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Notes from Spurs win over Rockets

Notes from San Antonio Spurs 108-95 win over Houston Rockets on Friday, January 29, 2011

The Spurs won their 40th game of the season with a 108-95 victory over the Rockets, improving to 40-7 on the season. The 40 wins through the first 47 games of this season is the best record in team history at this point of the season. They become only the eighth team in NBA history to post a record of 40-7 or better through the first 47 games of a season. The best record in NBA history through 47 games is 43-4, which has been achieved once by Philadelphia in the 1966-67 season. San Antonio’s previous best record through 47 games was 37-10, which has been accomplished twice (2005-06, 2004-05).

San Antonio improved to 25-2 at home through the first 27 games played in the AT&T Center. This marks the best home start in team history, matching the 2004-05 Spurs who also won 25 through the first 27 home games. Tonight’s win marks the 18th consecutive win at home, which is the longest home winning streak since the Spurs won 20 in a row from November 11, 1989-February 6, 1990.

The Spurs had balanced scoring tonight, with all five starters reaching double figures, led by Manu Ginobili’s 22. Richard Jefferson scored 18, Tony Parker 17, DeJuan Blair 14 and Tim Duncan 12. This marks the seventh time all five San Antonio starters have reached double figures in the same game.

Ginobili finished the night with 22 points, shooting .636 (7-11) from the field, .667 (4-for-6) from behind the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. This marks the 23rd game he has scored 20 or more points. Last season, he scored at least 20 points 24 times.

Jefferson recorded 18 points on 7-for-8 (.875) shooting from the floor, 2-for-3 (.667) from three-point land and 2-for-2 (1.000) from the free throw line. This marks the 33rd game he has reached double figures in points. Of his 18 points, half came in the third quarter.

POSTGAME QUOTES

SPURS HEAD COACH GREGG POPOVICH: (On Richard Jefferson) “He was aggressive all night, he played well. He caught with the idea of trying to be a scorer whether it was shooting the ball or driving it. He did a good job the entire time he was on the court. He also did a good job on the defensive end.”

SPURS GUARD MANU GINOBILI: (On the importance of getting a home win before the Rodeo Road Trip) “Very important. We’re going to have nine on the road, the usual rodeo trip. It’s important to finish the last home game with a win. Houston for us is always a tough match-up. They play hard, they know us very well, and it’s a team that I like. They’ve been struggling with injuries, but they are a tough team. We played a great second half.”

ROCKETS HEAD COACH RICK ADELMAN: “They’ve had a great year so far. They move the ball very well. They’re very unselfish. They’ve got a lot of guys that can contribute for them. They have all the ingredients of a team that’s going to be very difficult to beat. I’m very impressed with what they’ve done because I don’t think anyone expected this at the start of the year. They’ve been very consistent game-in and game-out.”

ROCKETS FORWARD SHANE BATTIER: (On Tim Duncan) “He’s just solid and he’s always in the right spot. He just knows how to play the game. You can put anyone around him and he makes them better. He’s just a pillar, he is one of the few pillars in this league.”

Marcin Gortat may be rising for Suns

Center Marcin Gortat got signed to a pretty decent contract in Orlando and although he was playing behind Dwight Howard, general opinion was that he’s worthy of getting full-game minutes as a team’s main center. It didn’t happen in Orlando, but now he’s got new life in Phoenix.

Paola Boivin of the Arizona Republic reports:

The Suns’ problems are numerous and far-reaching, but one thing is certain: If the team could secure better play at center, this rollercoaster ride of a season wouldn’t be quite so harrowing.

Robin Lopez, are you paying attention?

Marcin Gortat looked more like the center of the future with his effort against Charlotte on Wednesday night at US Airways Center. He finished with a career-high 16 points and added seven rebounds in 29 minutes.

Lopez, meanwhile, started the game and finished with four points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

The Suns hope the competition serves both well as they attempt to solve the riddle that is Lopez.

They see a 7-footer with athleticism, a sold work ethic and a promising upside.

Since becoming a member of the Suns, Gortat is only averaging 8.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game, but those numbers should rise as the season progresses.

Roy Hibbert lost weight, now wants it back

Usually, losing weight is a good thing. Especially in today’s world of fattening, unhealthy foods. General advice for the average person is, if you manage to be thin, do what you can to stay that way.

For pro athletes, though, things aren’t always so simple.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert spent the summer cutting all “bad foods” out of his diet and living in the gym so that he could get in the best shape of his life.

Now Hibbert, who has struggled for almost two months, is about to bring back some of those “bad foods” so that he can put on weight.

“I talked to (strength and conditioning coach) Shawn Windle, and he said I need to start drinking a lot of protein shakes and eat more throughout the day,” Hibbert said. “I had been trying to eat healthy the whole year, but he said I can mix in some bad food sometimes, too, just to put some more weight on.” …

Hibbert said he weighs about 248 pounds and would like to get back to about 260.

Hibbert this season is averaging 12.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.7 blocks per game for the 16-26 Pacers.

Coach Monty Williams doing great job for Hornets

John DeShazier of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

Entering this season, the Hornets looked like a lottery team. More, the franchise looked as if it had taken the economical route when selecting its coach, a first-timer who never had served as a lead assistant in San Antonio or Portland.

Yes, he came highly recommended, but for all anyone knew, those were nothing more than courtesy platitudes.

So far, Williams has made the recommendations appear to be more than professional courtesies spouted by friends. So far, Williams has been about the best salesman — and he and his staff have been about the best teachers — in the league.

