San Antonio Spurs: For Old Time Sake | 2k13 Association

Spurs Three Stars:
Tony Parker - 23 pts, 7 ast, 3stl, 9-12fg, 2-4 3pt in 22mins
Greg Monroe - 23 pts, 4 ast, 7 reb, 10-12fg in 22mins
Eric Bledsoe - 17pts, 3ast, 1reb, 6-10fg, 5-5 FT in 14mins

Nuggets Three Stars:
Andre Iguodala - 15 pts, 7 reb, 1stl, 6-13fg in 27mins
Wilson Chandler - 12 pts, 2 reb, 1blk, 5-9fg in 14 mins
Kenneth Faried - 9 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 4-6fg in 25 mins

POTG: Tony Parker

Recap:
The San Antonio Spurs brought the series to 3-1 in their favor as they defeated the Denver Nuggets 101-74. The Nuggets will be on the tightrope in San Antonio in just 2 days.

Just like last game for the Spurs, Tony Parker and Greg Monroe shone, combining for 46 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, and 3 steals on an unbelievable 79% shooting from the field. However unlike last game, they weren't alone. Eric Bledsoe added 17 points and Jonas Jerebko and Tim Duncan added 7 each.

"It's a team game, and you can't forget that, especially in the playoffs. They're on the edge now and headed home we're prepared to take the win and the series." Parker said post-game

San Antonio also played great defense, holding Danilo Gallinari to 0-7 shooting from the field in the first half, then leaving him with just 13 points. Ty Lawson was also nothing like game three, as he struggled with fouls all game and fouled out mid-fourth quarter. He finished with only 6 points and 6 assists going 3-14 from the field.

The Spurs demolished the Nuggets offensively, shooting over 20% better from the field and outscoring the Nuggets on the break 20-2 and in the paint 68-36.

"Denver is a monstrous offensive force and we know that in this series we have to either stop that or match that. Tonight we did both." Tim Duncan said in the post-game press conference.

The potentially series-deciding game 5 will be in San Antonio on May 11.

Thunder take game 5, Lakers now lead series 3-2. - Westbrook drops 40!
Bulls take game 5, now lead series 3-2 over Knicks. - Rose gets 23/9/6! Melo held to just 4/5 on 2-8 shooting in 10 mins, is suffering from shin splints

Danny Green has replaced Manu Ginobili in the San Antonio Spurs starting 5 for game 5 against the Denver Nuggets.

Spurs Three Stars:
Tony Parker - 28 pts, 8ast, 3reb, 3stl, 6to, 11-16fg in 31 mins
Manu Ginobili - 16 pts, 4ast, 2reb, 6-11fg in 19 mins
Danny Green - 15pts, 2reb, 1stl, 6-12fg in 18 mins

Nuggets Three Stars:
JaVale McGee - 25pts, 12reb, 2blk, 12-15fg in 32mins
Ty Lawson - 20pts, 8ast, 4reb, 2stl, 8to, 8-22fg in 35 mins
Danilo Gallinari - 17pts, 6reb, 3ast, 7-11fg in 31 mins

POTG: Tony Parker

Recap:
Despite their best efforts, the Denver Nuggets were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs from the 2013 playoffs after a 110-107 overtime loss in San Antonio.

The Nuggets had a very solid first half. They outscored the Spurs 53-37 in the first half, however the Spurs came back in the second half due to a 28-17 advantage in the third quarter.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 28 points and 8 assists.

"Our first half was dreadful and I held myself accountable. I really had to bring it back in the second half and our team was able to score inside and out like we couldn't in the first half," Parker said post-game.

JaVale McGee had one of his best games of his career. He didn't miss a shot in the first half and ended with 25 points and 12 boards.

"I felt a lot of pressure to work harder in the paint after some of these past games. I felt like I underachieved in this series and I still feel that way seeing as we're out of the playoffs," McGee spoke in the press conference.

The Spurs overtime was led by Manu Ginobili [I can't actually give you what happened here because the GameTrack is so broken in this stupid game] who scored a majority of the teams points, despite being placed on the bench to start things off and seeing reduced minutes.

"As a team player I wanted to win this game for the team but as an individual I wanted to win and perform well because I felt pressured to bring more after being assigned to the bench. My performance recently has not been where I'd expect it to be so hopefully coming off of the bench will help." Ginobili commented.

The Nuggets can be proud they dominated a majority of the game, and the paint (outscoring the Spurs down low 70-58), however they still were unable to stop what San Antonio threw at them. They'll look on and watch the playoffs as the Spurs will either face the Thunder or the Lakers.

