San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 48 – NBA Blog

Serge Ibaka steps up in Thunder win over Spurs

Serge Ibaka ripped away an offensive rebound, got hacked in the process and found his way toward midcourt to flex his muscles in celebration.

Ibaka is a force to be reckoned with, and what better way to show it than by delivering his best game of the season against a rival who had a player take a jab at him on Twitter?

Ibaka tied his career best with 25 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-93 Monday night for their 11th straight win…

It was the first meeting for the teams since San Antonio’s Stephen Jackson made a threatening post about Ibaka on Twitter, drawing a $25,000 fine from the NBA…

Jackson just happened to make his return after missing the previous 14 games with a broken right pinkie finger…

The Spurs never found an answer for Ibaka, who had just four points while fighting foul trouble in Oklahoma City’s season-opening loss at San Antonio. He finished 10 for 16 from the field, led the Thunder to a 49-37 rebounding advantage and also blocked three shots…

”It was just another game on the list for us,” said Kevin Durant, who scored 19…

Parker and Nando De Colo had 14 points apiece to lead the Spurs. Manu Ginobili did not play because he bruised his left quadriceps in Saturday’s win at Boston.

Russell Westbrook chipped in 22 points and nine assists and Kevin Martin scored 20 for the Thunder, who had no interest in fanning the flames on the Ibaka-Jackson feud.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Spurs re-assign Cory Joseph to D-League yet again

The San Antonio Spurs today re-assigned second-year guard Cory Joseph to the Austin Toros, the Spurs’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the 53rd of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while Joseph is one of 34 NBA players to have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Joseph (6-3, 185) returns to the Toros having played in two games during an earlier assignment when he averaged 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 35.5 minutes.

Originally selected by the Spurs with the 29th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft out of the University of Texas, Joseph has appeared in nine games for San Antonio this season, averaging 2.1 points, 1.4 assists and 7.2 minutes.

Joseph is expected to join the Toros today and be available tomorrow when the team hosts the Texas Legends at 12 p.m. ET.

Damian Lillard scores 29, Blazers beat Spurs

Rookie guard Damian Lillard had a career-high 29 points and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the San Antonio Spurs their second straight loss with a 98-90 victory Thursday night.

The Spurs, who have lost only six games this season, trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half but Manu Ginobili’s layup cut the deficit to 89-85. J.J. Hickson answered for the Blazers with a running hook that made it 91-85 with 2:36 left.

Danny Green hit a 3-pointer to pull the Spurs closer again, but Portland clung to the lead and Nicolas Batum—who has been bothered by a sore back— made a 3 that gave Portland a 96-90 advantage with 1:08 left. Batum hit two free throws with 8 seconds to go for the final margin.

It was Lillard’s 13th game this season with 20 or more points. LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points for the Blazers and Hickson finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Tony Parker had 21 points for the Spurs, who were coming off a 99-96 loss at Utah on Wednesday night that snapped a five-game winning streak…

The Blazers were without starter Wesley Matthews for the second straight game…

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press

Jazz shock Spurs with Mo Williams 3-point buzzer-beater

Mo Williams’ 3-pointer at the buzzer [see video] lifted the Utah Jazz to a 99-96 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, snapping the Spurs’ five-game winning streak.

Paul Millsap led Utah with 24 points and 12 rebounds, Al Jefferson scored 21 points and Gordon Hayward added 19.

The Jazz trailed by eight with a little more than 4 minutes remaining but fought back. Williams’ winning shot was his only 3 of the night and he finished with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field.

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each scored 22 points to lead the Spurs, who swept the Jazz out of the playoffs in the first round and had won 11 of the last 12 meetings.

Danny Green’s 19-footer gave the Spurs a 96-94 lead and Millsap tied it with 40 seconds left.

Millsap’s offensive rebound gave the Jazz the final shot. Williams made it and turned and ran toward the other end of the court only to be mobbed by his teammates.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Spurs set 3-point mark in 132-102 win over Bobcats

Charlotte Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap decided to pack the paint Saturday night and make the San Antonio Spurs beat them from the outside.

Danny Green and company did just that.

Green scored a season-high 23 points and the Spurs set a franchise record with 19 3-pointers to hand the Bobcats their seventh straight defeat, 132-102. Green was 7 of 9 from 3-point range and the Spurs shot 56 percent from behind the arc.

Tony Parker had 22 points and nine assists as the Spurs won for the ninth time in 10 games to push their record to 17-4.

Green and Parker were a combined 18 of 22 from the field.

”Tony was driving and the defense was collapsing on Timmy (Duncan), so there were a lot of open shots from the perimeter,” Green said. ”We were driving and kicking and moving the ball. It makes the game a lot easier when you’re making shots. We haven’t been shooting the ball as well lately from the outside so I don’t blame them for trying to do that.” …

Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 23 points and Gerald Henderson chipped in with 13.

It was San Antonio’s first game with Joey Crawford officiating since a Halloween photo emerged earlier this week on the internet showing Duncan and Parker holding fake guns to the head of a bald man dressed up as Crawford.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Spurs recall Cory Joseph from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Cory Joseph from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Joseph, who has been assigned to the Toros twice this season, has appeared in two games with Austin, averaging 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.0 steals in 35.5 minutes.

The University of Texas product has appeared in four games this season for the Spurs, averaging 1.8 points and 1.5 assists in 7.8 minutes.

Spurs recall Nando De Colo from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have re-called guard Nando De Colo to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

De Colo was assigned to the Toros on Dec. 2 and finished with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in Austin’s 97-82 victory over Idaho.

He has appeared in 13 games this season for San Antonio, averaging 2.5 points, 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes.

The French native is currently in his first season playing for the Silver and Black. He was selected by the Spurs with the 53rd pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft and spent the past three seasons playing for Valencia of the Spanish ACB League.

Tim Duncan is still… Tim Duncan

Through 17 games, Duncan leads the Spurs in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (10.1) and blocks (2.4), numbers he hasn’t approached since 2008-09.

By modern statistical measures, he is in the nascent throes of the top age-36 season in NBA history, his 27.6 player-efficiency rating challenged only by the 27.1 Karl Malone rang up with Utah in 1999-2000.

Fresh and healthy, Duncan has so resembled his 20-something self that coach Gregg Popovich has had to fight the temptation to give him a 20-something’s workload.

“His condition and age doesn’t change,” Popovich said, offering reasons for keeping Duncan’s minutes managed. “It seems like it has for some magical reason, like there’s some elixir he and Kevin Garnett have found and nobody else.”

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)

Spurs assign Nando De Colo to D-League

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have assigned guard Nando De Colo to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

De Colo has appeared in 13 games this season for San Antonio, averaging 2.5 points, 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes.

Mark Cuban understands fine from NBA against Spurs

It’s not very often that Mark Cuban is on the same page with NBA commissioner David Stern.

But the Dallas Mavericks owner said Stern did the right thing Friday in fining the San Antonio Spurs $250,000 for not bringing Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green to Thursday’s nationally televised game in Miami against the Heat.

Cuban said where the Spurs went wrong is not bringing their marquee players to a game that was shown on TNT. If the Spurs had done the same thing in a game not played on national TV, Cuban said they likely would not have been issued a fine.

“Everybody who planned to watch San Antonio vs. Miami on TNT, we’ve got disappointed customers all over the place,” Cuban said before Saturday’s Mavericks home game against Detroit. “When I say our biggest customer, TV is our biggest customer.

“So I’m not saying San Antonio did the wrong thing. I’m just saying I understand exactly why the league did what they did.”

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram