Spurs vs. Raptors Previews

[duncan228]

Saturday: Raptors (10-16) at Spurs (15-10) (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Saturday_Raptors_10-16_at_Spurs_15-10.html)
Express-News

Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: KMYS
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - RAPTORS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 8th yr) - 8 Jose Calderon (6-3, 4th yr)
Calderon went into Fri. game perfect on last 62 free throws, 59-for-59 this season.

SG - 8 Roger Mason Jr. (6-5, 5th yr) - 24 Jason Kapono (6-8, 6th yr)
Kapono entered Friday game ranked 7th in 3-point shooting, at 46.3 percent.

SF - 4 Michael Finley (6-7, 14th yr) - 33 Jamario Moon (6-8, 2nd yr)
Moon leads NBA in steals-to-turnover ratio, 34 steals, 16 turnovers.

PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 12th yr) - 4 Chris Bosh (6-10, 6th yr)
Duncan 19-23 at line in last three games, season FT pct. is up to 71.3.

C - 15 Matt Bonner (6-10, 5th yr) - 6 Jermaine O’Neal (6-11, 13th yr)
O’Neal left Friday night’s game in Oklahoma City with a sore left shoulder.

SPURS RESERVES

12 Bruce Bowen, F, 6-7, 13th yr
20 Manu Ginobili, G, 6-6, 7th yr
3 George Hill, G, 6-2, 1st yr
7 Fabricio Oberto, C/F, 6-10, 4th yr
40 Kurt Thomas, C/F, 6-9, 14th yr
5 Ime Udoka, G/F, 6-5, 5th yr
11 Jacque Vaughn, G, 6-1, 12th yr
35 Anthony Tolliver, F, 6-8, 1st yr
28 Ian Mahinmi, F-C, 6-11, 2nd yr

RAPTORS RESERVES

3 Hassan Adams, G, 6-4, 2nd yr
7 Andrea Bargnani, F-C, 7-0, 3rd yr
14 Joey Graham, F, 6-7, 4th yr
43 Kris Humphries, F, 6-8, 5th yr
21 Nathan Jawai, F, 6-10, 1st yr
18 Anthony Parker, G, 6-6, 6th yr
5 Will Solomon, G, 6-1, 2nd yr
1 Roko Ukic, G, 6-5, 1st yr
77 Jake Voskuhl, C, 6-11, 9th yr

COACHES

Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Raptors: Jay Triano

INJURIES

Spurs: Oberto (sore left foot), probable

Raptors: O’Neal (sore shoulder), day-to-day

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS

Spurs: Mahinmi, Oberto

Raptors: Jawai, Adams

NOTABLE

Beginning with tonight’s game, the Spurs play nine of their next 12 games at the AT&T Center.... Raptors will be playing the second game of a six-game Western Conference road trip. They won’t return to Toronto until Dec. 30... Led by Jose Calderon’s perfect 59-for-59 free throw shooting, the Raptors’ 84.0 team free-throw percentage is best in the NBA.... The last time the Spurs and Raptors met at the AT&T Center, Spurs scored a 2007-08 season-low 73 points in a 10-point loss.

- Mike Monroe

[lefty]

Man, if we don't beat Toronto, I'll sign up for Lakers.com newsletters.

[xtremesteven33]

that starting lineup needs to change.

[Rohirrim]

The Spurs will Jurassic Park these fools into a straight-to-DVD release.

It will be a massacre.

[lefty]

The Spurs will Jurassic Park these fools into a straight-to-DVD release.

It will be a massacre.

Because they are the Raptors or because wthe Spurs are 120 000 000 years old?

[Spur-Addict]

Because they are the Raptors or because wthe Spurs are 120 000 000 years old?

I'll take both for 300 alex.

[duncan228]

Toronto (10-16) at San Antonio (15-10) Preview (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2008122024&prov=ap)
Game info: 8:30 pm EST Sat Dec 20, 2008
TV: SCOR Home: My35
By Kate Hedlin

Since a scoring outburst earlier this month, the San Antonio Spurs have struggled through two of their worst offensive nights of the season in back-to-back road losses.

Hoping a matchup against the struggling Toronto Raptors will help, the Spurs return home Saturday looking to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season.

