressure when playing the point. Neal had turnovers on successive possessions late in the first quarter and was quickly benched in favor of Ginobili.

Best plus/minus scores: Diaw was plus-20, Ginobili was plus-19 and Jackson and Bonner were plus-17.

Worst plus/minus scores:  Duncan was minus-8. He was the only Spur with a negative score.

Quote of the game:  “I think our whole team had more energy then we had the last time in Dallas and that showed,” Popovich on his team’s turnaround since its loss last week in Dallas.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs will continue their first back-to-back-to-back of the season with games Saturday at New Orleans and Sunday against Philadelphia. After taking Monday off, they’ll have another back-to-back with games Tuesday in Phoenix and Wednesday in Sacramento. The Mavericks will play Saturday in Houston, will host Houston on Tuesday and then will have road games Thursday at Miami and Friday at Orlando.

Injuries: Parker missed the game with tightness in his left hamstring. Splitter was out with mid-back spasms. Dallas played without C Brendan Haywood (sprained right knee) and G Delonte West (right ring finger fracture/dislocation).

Love’s big night spoils Mullin’s jersey retirement, leads S&Ds

Kevin Love prepared for his upcoming trip to San Antonio with another monster game to ruin Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement night.

Love muscled for  36 points and 17 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a 97-93 victory over Golden State as the Warriors honored one of their greatest players.

The All-Star Minnesota power forward had several late big plays, hitting a 16-foot jumper with 4 minutes left and then adding a critical tip-in late in the game to help the Timberwolves keep their  dimming postseason hopes alive.

“Down the stretch is where we won the game,” Love told the Associated Press. “We executed, got big stops and made plays.”

It enabled Minnesota to snap a three-game losing streak and pull within 1½ games of Houston for eighth place in the Western Conference playoff race.

Love and the Timberwolves have their chance to spoil another jersey retirement Wednesday night in San Antonio when the Spurs raise Bruce Bowen’s uniform to the rafters. They will be gunning for a  season sweep against the Spurs after beating them twice already this season.

His big game Monday night led Studs and Duds across the NBA.

STUDS

Minnesota F Kevin Love: Muscled for 36 points and 17 rebounds and was a team-best plus-6 in the Timberwolves’ victory at Golden State.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Erupted for 33 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in only 31 minutes and was a team-best plus-23 in the Mavericks’ victory at Denver.

Cleveland F Tristan Thompson: The rookie from Texas had 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds (eight offensive) in the Cavaliers’ victory at New Jersey.

Chicago F Carlos Boozer: Went for 24 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, two assists and was plus-19 in the Bulls’ victory at Orlando.

Boston G Rajon Rondo: Produced 10 points, 13 assists, six steals, three rebounds and was plus-3 in the Celtics’ victory at Atlanta.

DUDS

Chicago G C.J. Watson: Went 0 for 8 from the field with two turnovers in the Bulls’ victory at Orlando.

Orlando G Jason Richardson: Struggled through a 1-for-7 shooting effort with two turnovers and was minus-13 in the Magic’s loss to Chicago. 

Atlanta G Joe  Johnson: Went for 25 points in the Hawks’ loss to Boston, but had seven turnovers and was minus-1.

Orlando G Jameer Nelson: Struggled through a 4-for-11 shooting effort with five turnovers and was minus-2 in the Magic’s loss to Chicago.

Denver F Danilo Gallinari: Limited to four points on 1-for-7 shooting with three turnovers and was minus-10 in the Nuggets’ loss to Dallas.

Game analysis: Wasn’t this homestand supposed to be much easier?

After matching the NBA’s winningest nine-game road trip in league history, the Spurs were expected to catch a breather when they returned home from the Rodeo Road Trip.

Manu Ginobili and T.J. Ford were coming back from lengthy stints on the injured list. The ATT Center was supposed to be the same formidable homecourt that saw the Spurs win 13 of their first 14 home games before the road trip.

But injury-plagued Denver’s surprising 99-94 victory over the Spurs Sunday night might inject some concern in Spurs Nation after San Antonio has started the second half of the season with two home losses sandwiched around a victory over lowly Charlotte.

For whatever reason, the Spurs never seemed in synch during Sunday’s loss. As they struggled to match Denver’s speed and athleticism, it looked like they had spent all afternoon in preparation for the game sitting around the fajita pit enjoying the sunshine rather than preparing for the late-starting game.

“They brought a lot of injury and we didn’t match it,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said. “We started the game very flat. I do not know why, but it was just one of those games.”

Gregg Popovich was more descriptive when he described how Denver was able to beat his team.

“I thought they did a great job of attacking the rim, being aggressive with the basketball and we responded to it in fits and spurts here and there,” Popovich said. “They were much more consistent with their aggressiveness than we were.”

It was the major reason the Spurs dropped their third home game of the season Sunday night.

The game, simply stated:  Despite missing four key players and losing another one during the game, Denver jumped on the Spurs early and dictated the tempo in a game where they never trailed.

Where the game was won: Denver hit four of its first six shots to claim an early 11-2 lead to put San Antonio on its heels from the start of the game. It also didn’t help the Spurs’ cause when DeJuan Blair, who torched the Nuggets for 28 points in the Spurs’ Feb. 23 victory in Denver, sustained a knee injury 17 seconds into the game that hampered him during the rest of the game.   

The clincher: After Tim Duncan’s dunk pulled the Spurs within 95-94 with 29.9 seconds left, Ty Lawson drained a 19-footer on the ensuing possession to give the Nuggets a 97-94 lead.

Almost don’t count at the end of games: Gary Neal had a chance to tie the score, but his 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds glanced off. Lawson grabbed the rebound and hit two free throws  to ice the victory.

Player of the game I: Lawson was masterful running the point, missing his first career triple-double by only a rebound as he blistered the Spurs for 22 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists and only one turnover.

Player of the game II: Rookie Kenneth Faried dazzled the Spurs with his athleticism all night, providing 11 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots and a presence that made ventured into the paint an adventure for them all night.

Player of the game III:  Parker didn’t miss a shot in the second half as he notched a game-high 25 points and a team-high seven assists as the Spurs’ most consistent offensive threat.

Most unsung:  The Spurs had a lot of difficulty getting anything going offensively most  of the game. Kawhi Leonard was effective getting to the basket picking up 13 points (including 8 of 9 from the foul line) and six rebounds in 22:32, and he was also a pest defensively.  

Attendance: Even the late tipoff mandated by ESPN couldn’t keep another sellout crowd of 18,581 at the ATT Center. It was the Spurs 11th sellout in 17 home games this season, including eight of their last 10 games and fourth in a row.

Did you notice I: Despite playing with what were called flu-like symptoms, Duncan was spry when he was playing. His most notable play came when he abused Chris Andersen on a dunk late in the second quarter, smacking him in the fact for good measure en route to the basket. It was a played that prompted an apology from Duncan to Anderson at the next timeout. 

Did you notice II: Maybe Popovich was concerned about throwing a still-recovering Ford against Lawson. Ford was the last of the 12 Spurs to enter the game when he checked in with 2:45 left in the third quarter.  And as soon as Lawson hit a 3-pointer on one of the first  times he was matched against him with 9:00 left in the game,  Popovich pulled Ford for the rest of the game.

Stat of the game I: Despite missing three starters and their backup center Denver never trailed and were tied with the Spurs only once in their victory.  It marked only the second time this season the Spurs never led in a game, joining their loss at Houston on Dec. 29 in the third game of the season.

Stat of the game II: At one point late in the first half, the Nuggets had a 15-0 edge in transition points and finished the game with a 24-8 advantage. It marked the second-most transition points the Spurs have yielded this season, topped only by the 28 the Nuggets scored on Jan. 7.

Stat of the game III: After winning 12 of their last 13 games before the All-Star break, the Spurs have lost two of three games after it.

Stat of the game IV: A game after notching a season-high 55 rebounds against Charlotte, the Spurs found much tougher sledding against the Nuggets. Denver grabbed 20 of their first 29 rebounds and held a 49-40 edge on the boards.

Stat of the game V: The Spurs limited Denver to 39.1 percent field goal shooting in the third quarter and 36.4 percent in the fourth quarter. It marked the fifth time this season the Spurs have limited opponents below 40 percent in both the  third and fourth quarters and first since a Jan. 18 overtime victory at Orlando. That game also was notable as the Spurs’ first road victory after five road losses to start the season.

Stat of the game VI: Denver guard Andre Miller started the game hitting four of his first five shots before missing 12 of his last 13. Miller was 1 of 10 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Weird stat of the night: Parker scored a game-high 25 points, although his first points in the game didn’t come until 7:14 was left in the first half. Parker missed his first four shots and six of his first seven before hitting his final nine field goal attempts of the game.

Weird stat of the night II: At halftime, the Denver starters outrebounded the Spurs starters, 16-3. But in the second half, starters’ rebounds were tied at 13-13.

Weird stat of the game III: Leonard has gone 14 of 15 from the foul line over the last two games (93.3 percent.) During the rest of the season, he was 27 of 41 from the line (65.9 percent).

 Weird stat of the night IV: Ginobili’s game was the first time he has played in a game at the ATT Center since Dec. 31 against Utah.

Not a good sign: The Spurs shot 37 percent from 3-point territory by hitting 10 of 27 from beyond the arc. It snapped a streak of eight games where the Spurs have hit at least 40 percent from beyond the arc. 

Best plus/minus scores: Tiago Splitter was plus-14, Ginobili was plus-6 and Leonard was plus-5.

Worst plus/minus scores: Duncan was minus-17, Richard Jefferson was minus-11 and Danny Green was minus-10.

Quote of the game: “I told the team after the game that I hate to break the news, but we can play better. I don’t know if we can play harder, but we can play better,” Denver coach George Karl on his team’s gutsy effort in their victory.

How the schedule stacks up: The Spurs’ homestand continues with games Wednesday against New York, Friday  against the Los Angeles Clippers and March 12 against Washington. The Nuggets will have three home games coming up beginning Monday against Sacramento, Wednesday against Cleveland, and Friday against New Orleans.

Injuries: The Spurs were at full strength without injuries for the first time since the Jan. 2 game at Minnesota — the game where Ginobili broke his left hand. Denver played without starting forward Danilo Gallinari (left ankle sprain), starting center Nene (left calf strain), backup guard Rudy Fernandez (lower back sprain) and backup center Kosta Koufos (tendinitis). And the Nuggets lost Sunday’s starting center Timofey Mozgov when he resprained his left ankle in the third quarter.