Tag: Seattle

Kings to…Virginia Beach?!?

Apparently determined to leave the small-market confines of Sacramento, the Maloof family is exploring moving the Kings to an even smaller destination: Virginia Beach, which ranks below the California state capital as part of the Hampton Roads designated market area on most lists.

So says the , which reports that the Maloofs and officials from Comcast, the Philadelphia-based media giant, are expected to be in town next week to propose moving the Kings cross country. The Maloofs would supply the team, Comcast would build help build and lease a new arena, and Sacramento would be unceremoniously dumped after a deal to keep the team died a this spring.

It would be a bizarre pairing to say the least, especially with so many larger cities either in the process of building arenas (Seattle) or with ones already in place (Kansas City, Anaheim). Indeed, are already putting the kibosh on it.

No matter where the Kings end up, or even if they stay put, it’s times like this that Spurs fans should give major thanks that their team, despite San Antonio’s lack of market clout, has developed into such a strong, successful franchise over the years. Indeed, the Spurs have been so ridiculously consistent — 13 straight 50-win seasons, playoff appearances in 35 of 39 seasons in San Antonio — it’s only natural that even die-hards would take it for granted.

For anyone who does, just keep a close eye on what’s going down in Sacramento, where the fans have largely done their part but could end up with nothing but ugly t-shirts and memories of more bad basketball (10 playoff appearances in 28 seasons) than anybody should be subjected to.

Manu erupts for historically strong playoff game

Manu Ginobili single-handedly did all he could Monday to try pushing the Spurs to a victory in Game 5 against Oklahoma City.

It wasn’t enough.

Ginobili erupted for 34 points to mark his second-highest career scoring game in the Spurs’ 108-103 loss to the Thunder. It was topped only by his 39-point effort against Seattle on May 17, 2005.

“I just wanted to get on the court, do what I can do to help the team win and that’s it,” Ginobili said. “I knew with me starting, I had the possibility to play more minutes. So I knew I had to be ready for that.”

He did all that and much more as he added six rebounds, a team-high seven assists and two steals.

Here’s a look at Ginobili’s top playoff scoring games.

Date                Opponent                   Pts.                Result

5-17-05         Seattle                          39                W  103-90                     *

6-4-12           Oklahoma City            34                 L   103-108                   *

4-27-11         Memphis                      33                 W  110-103 (OT)         *

5-18-07        Phoenix                         33                W   114-106 

4-25-06       Sacramento                  32                 W   128-119 (OT)         *

4-30-05       @ Denver                      32                 W     86-78

5-8-08          New Orleans                31                  W   110-99                   *

5-25-08        L.A. Lakers                  30                  W  103-84       

5-19-06        @ Dallas                       30                  W     91-86                   *

* – Indicates games where Ginobili started

Spurs memory 22: Spurs toast first playoff series victory with bubbly

Spurs subdue Philadelphia for first seven-game playoff series victory in franchise history

Date: Wednesday May 2, 1979
Place: HemisFair Arena, San Antonio
Score: San Antonio Spurs 111, Philadelphia 76ers 108.

Teams seldom celebrate playoff series victories with champagne before they hoist championship trophies.

The Spurs broke from custom after beating Philadelphia in 1979. Their excitement was understandable, considering how historic the playoff series victory was for the team and Spurs Nation.

It was San Antonio’s first seven-game playoff series victory in franchise history after losing nine previous series. Before the breakthrough, the Spurs had lost in the first round of the NBA or ABA playoffs every year since coming to San Antonio in 1973.

The dramatic Game 7 triumph was one for the ages. The Spurs bounced back after squandering an 18-point lead early in the second quarter. They were on the brink of nearly squandering a 3-1 lead in the series before rebounding to claim a 111-108 triumph in Game 7.

“This stuff about us choking in the playoffs is over,” Spurs  guard James Silas told the Express-News after the wild victory over the 76ers. 

George Gervin led the Spurs with 33 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, despite playing the last 5:47 of the game with five fouls. Larry Kenon chipped in with 27 points, but Mike Green was the difference late in the game as he was inserted into the starting lineup in place of injured starter Billy Paultz.

Green came up with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three assists and three steals as he outplayed Philadelphia’s big men inside. It led to a memorable picture of Green in the next morning’s San Antonio Express-News toasting the Game 7 victory with some bubbly.

“Heck, I don’t know what happened at the end except we had more points,” Spurs coach Doug Moe told reporters after the wild victory.  