So I'll simulate the rest of the round tonight and potentially post a recap and conference finals preview but we'll have to see.

the results are pretty ridiculous if you ask me :roll:

Second Round Recap:

[B]Western Conference:
Spurs vs. Nuggets
What I predicted: Spurs win 4-2
What happened: Spurs win 4-1
[/B]
Just a game off of the correct prediction, I feel pretty good about what I said here. Danilo Gallinari didn't step up as hoped for, in fact, he choked pretty hard. The Nuggets only truly showed up to 2 games (3 and 5) and won just one of those. Losing by at least 10 points in 3 of the 5 games is not what you want to see as a team.

[B]Thunder vs. Lakers
What I predicted: Thunder win 4-3
What happened: Lakers win 4-2
[/B]
Somebody forgot to tell me that no Thunder players outside of Westbrook and Durant were planning on really showing up for this series. Pulling 2 games after being down 3-0 is nice, but I'm sure this was not the playoff run Scott Brooks was expecting his team to have. Deciding game 6, get outscored 21-14 in the fourth quarter? Yuck! Kobe played fantastic through the series, with alternating stellar performances from Nash, Howard, and Gasol, as well as surprising bench performance.

[B]Eastern Conference:
Heat vs. Nets
What I prediced: Heat win 4-2
What happened: Heat win 4-0
[/B]
Pretty disappointing series to be honest. None of the games were exceptionally close and Miami's big three is still very scary and seemingly unanswerable. We'll have to wait and see if Chicago has the answer (a very different team from Atlanta and Brooklyn).

[B]Bulls vs. Knicks
What I predicted: Knicks win 4-2
What happened: Bulls win 4-2
[/B]
It wasn't all just Derrick Rose, but rather a fantastic team effort. Guys like Rip, Boozer, and Noah really stepped up in ways I didn't expect. New York losing 'Melo for most of game 5 really hurt them. The Bulls strategy seemed to be let Carmelo do whatever the hell he wants and put up as many shots as he wants, then just deny everyone else. I'm not sure if they'll see that much success with a similar strategy against Miami.

Conference Finals Preview

East:
[B]San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers
[/B]1999: Spurs beat Lakers 4-0 in Conf. Semifinals; win title
2001: Lakers beat Spurs 4-0 in Conf. Finals; win title
2002: Lakers beat Spurs 4-1 in Conf. Semifinals; win title
2003: Spurs beat Lakers 4-2 in Conf. Semifinals; win title
2004: Lakers beat Spurs 4-2 in Conf. Semifinals; lose to Pistons in finals
2008: Lakers beat Spurs 4-1 in Conf. Finals; lose to Celtics in finals
2013: ??

What a matchup. The Spurs have knocked off two younger more fast paced teams heading into these conference finals, while the Lakers have defeated two teams that have given them troubles in the past. This match-up is just so good. Parker vs. Nash, Ginobili vs. Bryant, Duncan vs. Gasol, Monroe vs. Howard, Gregg Popovich vs. Phi-...hmm. Regardless, this series is going to be good and I truly hope for 7 games. To me the Lakers performance against the Thunder was a scale tipper. I actually like the Lakers in 5 or 6 but this is too good not to be 7 games somehow. The reason I say 5 or 6 is the fact that Parker is the only guy I'm sold on for the Spurs right now. I'm not entirely doubting Monroe, Duncan, Gino, etc necessarily, however I am doubting their consistent ability to win 4 games against this Lakers team.

[B]Prediction: Lakers win 4-3
[/B]
West:
[B]Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls
[/B]
As I looked at the playoff bracket at the start of this years playoffs, I couldn't really reason a way the Heat don't at least make the finals. That thought hasn't changed. The Bulls generate lots of problems for the Bulls but...LeBron, Dwyane, Chris. For the Bulls to win Derrick Rose needs to seriously go off and/or the Bulls defense needs to suffocate the Heat...or maybe the Bulls need to suffocate that big three...hmmm..

[B]Prediction: Heat win 4-2
[/B]
By the way, there is no way that Lebron and Kobe being in the same finals ends well.

Important to note Pau Gasol will be out for another 1-2 weeks with a Seperated Shoulder he suffered in game four of the Lakers/Thunder series.

Lakers opt to have World Peace/Clark rather than Clark/Jamison or World Peace/Jamison starting.

Cory Joseph is replacing Maurice Evans in the Spurs active 12 lineup for game 1.

Green still starting over Ginobili.

