Banner this — Spurs earned the series

Column by Buck Harvey

Someone put in a work order, and someone pulled down the banner. Then, someone added this to the bottom of the list:

“2011-12.”

Someone pulled the banner back to where it had been, high on one end of the ATT Center. And, with that, the Spurs had announced they had won another division title.

Someone might have noticed.

But, this time, the Spurs need to do more to show what they accomplished in the regular season.

The playoffs suggest as much.

There was a time the Spurs hung individual banners every time they came in first in their division. There was also a time when the Spurs had never won an NBA title.

But as the years passed, and their standards changed, so did their sense of success. Now they stencil in the next divisional title with the casualness of a prisoner marking off another day on the calendar. This season they won their 18th.

It doesn’t mean much. Furthermore, winning the division had little to do with what they actually accomplished, which was securing the No. 1 seed.

But this is the only way the Spurs publicly note a successful regular season, and this one was that and more. The Spurs rose at the end, drawing Utah, and the contrast to that is clear.

Anyone else watching Oklahoma City play Dallas?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Gary Neal said, nodding his head. “There’s a difference.”

Neal went out of his way not to disrespect the Jazz. He knows, as his teammates do, there will be challenges in Utah.

But isn’t it clear to everyone? The defending champs took the Thunder to the last shot in both games in Oklahoma City.

Gregg Popovich was asked the other day if there was a difference between being the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, and he said this: It depends.

A year ago, for example, it didn’t help. Memphis was a No. 8 seed in name only.

But Utah is the real thing. The Jazz have none of the swagger of the Grizzlies, and they also don’t have the same talent. Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson are solid big men, but neither is what Zach Randolph was a year ago.

The Jazz aren’t as awful as they were Wednesday. Neal had more points in 15 minutes (11) Wednesday than any Utah player had for the game.

They want to believe they are better than this, too. The Jazz said the right things afterward, that the Spurs merely did what the home team is supposed to do.

But there was nothing in their play that indicates they believe, and there are reasons. The Jazz, for example, were less concerned about the seeding. The franchise had been splintered a year ago, and they felt good getting into the playoffs. They were hoping for more, but now it’s reality for them.

“We got to learn our lessons from it and scrap it,” coach Tyrone Corbin said Wednesday, “and then start it over.”

Going by their body language: Starting over begins in training camp next fall.

The Spurs haven’t been in a series like this, curiously, since the 2007 Finals against Cleveland. They won the first two against Phoenix in the first round the next year, but that series started nothing like this one. Then, the Spurs needed double overtime and a Tim Duncan 3-pointer.

The Spurs might lose a game in Salt Lake City. And if they don’t, a sweep won’t guarantee a thing. The Spurs swept Memphis in 2004, after all, and didn’t make the conference finals.

Still, the postseason is a grind. Being able to lessen that means something.

Avoiding a dangerous opponent means more. So while the Thunder play the Mavericks tonight in Dallas, the Spurs are flying in the other direction.

Someone needs to edit the banner to say that.

bharvey@express-news.net
Twitter: @Buck_SA

SPURS LEAD BEST-OF-7 SERIES 2-0

Game 1:

Game 2:

Game 3 Saturday: Spurs @Jazz, 9 p.m.
TV: FSNSW, TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

Game 4 Monday: Spurs @Jazz, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 5 Wednesday: Jazz @Spurs, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 6 May 11: Spurs @Jazz, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 7 May 13: Jazz @Spurs, TBD
TV: TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* — As needed in best-of-7 series

Spurs strike first, blast Jazz in Game 1

By Jeff McDonald

Tony Parker had an offseason to stew, a lockout to fume, an entire NBA regular season to simmer.

By the time Game 1 against Utah tipped off Sunday afternoon, Parker’s wait for playoff redemption had reached a boiling point. He was primed. He was pumped. He was raring to go.

And then, he literally came bursting out of his shoe.

This is how Parker’s day of atonement began, in a 106-91 victory over the Jazz at the ATT Center: 96 seconds in, Nike in hand, sheepishly begging for a 20-second timeout to rectify a wardrobe malfunction.

His afternoon would improve substantially after that. Parker finished with 28 points and eight assists, helping the top-seeded Spurs put last season’s first-round disaster against Memphis one day further behind them.

“I wanted to make sure I set the table in Game 1, and make sure I was aggressive,” Parker said. “And then build on that.”

The victory staked the Spurs to their first 1-0 lead in a series since the 2008 first round, when they needed miracle 3-pointers from Michael Finley and Tim Duncan to beat Phoenix in overtime.

So long ago was that game that Kawhi Leonard — the Spurs’ starter at small forward Sunday — was a junior in high school then.

The Spurs had a much different Game 1 on the brain when they walked into the ATT Center just after breakfast Sunday. Last year, the Spurs dropped the opener to Memphis, setting the tone for a six-game first-round defeat.

Parker, the Spurs’ All-Star point guard, didn’t exactly have a poor series — he averaged 19.2 points and 5.2 assists — but the perception was that he’d been outplayed by the Grizzlies’ Mike Conley. It was a perception Popovich clung to when he saw a much more focused Parker guiding the French national team in September.

“Pop was mad at me,” Parker said. “He thought I played harder with the national team.”

Parker didn’t agree with the charge, but he knew how his coach expected him to react.

“I told him I’d have a good year this year, and make sure I played with a different attitude,” he said.

The new, somehow improved Parker was again on display in Game 1 against Utah. Behind a flurry of drives and bevy of acrobatic finishes, Parker had 16 points at half. He had 20 at the end of a third quarter that saw the Spurs open up a double-digit lead with 3-pointers from Gary Neal, Stephen Jackson and Matt Bonner.

Early in the fourth, after the Spurs had missed four straight shots, Popovich made the obvious move to stop a scoring drought. He called a play for Parker. The point guard responded by driving for a 3-point play, and later robbed Jamaal Tinsley and found his way to the free-throw line.

Popovich would have been surprised, if he hadn’t seen this Parker every night since about December.

“He’s the reason we’ve been successful this season, and he continued it (Sunday),” Popovich said.

Though Tim Duncan chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, and Jackson re-introduced himself to the playoffs with 14 points and a pair of 3-pointers, the day belonged to Parker.

“He’s why everyone’s chanting M-V-P,” Jackson said, referring to the home-crowd serenade the accompanied all 10 of Parker’s free-throw tries.

Utah point guard Devin Harris, meanwhile, would not be this year’s Mike Conley — or, for that matter, 2006′s Harris. He was largely absent from Game 1, finishing with seven points.

Paul Millsap led Utah with 20 points and nine rebounds, but the Spurs owned the paint, getting 58 points there — second-most in the club’s postseason history.

“They’re not going to give anything away — you’ve got to go out there and take it,” Harris said. “Obviously, they did what they’re supposed to do.”

As opposed to the season before, when Memphis took Game 1, then became just the second No. 8 seed in the best-of-seven era to advance past the first round.

Boris Diaw, whose start at forward Sunday doubled the French quotient of the Spurs’ first five, said he and Parker didn’t talk about the Memphis series at all. Still, Diaw could sense an extra fire in Parker’s eyes before tipoff.

“He had a focused mentality, and you have to,” said Diaw, who had nine points and five rebound in his Spurs playoff debut. “This isn’t a regular-season game.”

So excited was Parker for Game 1 that he almost immediately ran out of his shoe. Once he strapped it back on, he ran past the Jazz.

Afterward, Parker said all the right things.

“It’s going to be a long series,” he said.

But this much was clear after Sunday: If Parker keeps piling up games like he did Sunday, it will be a much shorter one.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

SPURS LEAD BEST-OF-7 SERIES 1-0

Game 1: @Spurs 106, Jazz 91 |

Game 2 Wednesday: Jazz @Spurs, 6 p.m.
TV: FSNSW, TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

Game 3 Saturday: Spurs @Jazz, 9 p.m.
TV: FSNSW, TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

Game 4 May 7: Spurs @Jazz, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 5 May 9: Jazz @Spurs, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 6 May 11: Spurs @Jazz, TBD
TV: FSNSW, TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* Game 7 May 13: Jazz @Spurs, TBD
TV: TBD Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350?

