San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 100 – NBA Blog

May 3: Hornets 101, Spurs 82

The AP reports: David West scored a career playoff-high 30 points to lead New Orleans to a 101-82 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night. Chris Paul added 17 points, 13 assists and four steals for New Orleans, which trailed by as much as 11 in the first half but stormed into the lead for good in the third quarter… One reason they’re off to such a good start against San Antonio is the way they played defense on Spurs center Tim Duncan. Duncan had what he considered one of the worst games of his stellar career, going 1-of-9 from the field for a career playoff-low five points and only three rebounds. Tyson Chandler was Duncan’s primary defender, but the Hornets also swarmed Duncan with double teams throughout the game, forcing San Antonio to look for points from outside. The Spurs hit 12 3-pointers in the game, but also missed 19. The Hornets dominated the inside, outrebounding San Antonio 50-34 and outscoring the Spurs 46-26 in the paint. The Hornets also shot 50 percent, while the Spurs finished at 40.8 percent.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Hornets shot 50%, the Spurs 40.8%. The Hornets took just 10 three-pointers, making 4, while the Spurs launched 31, hitting 12 (38.7%). Free throw attempts were fairly close, but the Spurs misssed plenty. The Hornets absolutely dominated the glass, getting 50 rebounds, the Spurs just 34. The Hornets had the assists edge, way fewer turnovers, and more steals.

For the Hornets, David West had 30 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. Peja Stojakovic had 22 points. Chris Paul on 16 shots had 17 points, 13 assists and 4 steals. Tyson Chandler (4-of-7) had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks. Bonzi Wells scored 10.

For the Spurs, Tony Parker (9-of-17) had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and the same number of assists as turnovers (5). Manu Ginobili off the bench had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Bruce Bowen (5-of-10, every shot was a three-point attempt) had one of his better offensive games with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Mike Finley scored 13. Tim Duncan, in the worst game InsideHoops has ever seen him play, shot 1-of-9 for 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block.

Apr. 29: Spurs 92, Suns 87

The AP reports: The Spurs dispatched the Suns with a 92-87 Game 5 victory Tuesday in what has become almost a postseason ritual for the defending champions… Tim Duncan had 29 points and 17 rebounds and Tony Parker scored 31 points for San Antonio. They were the only Spurs to score in the double digits. Boris Diaw, who had a near triple-double in the Suns’ rout of the Spurs in Game 4, led the Suns with 22 points. Amare Stoudemire had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Shaquille O’Neal added 13 points… Five Suns players scored in double figures and they outshot the Spurs from the field, but they had a number of costly turnovers down the stretch… Nash had three of the Suns’ seven fourth-quarter turnovers and finished with only three assists… The Spurs outscored the Suns 23-15 in the fourth quarter, led by nine points apiece from Duncan and Parker… Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had his players intentionally foul O’Neal, a 52 percent career free-throw shooter, throughout the game. He finished 9-of-20 from the line, dropping the Suns to 20-of-37 total on free throws.

Boris Diaw says he knows how to contain Tony Parker

The San Antonio Express-News (Mike Monroe) reports: Boris Diaw said he has a good “book” on how to defend his friend [Tony Parker]. “I think it does help a little bit because I’ve seen him play a lot,” Diaw said. “I kind of know sometimes when he wants to go to his floater, when he tries to go for his jump shot, or when he is looking to pass. But the main thing is trying to stay close to him and bother the pass or the shot.” Parker was willing to heap praise on Diaw’s offense, if not his defense. The Suns’ forward was just two rebounds shy of a triple double, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Parker’s praise was offered with a caveat.

Apr. 27: Suns 105, Spurs 86

The AP reports: A Frenchman put Phoenix on the brink of elimination, another brought the Suns back to life. Boris Diaw fell two assists shy of a triple-double Sunday and the Suns avoided a first-round sweep at the hands of San Antonio with a 105-86 rout of the Spurs. Diaw, starting in place of injured Grant Hill, had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in one of the best playoff performances of his career… Diaw also played tough defense on his good friend and fellow Frenchman Tony Parker, who scored 18 points after a career-high 41 in San Antonio’s 115-99 victory Friday night in Game 3… No one was more aggressive than Raja Bell, who scored 21 of his 27 points in a dominant first half to help Phoenix bring a one-sided end to the defending NBA champions’ nine-game playoff winning streak. The Suns were 11-0 in the regular season when Bell scored at least 20… The Suns won in a blowout even though Amare Stoudemire scored just seven points and Steve Nash had four assists. Nash and Leandro Barbosa scored 15 apiece for the Suns. Shaquille O’Neal had 14 points and 12 rebounds. D’Antoni drew two technicals and was ejected with 3:38 to play and his team up 104-80… San Antonio was 4-for-19 shooting with six turnovers in the first two quarters. The Spurs cut it to 12 three times in the second quarter, the last at 49-37 on Ginobili’s 15-foot bank shot with 4:55 to go. Phoenix, though, scored the next 12—six on free throws by Bell—to go up 61-37 on Diaw’s layup with 1:33 left in the half.