Spurs Three Stars:
Tony Parker - 24 pts, 4 reb, 8ast, 1to, 9-11fg in 23 mins
Manu Ginobili - 22 pts, 2 reb, 1stl, 8-12fg in 17 mins
Tim Duncan - 21pts, 11reb, 1stl, 8-12fg in 22 mins

Lakers Three Stars:
Kobe Bryant - 37pts, 5reb, 3ast, 1stl, 1blk, 16-32fg, 4-7 3pt in 29 mins
Dwight Howard - 22pts, 7 reb, 10-18fg in 28 minutes
Steve Nash - 9pts, 6reb, 11ast, 2stl, 3to, 3-9fg in 28 mins

POTG: Tony Parker

Recap:
The Los Angeles Lakers went on a 13-4 run in a short 1:40 stretch in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to overcome the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs won 101-94 and took a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals.

They're called "The Big Three" for a reason, and tonight they proved why. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili combined for 67 points, 17 rebounds, 9 assists on 71% shooting from the field.

"It's our time, it's the conference finals. There's some history and controversy between us but in the end it comes down to the game of basketball, tonight we won that game," Tim Duncan said in his post game interview.

Things haven't changed much for L.A. Kobe Bryant scored 37 points on 16-32 FG and got 5 rebounds and 3 assists as well.

"You can look at the stats or whatever and say I had a good game but then you can look at the score at the final buzzer and realize you're wrong. It's all about the win and it's tough not to get it. It's a long series and only the beginning, I'm still confident in our ability to take it," Kobe said post-game.

The Spurs depth helped immensely. With Ginobili coming off the bench he helped lead their bench to outscore the Lakers 44-17.

Los Angeles only turned the ball over 3 times compared to the Spurs 12. This turnover issue has been problematic for the Spurs many times this season and they should feel good they were still able to win despite the difference.

Game 2 will be May 17 in San Antonio.

Troy Murphy replaces DeJuan Blair in the Spurs Active 12.

Spurs Three Stars:
Tony Parker - 23 pts, 10ast, 1stl, 10-14fg, 3-5 3pt in 22mins
Manu Ginobili - 21pts, 4ast, 7-10fg, 2-4 3pt in 17 mins
Kawhi Leonard - 14pts, 5ast, 3stl, 6-7fg in 21mins

Lakers Three Stars:
Kobe Bryant - 26pts, 3reb, 2ast, 1stl, 2to, 12-18fg in 22mins
Dwight Howard - 16pts, 4reb, 1blk, 8-11 fg in 20 mins
Steve Nash - 10pts, 7ast, 1stl, 1to, 4-6fg in 18mins

POTG - Tony Parker


Recap:
It was a good old fashioned blow out, and not the caliber of game you'd expect in game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. The San Antonio Spurs made it look easy against the team that just a short while ago was up 3-0 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs beat the Lakers 115-87 as the series heads into Los Angeles.

Once again it was Tony Parker leading the Spurs charge. He had a balanced game of 23 points and 10 assists on 10-14 from the field (3-5 3pt).

"We don't expect the game to go this way headed to L.A, but we'll take this. Our execution on both sides of the floor was great and Popovich is really happy with the end result," Parker said post-game.

Kobe Bryant had 26 points (12-18fg) and 3 rebounds in just 22 minutes of play, opting to miss most of the fourth quarter along with the rest of the Lakers starters. Dwight Howard scored 16 on 8-11fg.

The Lakers had very few bright spots on the stat sheet. They had more second chance points, offensive rebounds, and steals. That's all.

Los Angeles will look to bounce back at home and push this game into the past.

Kobe not playing the entire game. Dwight with 18 FGAs.

Very unrealistic.

Haven't felt like playing this association for a little bit, but think I should do game 3 tonight. About to start playing it.

Sorry for the hold-up. Gotta get this closed up soon.

Nando De Colo and DeJuan Blair replace Troy Murphy and Cory Joseph in the Spurs active 12 for game 3.

BREAKING NEWS:

Los Angeles Lakers training staff announces that Kobe Bryant is suffering from a Twisted Ankle he suffered in game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. He is listed as day-to-day and still expected to play in game 3 in Los Angeles. However, he will not be starting.

Most speculated something had to be up, as Bryant missed almost all of the fourth quarter in game 2.

Pau Gasol is still suffering from a Separated Shoulder and will not be active in game 3. His timetable is still listed as 1-2 weeks.