* — As needed in best-of-7 series

Spurs’ win streak sacrificed to rest Big Three

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Jazz 91, Spurs 84: April 9, 2012


Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (20) works against San Antonio Spurs guard Daniel Green during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors, left, passes around San Antonio Spurs guard Daniel Green during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs guard Daniel Green, right, shoots over Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (45) looks for a shot against Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs guard Stephen Jackson (3) takes a shot over Utah Jazz forward DeMarre Carroll (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs forward DeJuan Blair, left, takes a shot while defended by Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


Utah Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin directs his team during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


Fan participate in a Silly String fight during the second half of an NBA basketball game between the Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter (22) attempts a shot while defended by Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich watches his team during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz on Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (20) takes a shot while defended by San Antonio Spurs guard Stephen Jackson during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)


Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap (24) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Boris Diaw (33) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


San Antonio Spurs guard Gary Neal walks off the court after the Utah Jazz defeated the Spurs 91-84 in an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


Utah Jazz guard Devin Harris (5) drives past San Antonio Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (45) for a shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)


Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap (24) dunks in front of San Antonio Spurs guard Daniel Green (4) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 91-84. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart) (AP)

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By Mike Monroe

SALT LAKE CITY — Ninety minutes before tipoff of what became his team’s first loss in 23 days, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich answered the question everyone inside EnergySolutions Arena couldn’t wait to ask: Which great Spurs had not been on the passenger manifest for the team’s flight that followed a victory over the Jazz at the ATT Center on Sunday?

After all, hadn’t the Spurs coach shown his hand about perhaps holding some players out of Monday’s rematch with the Jazz when he held two regulars out of Sunday’s game?

With some drama, Popovich ticked off names: George Gervin hadn’t been on the plane, he said.

David Robinson hadn’t traveled to Utah, either, the coach informed, unable to suppress a grin.

Ultimately, Popovich admitted he had ordered his Big Three All-Stars — Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker — to remain in San Antonio, perhaps to watch the telecast of the game with The Admiral and The Iceman.

Without the Big Three, the Spurs fell to the Jazz 91-84 in a game long on physicality and bereft of artistry.

The loss ended the Spurs’ stay atop the Western Conference after three days. Combined with Oklahoma City’s victory in Milwaukee, the Spurs (40-15) again trail the Thunder by one game.

Trying just to get into the Western playoffs, the Jazz scrapped for rebounds, blocks and loose balls in crunch time, something Popovich expected.

“They’re the Jazz,” he said. “There has never been a night they don’t play hard.”

Even without their stars, the Spurs had a 12th straight win within their sights. When Utah’s Al Jefferson goaltended a Gary Neal floater with 3:38 remaining, the Spurs had a slim lead at 80-78.

But Neal’s shot was followed by five straight Spurs misses, so when Utah’s Devin Harris scored 10 points in four possessions, nailing two 3-pointers, the Jazz snatched the lead, the momentum and, ultimately, the win.

“Like a lot of NBA games, you have got to make shots,” Popovich said, “and Devin Harris came down and knocked down two in transition in a row, and on the other end, we couldn’t throw it in the ocean.”

Monday’s was the second game this season the Spurs tried to extend an 11-game win streak without their Big Three, but the first in which injuries played no factor. Ginobili was on the sidelines with a strained left oblique when Popovich opted to sit Duncan and Parker in Portland on Feb. 21, one night after his team beat the Jazz to record its first 11-game win streak of the season.

This time, all three players were healthy enough.

Popovich blamed their absence Monday on a schedule that crammed too many games into the final few weeks of the season.

“However you want to look at it, 13 games in 18 days or 16 games in 23 days or ending the season four in five nights, it’s just crazy,” Popovich said. “So I’ve got to do something about it. It just doesn’t make sense to have those guys playing four in five nights, anything like that.”

The decision to go without the Big Three was made in December, not long after Popovich got his first look at the 66-game schedule the NBA decided to cram into 124 days after the end of the lockout.

“It’s pretty much a no-brainer when you look at our schedule,” he said. “We tried to figure it out at the beginning of the season.”

Popovich gave a hint that Monday’s back-to-back rematch would be the second game this season without the Big Three when he gave DeJuan Blair and Stephen Jackson the night off against the Jazz on Sunday. That meant 31 minutes for Duncan and Parker, 28 for Ginobili and banishment from the team flight.

mikemonroe@express-news.net
Twitter: @Monroe_SA