Blackjack
11-20-2008, 01:40 AM
Nuggets throttle Spurs
Jeff McDonald- Express-News
Denver guard Dahntay Jones took a lazy dribble, then a second, then a third, then an 11th and 12th. All the Spurs could do, as the last buzzer sounded, was look at him.
Accustomed to that sound signaling a moment of either sudden jubilation or sudden dejection, what happened to them Wednesday night was an anomaly. When the horn blared on a 91-81 Nuggets victory at the AT&T Center, with Jones dribbling out the clock, the Spurs felt ... well, nothing really.
Behind 22 points from Chauncey Billups and 21 from Carmelo Anthony, Denver cruised to a 21-point lead in the third quarter that, for the first time in a week for the Spurs, transformed the final horn into mere formality.
It's a long season, said Spurs rookie George Hill, who led the Spurs with a career-high 20 points. We're not expecting to play our best ball right now.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Spurs. All three of those victories over Houston, Sacramento and the L.A. Clippers came down to the final possession.
So did the Spurs' most recent loss before Wednesday, 82-78 at Milwaukee on Nov. 12.
This one wasn't even seriously in doubt at the halftime horn, with Denver ahead 50-40 and surging.
With the victory, the Nuggets (8-4) improved to 7-1 since acquiring Billups in a Nov. 3 swap of stars that shipped Allen Iverson to Detroit. The 5-6 Spurs, meanwhile, missed a chance to climb over .500 for the first time.
It's disappointing, Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. At the same time, you have to take the loss as a learning lesson. You have to keep fighting throughout the game.
This was bound to happen sooner or later. After all, NBA teams down two of their three best players tend to lose every now and then.
With no Tony Parker and no Manu Ginobili, there will be nights when 91 points will not only beat the Spurs but beat them handily.
Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, but he shot 4 of 13 from the field. It was the lowest scoring performance of the season for Duncan, who sat the entire fourth quarter with the game no longer in question.
I never let Tim do what he wants to do, said Denver's Kenyon Martin, the man most often assigned to Duncan. I never have, I never will.
Paramount in the Spurs' success of late has been an uncanny ability to keep opposing offenses from doing what they want to do and accomplishing that without fouling.
In the five games leading up to Wednesday, the Spurs hadn't allowed more than 90 points, while giving up an average of 16.4 free throws. By halftime Wednesday, Denver had already surpassed that number, trekking to the foul line 17 times.
The Nuggets finished the game 25 of 31 from the foul line, though the Spurs were in the ballpark (21 of 28). Anthony shot 10 of them for Denver, making nine, while Billups was a pristine 9 of 9.
This did not go over well with the AT&T Center crowd: When Billups went crashing into referee Mark Wunderlich in the third quarter, sending the official tumbling into the scorers' table, it drew perhaps the loudest cheer of the night.
For the Spurs, the game came unraveled quite spectacularly.
With the Spurs down 66-53 with 2:12 to go in the third quarter, Duncan missed two free throws. Billups answered with a basket on the other end.
After another Spurs miss, the Nuggets put together a five-point possession getting an Anthony free throw off a Duncan technical foul, another Anthony free throw after a defensive 3-second call, and a Billups 3-pointer.
By the time the Spurs got the ball back, they were down 73-53.
Behind by 21 going into the fourth quarter, the Spurs emptied their bench. Ahead by 21, the Nuggets, curiously, did not.
I was really proud of our guys, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. I thought they played hard for 48 minutes.
For the first time in a while, that 48th minute didn't matter.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Nuggets_throttle_Spurs.html
Jeff McDonald- Express-News
Denver guard Dahntay Jones took a lazy dribble, then a second, then a third, then an 11th and 12th. All the Spurs could do, as the last buzzer sounded, was look at him.
Accustomed to that sound signaling a moment of either sudden jubilation or sudden dejection, what happened to them Wednesday night was an anomaly. When the horn blared on a 91-81 Nuggets victory at the AT&T Center, with Jones dribbling out the clock, the Spurs felt ... well, nothing really.
Behind 22 points from Chauncey Billups and 21 from Carmelo Anthony, Denver cruised to a 21-point lead in the third quarter that, for the first time in a week for the Spurs, transformed the final horn into mere formality.
It's a long season, said Spurs rookie George Hill, who led the Spurs with a career-high 20 points. We're not expecting to play our best ball right now.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Spurs. All three of those victories over Houston, Sacramento and the L.A. Clippers came down to the final possession.
So did the Spurs' most recent loss before Wednesday, 82-78 at Milwaukee on Nov. 12.
This one wasn't even seriously in doubt at the halftime horn, with Denver ahead 50-40 and surging.
With the victory, the Nuggets (8-4) improved to 7-1 since acquiring Billups in a Nov. 3 swap of stars that shipped Allen Iverson to Detroit. The 5-6 Spurs, meanwhile, missed a chance to climb over .500 for the first time.
It's disappointing, Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. At the same time, you have to take the loss as a learning lesson. You have to keep fighting throughout the game.
This was bound to happen sooner or later. After all, NBA teams down two of their three best players tend to lose every now and then.
With no Tony Parker and no Manu Ginobili, there will be nights when 91 points will not only beat the Spurs but beat them handily.
Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, but he shot 4 of 13 from the field. It was the lowest scoring performance of the season for Duncan, who sat the entire fourth quarter with the game no longer in question.
I never let Tim do what he wants to do, said Denver's Kenyon Martin, the man most often assigned to Duncan. I never have, I never will.
Paramount in the Spurs' success of late has been an uncanny ability to keep opposing offenses from doing what they want to do and accomplishing that without fouling.
In the five games leading up to Wednesday, the Spurs hadn't allowed more than 90 points, while giving up an average of 16.4 free throws. By halftime Wednesday, Denver had already surpassed that number, trekking to the foul line 17 times.
The Nuggets finished the game 25 of 31 from the foul line, though the Spurs were in the ballpark (21 of 28). Anthony shot 10 of them for Denver, making nine, while Billups was a pristine 9 of 9.
This did not go over well with the AT&T Center crowd: When Billups went crashing into referee Mark Wunderlich in the third quarter, sending the official tumbling into the scorers' table, it drew perhaps the loudest cheer of the night.
For the Spurs, the game came unraveled quite spectacularly.
With the Spurs down 66-53 with 2:12 to go in the third quarter, Duncan missed two free throws. Billups answered with a basket on the other end.
After another Spurs miss, the Nuggets put together a five-point possession getting an Anthony free throw off a Duncan technical foul, another Anthony free throw after a defensive 3-second call, and a Billups 3-pointer.
By the time the Spurs got the ball back, they were down 73-53.
Behind by 21 going into the fourth quarter, the Spurs emptied their bench. Ahead by 21, the Nuggets, curiously, did not.
I was really proud of our guys, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. I thought they played hard for 48 minutes.
For the first time in a while, that 48th minute didn't matter.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Nuggets_throttle_Spurs.html