Green scored 11 points in San Antonio’s pivotal fourth-quarter comeback. And backup guard Louie Dampier came up with a several key plays after Silas fouled out, igniting the late run with a key basket and gritty defense on Andrew Toney.

San Antonio was nursing a slim one-point lead when Green converted two foul shots after he was fouled by Bobby Jones with 1:04 left.

But after Julius Erving nailed two foul shots to pull Philadelphia back within a point, Green hit an 18-foot jumper to give the Spurs a 109-106 lead with 43 seconds remaining.

After a Bobby Jones miss, Gervin added two clinching free throws to ice the victory with 11 seconds left.

Gervin had huge start, scoring 22 points in the first half including 12 straight points in the first quarter. His early binge helped stake the Spurs to a 43-25 lead midway through the second quarter.

But Philadelphia charged back to trim the Spurs’ halftime lead to nine points behind the play of Erving, who produced 34 points, eight assists and three blocked shots.

Erving, Steve Mix and Maurice Cheeks all had a part in a Philadelphia rally late in the third quarter that boosted them to an 81-78 lead heading into the final quarter.

Mark Olberding’s three-point play with 8:52 gave the Spurs the lead again. But the lead changed six times in the next seven-plus minutes before Gervin’s two foul shots gave the Spurs the lead for good at 105-104 with 1:27 left.

Philadelphia coach Billy Cunningham had set the stage for Philadelphia’s comeback in the series with a change in his starting lineup. In order to match up with Gervin’s height in the backcourt, Cunningham opted for a bigger lineup with Erving at guard, Caldwell Jones at forward and Darrell Dawkins at center.

It worked until Game 7, when Dawkins went down with a sprained ankle in the first quarter and was limited to 27 minutes. His absence enabled the Spurs to hold a 45-36 rebounding edge in Game 7.  

They said it, part I: “At this moment, I don’t even know that we’re playing Washington. We’ll be flying up there tomorrow and that’s when we’ll star thinking about them. But as far as I’m concerned, at this moment they don’t even exist,” Spurs owner Angelos Drossos on beating  Philadelphia and facing defending NBA champion Washington in the next round of the playoffs.

They said it, part II: “All that talk was so much bull. We have played some great teams in the playoffs and lost. But this year, we played tough when we had to,” Moe on the Spurs finally winning a playoff series.

They said it, part  III: “There was a little pressure on me, but I can handle it. There was a lot of criticism about our centers lately and I didn’t think it was right.” Green to the Washington Post on his big performance in Game 7.

They said it, part IV: “We always play a good fourth quarter so I wasn’t worried,” Green, to the post on the late San Antonio rally.

They said it, part V: “I felt we would come back even after we lost that big lead. The thing we had to do was keep our confidence and we did,” Gervin to the Post on the Spurs’ resilency.

They said it, part VI: “I had a job to do and I came out to do it from the very beginning. They said Maurice Cheeks was holding me down. He’s good, but he’s still a rookie and he has a lot to learn,” Gervin on Philadelphia’s defensive strategy.

They said it, part VII: “We’ve  got the team that can keep beat anybody. I don’t care who they are,” Silas, to the United Press International about the victory.

They said it, part VIII: “I thought we had to overcome the refereeing. It seemed like every break went against us,” Moe on game officials.

They said it, part IX: “The heat is off. It’s finally over,” Drossos’ comments after the victory. 

The upshot: The game was one of the first home games in Spurs history to be seen on local television. KMOL-TV picked  up the broadcast with Terry Stembridge and Rudy Davalos serving as the announcing crew. The Spurs were 0-9 in seven-game series and 0-3 in seventh games before the victory over Philadelphia … Silas dedicated the victory to Stembridge, who was the voice of  the franchise dating back to its first season in Dallas in 1967-68 … The Spurs became the second former ABA team to win an NBA playoff series. Denver defeated Milwaukee in a seven-game series in 1978 before losing in the Western Conference Finals to Seattle … The Spurs advanced to the Eastern finals for a similarly memorable series against Washington in the Eastern finals. San Antonio would not win another Game 7 until beating Detroit in the NBA Finals on June 23, 2005.

Previous Spurs most memorable moments:

No. 23: Horry-Nash , may have sparked title run.

No. 24: Ice’s clandestine arrival .

No. 25: Barkleywith series-clinching shot.

No. 26: Silas becomes first Spur.

No. 27: Robinson makes history with .

No. 28: after crucial 1999 victory at Houston.

No. 29: on Halloween night.

No. 30: Torrid San Diego shooting