Spurs Three Stars:
Tony Parker - 21pts, 4reb, 6ast, 1stl, 5to, 9-15fg, 3-4 3pt in 25mins
Danny Green - 14pts, 2reb, 1ast, 1blk, 1to, 4-8fg, 1-2 3pt in 20mins
Manu Ginobili - 12pts, 2reb, 3ast, 4-7fg, 2-3 3pt in 15mins

Lakers Three Stars:
Dwight Howard - 28pts, 7reb, 1ast, 1stl, 12-20fg, 4-7ft in 23mins
Steve Nash - 11pts, 1reb, 3ast, 2stl, 2to, 3-11fg, 4-4ft in 27mins
Jodie Meeks - 8pts, 2ast, 1stl, 1to, 2-15fg, 2-9 3pt in 26mins

POTG: Tony Parker

Recap:
No Kobe Bryant...no problem! Well, for the San Antonio Spurs at least. The Spurs beat the Lakers 96-70 in the Staples Center to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

Kobe did play, however only in 8 minutes (getting 5 points and a rebound on 2-5 shooting).

"I didn't feel comfortable giving him significant minutes in the condition he was in, nor did the training staff, nor did any of the other coaching staff. When we'd put him out he'd have to come back shortly after and get iced and the trainer would have to work with him, it didn't get better as the game wore on." Coach Mike Brown (lol I know, he still coaches them) said post-game.

Jodie Meeks attempted to replace him, playing in 26 minutes and having 15 shot attempts (9 from three). Of those 15 shots he only converted on 2 (both of them threes) and he ended the night with 8 points and 2 assists.

Tony Parker was the Spurs front man, scoring 21 points and adding 4 rebounds and 6 assists on 9-15 shooting.

"This win was huge for us. I don't doubt our ability to take one game out of a potential four more." Parker said.

Dwight Howard led the Lakers with a game-high 28 points (12-20 field) and 7 rebounds.

"It wasn't all there tonight," Howard spoke.

The Lakers will look to improve their atrocious 38% shooting from the field and hope Kobe will be back 100% in game 4 (however that looks very unlikely at the moment) to avoid the Spurs bringing out the brooms for the second time this post-season.

[IMG]http://gyazo.com/e1f2dea4629bb39e82633783b29669d8.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gyazo.com/5c50e9aec534ed62a888496e24f1c8c1.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn.straightfromthea.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/kobe-cry-baby.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4T0D5Zp9BU8/TdAZ11-P79I/AAAAAAAAAj0/FwUdvj4hZgM/s1600/lakers.jpeg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://gamedayr.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/lakers-swept-meme-7.jpg[/IMG]

Spurs Three Stars:
Kawhi Leonard - 22pts, 3reb, 9-15fg, 0-2 3pt in 23mins
Danny Green - 18pts, 1reb, 2ast, 2to, 7-10fg, 3-6 3pt in 21mins
Eric Bledsoe - 6pts, 2reb, 7ast, 3to, 2-4fg, 1-3 3pt in 23mins

Lakers Three Stars:
Dwight Howard - 27pts, 7reb, 1ast, 3stl, 11-15fg, 5-10ft in 27 mins
Kobe Bryant - 12pts, 1reb, 2ast, 5-5fg, 2-2ft in 8mins
Steve Nash - 12pts, 8reb, 6ast, 5to, 5-12fg, 0-1 3pt in 28mins

POTG: Kawhi Leonard

SA: 24 | 15 | 23 | 25 | 87
LAL: 15 | 22| 21 | 25 | 81

Recap:

The San Antonio Spurs are the first team to advance to the 2013 NBA Finals following a 87-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Spurs swept the Lakers 4-0, despite missing Tony Parker in the final game.

Kobe Bryant still only saw limited play, however his performance was much better. He scored 12 points on 5-5 shooting from the field. Some arguing was seen on the sidelines between him and Mike Brown throughout the game.

In the absence of Parker, Kawhi Leonard stood tall for the Spurs. He scored 22 points and got 3 rebounds to lead his team in scoring.

"I felt like I gave everything I could on both sides of the floor and coming out of it with a win I truly believe that," Leonard said.

The San Antonio Spurs await the winner of the Miami Heat - Chicago Bulls series, which is currently tied 2-2.

I'm not going to do a recap/preview like I have done for the previous rounds.

Heat won 4-2. Rose and James didn't play very well, Wade played great.

beat the Miami heat by 2 points by a clutch jump shot by Paul pierce, Lebron was out but wade stepped up and put up 40, rose put up 46. Played the game myself.

^Wait...what?

I think he lost his mind.