The Defending NBA Champions have been through this before. They know that, as the reigning NBA Champs, every team will come after them every night they play. The Detroit Pistons were no different and managed to escape the confines of the AT&T Center with a 105-104 victory. The way they did it is what is so surprising.
With the clock down to seven seconds and the Spurs’ Tim Duncan in-bounding the ball, what could go wrong. Evidently everything. An errant in bounds pass from Duncan landed into the hands of Brandon Jennings who then weaved his way through the backpedaling Spurs and drained an 11-ft jumper which sank the Spurs.
“We are getting better,” Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said. “If you stay in there, sometimes you get a break. We had a very good break at the end. We got lucky at the end. Our resolve to stay in the game right down to the last few seconds was huge.”
Spurs fans also saw the return of Point Guard Tony Parker, who missed the past five games due to a strained left hamstring, although Coach Popovich only allowed him to play 17 minutes.
“He wanted to play, but I’m being conservative,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He had 13 minutes. That’s good after sitting out as long as he did; make sure he doesn’t re-injure the thing.”
The Spurs will have a little time to regroup as they take on the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night. Plenty of great seats and affordable tickets are still available so get yours now and help cheer on your San Antonio Spurs!
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