Apr. 25: Spurs 115, Suns 99

The AP reports: Phoenix took away Tony Parker’s easy layups just like it wanted to. So he just made jump shot after jump shot after jump shot. The smooth San Antonio point guard burned the Suns for a career-high 41 points along with 12 assists and the Spurs rolled to a 115-99 victory Friday night to take a 3-0 series lead. This was supposed to be a spectacular first-round matchup of potential NBA champions. Instead, it’s been a Spurs smackdown, with Parker leading the way… The Suns cut the lead to 13 points twice in the fourth quarter, the last on Raja Bell’s 3-pointer with 7:35 to play, but Parker countered with his first 3 of the game and the Suns were finished… Amare Stoudemire had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix, which was last swept in a series when Portland did it in a best-of-five matchup in 1998-99. Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points and O’Neal, who finished 9-for-17 from the free throw line, had 19. Steve Nash, defended ferociously by Bruce Bowen, had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting with nine assists… Kurt Thomas, a surprise starter, converted a three-point play with .3 seconds left in the first quarter to put San Antonio up 33-19.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Spurs shot 56.1%, the Suns 49.4%. The Spurs nailed 6-of-15 three-pointers, while for some weird reason the Suns only took 6, hitting 2. The Spurs hit 17-of-19 free throws, the Suns just 17-of-29. Rebounding, assists and other key stats were fairly even. For the Spurs, Parker had 41 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals. Duncan had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Ginobili (7-of-11, 4-of-7 threes) scored 20. For the Suns, Amare Stoudemire (13-of-23) had 28 points and 11 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa needed 17 shots for his 20 points. Shaq (5-of-11, 9-of-17 threes) had 19 points and just 6 rebounds with no blocks in 31 minutes. Steve Nash (3-of-8) had a quiet 7 points and 9 assists.

Apr. 22: Spurs 102, Suns 96

The AP reports: Tony Parker scored 32 points to lead the Spurs to a 102-96 victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night after the Suns gave away another double-digit, first-half lead… On Tuesday, the Spurs were down by as many as 14 in the first half before outscoring Phoenix 27-11 in a breakout third quarter… Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 33 points but struggled after halftime, when he shot 2-of-11 from the field. The Spurs went up by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter after taking control in the third. But Steve Nash led a 10-0 run to bring Phoenix within 96-91 with 2:44 left on the clock… Tim Duncan, who finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds, had a monster dunk with 1:47 to play and Parker followed with a bucket to put San Antonio back up 101-93… Nash had 23 points and 10 assists for the Suns. Shaquille O’Neal had 19 points and 14 rebounds. Manu Ginobili, who won the NBA’s sixth man award on Monday, scored 29 points for San Antonio.

Important Ginobili question

Manu Ginobili has won the league’s Sixth man of the year award. And he deserved it.

My question is, when he’s handed the award, is he going to flop backwards in an effort to draw a charging foul on whatever league official hands it to him?

I’m just kidding, of course. He’s a fantastic player. Who just happens to flop a bit more than a lot of other fantastic players.

Ginobili named best Sixth Man

Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs is the winner of the NBA Sixth Man Award presented by Kia Motors as the league’s best player in a reserve role for the 2007-08 season, the NBA announced today. Ginobili received 615 out of a possible 620 points, including 123 of a possible 124 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns finished second with 283 points and Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks finished third with 44 points.

Apr. 19: Spurs 117, Suns 115 2OT

The AP reports: Tim Duncan’s first 3 of the season with just ticks left sent his team into double overtime against the revenge-minded Phoenix Suns. Then it was Manu Ginobili’s turn, and his layup with 1.8 seconds left pushed the defending champions past the Suns 117-115 Saturday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series… Tony Parker added 26 points for the Spurs and Manu Ginobili had 24… Amare Stoudemire, who fouled out with 12 seconds left in the first overtime, led the Suns with 33 points. Shaquille O’Neal scored 11 points… Mike Finley had 13 points for San Antonio, and Kurt Thomas, who played for the Suns last season, grabbed 10 rebounds… “We had the game won a few times and just weren’t tough enough or disciplined enough to make every single play when it counted,” said Steve Nash, who had 25 points and 13 assists.

Apr. 16: Spurs 109, Jazz 80

The AP reports: The San Antonio Spurs wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs in dominant fashion, routing the Utah Jazz 109-80 on Wednesday night. The Spurs will face the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Jazz will take on the Houston Rockets… Tony Parker had 24 points and 12 assists for San Antonio in the easy win. Tim Duncan added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and four other Spurs scored in double digits. C.J. Miles led the Jazz with 12 points. Mehmet Okur scored 11 and Carlos Boozer had 10 rebounds… Utah guard Deron Williams, who shot 2-of-6 from the field in the first half, didn’t play in the second half. He bruised his tailbone Saturday against Denver.