Simply, the Hornets have been transformed under Williams, from a team that periodically defended to one that prides itself on making stop after stop after stop. New Orleans is the stingiest team in the league, allowing 90.9 points per game, and the brakes are being applied by players who aren’t great individual defenders, but collectively have learned to lock down.

Kevin Love no lock to make All-Star team

Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports:

This season, the Wolves have a player — Kevin Love — worthy of selection for the Feb. 20 game in Los Angeles, where Love played collegiately for UCLA.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Love, who is just 22 years old, leads the NBA with 39 double-doubles while averaging 15.6 rebounds and 21.4 points. His streak of 30 straight double-doubles is the league’s longest since Garnett’s 37 straight over the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

It will be unjust if coaches don’t select him as a reserve next week for the Western Conference team.

But Love doesn’t sound confident of selection.

“It’s going to be really tough (to make it),” Love said following Monday night’s loss to Houston at Target Center. “But it would be a tremendous honor, being out there in L.A., where except for my immediate family I have basically all my family and friends.

“If I’m not chosen, I won’t be too bitter because wins come at a premium in this league and a lot of coaches look at that and want to choose guys on winning teams.”

The Wolves have just 10 victories in 44 games this season. Love speculates chances of his selection at less than 50-50.

DeAndre Jordan is rising

Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News reports:

The fact is, everything is coming together for [Clippers center DeAndre] Jordan.

“I’m definitely getting very comfortable,” Jordan said after scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds in a 99-92 win over the Lakers. “The game is slowing down for me, it’s getting a lot easier.

“Everything is becoming second nature to me.”

In Jordan, Del Negro saw a young player high on physical ability but behind the curve on the nuances of playing center. Enter Iavaroni, who has worked relentlessly with Jordan on footwork, fundamentals and the mental side of the game – basic things like using his size, speed and leaping ability to become a force on the boards.

“(Jordan) has always had the (tremendous) athleticism,” Iavaroni said. “He now understands, `The more I go to the boards, the more (rebounds) I’m going to get.’ He understands how many rebounds he can grab by just being relentless.”

Beyond that, they are building an offensive base for Jordan, beginning with fundamental stuff at the basket.

“He could always run to the rim and catch lobs for dunks,” Iavaroni said. “We’re trusting that and throwing it to him more now.”

Jason Richardson loved hockey first

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports:

Orlando Magic guard Jason Richardson has done exceptionally well playing a sport that wasn’t his first love.

He has become wealthy and famous, but playing pro basketball wasn’t in his dreams even as he headed into his teenage years.

His feet just got too big for his hockey skates.

“I really wanted to play in the NHL,” Richardson said. “At the time, I think there were only two or three African-American players. I wanted to be the fourth one.”

Richardson, who turns 30 on Thursday, was exposed to hockey growing up in Saginaw, Mich.

His mother bought him skates one Christmas, and he taught himself how to skate at local rinks and on frozen ponds. The pick-up games he played in back then were on ice, with a wooden stick he curved and shaved himself.

Cavaliers struggling even more than expected

Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

Life after LeBron James was going to be difficult for the Cavaliers. Everyone knew that before the season began, but no one saw this coming. Since starting the season 5-5, the Cavs have lost 25 of their past 28 games.

They set two futility records in a 112-57 loss Tuesday to the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers: The 55-point margin of defeat marked the worst loss in franchise history and the 57 points were the fewest the Cavs ever scored in a game.

If the Lakers didn’t score at all in the second half, their 57 points at halftime would have been enough to force overtime. Had the Lakers scored just one more basket, they would have doubled the Cavs’ scoring.

”We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but to come out and not compete? There’s no excuse for that,” said Cavs coach Byron Scott, who won three NBA championships as a player with the Lakers. ”I’m a Cleveland Cavalier right now, and the way we performed, that’s embarrassing to me.”

Trevor Ariza finding his groove for Hornets

John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

Since New Orleans Hornets Coach Monty Williams began encouraging him to attack the basket more, forward Trevor Ariza appears to be coming out of a dreadful shooting slump.

After enduring an 0-of-18 stretch on 3-pointers last month, Ariza is beating more defenders off the dribble for dunks and making clutch shots.

Ariza helped the Hornets upset the Boston Celtics 83-81 at TD Garden on Friday with a 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining that gave New Orleans an 80-77 lead. The win ended a seven-game road losing streak.

On Saturday in Washington, Ariza had a season-high 22-point performance in the Hornets’ 92-81 victory against the Wizards, sealing New Orleans’ first back-to-back road victories since it started the season 3-0 away from home.

Ariza made 10-of-16 shots, which included a dunk over Wizards 7-foot center JaVale McGee in the fourth quarter.

Dorell Wright on hot-shooting tear

Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group reports:

Not too long ago, Warriors small forward Dorell Wright was struggling with his shot. After going 4 for 13 in a home loss to the Houston Rockets on Dec. 20, he was at 38.4 percent shooting for the season.

Then, something happened.

In the six games since the loss to Houston, Wright has averaged 23.3 points on 58.4 percent shooting, capped with Saturday’s 30 points in the road loss to the Miami Heat.

What happened? A confluence of things.

Primarily, Wright has been given the opportunity. Coach Keith Smart has given Wright the green light on offense, and Wright is starting to figure out his avenues for scoring among the starters. And he doesn’t have to worry about coming out of the game, especially while backup Rodney Carney was injured. Wright is averaging 38.9 minutes per contest.

“I don’t have to worry about anything,” said Wright, who along with the other starters were allowed to skip Sunday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “Just go out there and play my game. There is no better feeling than that, having your coach behind you and wanting you to go out there and show him everything.”