San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 33 – NBA Blog

Spurs beat Mavs for 3-2 series lead

Tony Parker was nursing a sprained left ankle and playing a critical playoff game on no sleep only hours after the birth of his first child.

It was the perfect formula for a resurgent performance from the San Antonio Spurs point guard.

Parker had 23 points and five assists and San Antonio never trailed in a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the first-round series.

“Coming into the game I told him this is perfect for you,” Spurs forward Tim Duncan said. “This is what he does in situations like this where he doesn’t get a lot of sleep or is in a stressful situation. He always seems to play better. I somewhat expected it from him.

“He was really excited before the game. Obviously, he was really excited to have his son here and wanted to get this game really badly not only for his son but for the situation and the timing of it. He was really focused and it was good for us.”

Parker’s rebirth put San Antonio on the verge of closing out a tense series against its intrastate rival with Game 6 set for Friday in Dallas.

Vince Carter scored 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting for the Mavericks.

— Associated Press

Gregg Popovich wins 2013-14 NBA Coach of the Year award

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2013-14 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today. Popovich’s Spurs posted the league’s best record at 62-20 (.756), which provides them with homecourt advantage throughout the postseason.

Popovich, who wins his second NBA Coach of the Year award in the past three seasons and third of his career, joins Don Nelson and Pat Riley as the only coaches to receive the honor three times. He totaled 380 points, including 59 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. The award voting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

The Spurs were the only team to record 30-plus wins both at home (32-9, .780) and on the road (30-11, .732), and their 38-14 record against conference opponents tied for the best mark in the league (Indiana Pacers). San Antonio led the NBA in points per game differential at +7.8, having averaged 105.4 ppg while giving up just 97.6 ppg.

2013-14 marked the 15th consecutive season that Popovich’s Spurs posted 50 or more wins, and the fourth time in that span that the team tallied 60-plus victories. San Antonio recorded a 19-game winning streak – tied for fifth-longest in NBA history – between Feb. 26-April 2.

Popovich presided over a balanced roster which featured no player who averaged 20-plus points, nor 30-plus minutes, with Tony Parker’s 16.7 ppg and 29.4 mpg leading both categories. He ended the 2013-14 campaign with 967 regular season wins, good for ninth on the all-time list.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Spurs Big 3 does big damage to Mavs

Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog repoting on the Spurs and Mavericks, who are facing each other in the first round of the NBA playoffs:

On a night when the Dallas Mavericks’ offense went silent after the first 41 minutes, the San Antonio Spurs’ Big 3 came up big Sunday afternoon.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined to score 65 of the Spurs’ 90 points, grab 17 of their 48 rebounds, and dispensed nine of their 14 assists as San Antonio opened the playoffs with a 90-85 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks at AT&T Center.

“I wish I could always score like this, or Tony, or Tim,’’ said Ginobili, who scored 17 points and collected six rebounds. “The way they play defense didn’t let us move the ball as much as we usually do to find open teammates, so we played way more one-on-one.”

Spurs sign Damion James for remainder of season

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed forward Damion James for the remainder of the 2013-14 season.

James was originally signed by the Spurs to a 10-day contract on April 3. He has appeared in three games for the Silver and Black, averaging 1.0 rebounds in 3.3 minutes.

Prior to joining the Spurs, James most recently played in the NBA D-League in 2013-14 for the Texas Legends and the Bakersfield Jam. In 85 career D-League games, the University of Texas product averaged 16.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.04 blocks in 31.8 minutes.

Drafted 24th overall in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, James was sent to the Brooklyn Nets in a draft-night trade. In three seasons with the Nets (2010-13), he appeared in 34 total games and averaged 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.9 minutes.

Video: Total team play by the Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are 60-17. Watch video highlights of some of their teamwork on the basketball court:

Gregg Popovich wants increased playoff role for Kawhi Leonard

Here’s the San Antonio Express-News reporting on the Spurs and small forward Kawhi Leonard:

It was a comment Spurs fans have been clamoring to hear since, oh, about five games into Kawhi Leonard’s rookie season. Gregg Popovich, speaking last Sunday before Leonard would enjoy perhaps the best game of his young career, is finally ready to unleash his third-year small forward.

“We want to up his minutes,” Popovich said. “He’s going to play more minutes (in the playoffs) than Tim Duncan does probably, more minutes than Manu Ginobili probably. This is his stretch run and he needs to be in shape for it. He’s never really been able to do this because it was a lockout season or we had to limit his minutes last year. This is the first time he’s been able to lay it out there.”

And did Leonard ever lay it out there against the Grizzlies, sinking 12 of 13 shots en route to a career-high-tying 26 points. He earned a game score — a kind of single-serve efficiency measure — of 24.7 at Basketball-Reference.com, the highest in any his 219 NBA contests including the postseason.

Video: Thunder stop Spurs 19-game win streak

Thursday in Oklahoma City the Thunder beat the Spurs 106-94, ending San Antonio’s 19-game winning streak. Kevin Durant scored 28 points in the win, while Russell Westbrook had 27. Here are some video highlights:

Spurs sign Damion James to 10-day contract

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed forward Damion James to a 10-day contract.

James, 6-7/225, most recently played in the NBA D-League in 2013-14 for the Texas Legends and the Bakersfield Jam. In 85 career D-League games, the University of Texas product has averaged 16.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.04 blocks in 31.8 minutes.

James will wear No. 7 for the Silver and Black and will be in uniform tonight when the Spurs take on the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Jason Kidd, Gregg Popovich named NBA Coaches of Month for March, 2014

The Brooklyn Nets’ Jason Kidd and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in March.

Kidd guided the Nets to a 12-4 record in March, and the highest winning percentage (.750) in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn posted a 9-0 record at Barclays Center and was the only Eastern Conference team to go undefeated at home. On March 12, the Nets defeated the Miami Heat 96-95, which improved Brooklyn’s mark to 3-0 this season against the defending champions. This is the second Coach of the Month award for Kidd this season (January).

Popovich led the Spurs to an NBA-best 16-0 record in March, propelling them to a 58-16 record, tops in the NBA. Eleven of San Antonio’s 16 wins in March were by 10-or-more points, and the Spurs scored 100-or-more points in 13-of-16 games. The Spurs closed the month with a 103-77 road victory over the Indiana Pacers on March 31, and enter April riding a franchise-record 18-game winning streak.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, Houston’s Kevin McHale, Los Angeles Clippers’ Doc Rivers, New York’s Mike Woodson, Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks, Phoenix’s Jeff Hornacek and Toronto’s Dwane Casey.

Spurs recall Austin Daye from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled forward Austin Daye from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

In Saturday night’s contest against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Daye recorded 27 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots in 40 total minutes. It marked his first game with the Toros this season since being acquired by the Spurs on Feb. 20.

The California native has appeared in two games for the Silver and Black, averaging 3.0 points in 1.5 minutes per contest.