San Antonio (15-10) won a season-high six straight from Dec. 4-14, averaging 106.1 points during that stretch—10 points higher than its season average. In the two games since, though, it’s shot a combined 38.1 percent from the field, losing 90-83 to New Orleans on Wednesday and 90-78 to Orlando on Thursday.

Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 19 points and nine rebounds against the Magic. Tony Parker was a dismal 3-of-17 from the field for nine points.

Parker had scored 20-plus points in his previous two games—his first back-to-back 20-point games since before being sidelined nine games for a left ankle sprain.

“We have been up and down,” Duncan said. “We are getting healthy and getting our guys back. We went on a little roll there and now we have lost two in a row. We just have to regroup. We know it is a long season so we will keep playing through it.”

The last two losses for the Spurs have come against teams with winning records, but they now play six of their next seven against teams with records below .500, with five contests at home.

San Antonio is trying to avoid losing three straight for the first time since opening the season 0-3.

“We are nowhere close to where we want to be,” Duncan said. “We will use all 82 games to hopefully get everything right and go into the playoffs feeling right.”

San Antonio begins this stretch against a Raptors (10-16) team that is coming off an embarrassing 91-82 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The league-worst Thunder came in having lost 11 in a row at home, but they held Toronto to 36.4 percent shooting as the Raptors blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead.

Chris Bosh had 22 points and Andrea Bargnani added 16. They were the only two players to finish in double figures as Toronto lost its fourth straight and fell to 2-7 since Jay Triano replaced Sam Mitchell as coach Dec. 3.

“We have to keep working and believing in our team,” guard Jose Calderon said. “I know it is tough.

“This wasn’t our best game. It was one of our worst.”

Since Triano took over, the Raptors have averaged 91.9 points and have failed to score 90 in four of those games, including the last three.

Jermaine O’Neal, who left Friday’s game with a sore left shoulder, said he expects to play at San Antonio. O’Neal is Toronto’s third-leading scorer, averaging 12.6 points. He came into Friday’s game averaging 17.3 points on 54.1 percent shooting in the three previous contests.

Toronto and San Antonio split their two meetings last season, but the Spurs have won 12 of the last 16 overall and six of the last seven at home.

Notes

Raptors:

F Chris Bosh (12 points, nine rebounds) failed to register a double-double for the fourth consecutive game. He has 12 on the season. ... F Jamario Moon provided an offensive spark, going 5-of-7 and hitting all of his 3-point attempts. He finished with 13 points and nine boards. ... The Raptors dropped to 2-6 under new head coach Jay Triano, who replaced the fired Sam Mitchell on December 3. The Raptors were 8-9 under Mitchell ... G Jason Kapono, who was inserted into the starting lineup in place of G Anthony Parker last week, had a rare off-night as a starter. After averaging 16.3 through his first four starts, he managed just seven on 2-of-7 shooting.

Spurs:

The Spurs have lost two straight after reeling off a six-game winning. ... San Antonio has allowed 90 points in each of its last two games, both losses. ... The Spurs are 14-6 after a 1-4 start. However, they have only five wins against teams with a winning record. ... PG Tony Parker was 3-of-17 from the field with four assists and four turnovers. ... San Antonio shot 38 percent (30-of-80) from the floor.

Injuries

Toronto

N. Jawai Heart
J. O'Neal Shoulder

San Antonio

I. Mahinmi Ankle

Team Stat Leaders

Points

Chris Bosh Tor 23.6
Tim Duncan SA 20.8

Rebounds

Chris Bosh Tor 9.7
Tim Duncan SA 10.7

Assists

Jose Calderon Tor 9.0
Tony Parker SA 6.3

Team Comparison

Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10

Toronto
10-16 5th Atlantic / 12th East 95.7 100.0 Road 5-8 Lost 4 2-8

San Antonio
15-10 3rd Southwest / 7th West 96.1 93.6 Home 8-5 Lost 2 6-4

[Darthkiller]

spurs have absolutely no excuse to lose to the raptors

[Chieflion]

Espiacially when the Raptors suck so bad, they lose to the Thunder.

[angelbelow]

this should be a nice win for us. raptors are loaded with talent but cant seem to figure things out. perfect for us.

[robot89]

this will be my first spurs game i attend,im excited!!!,we better win
lol:flag:

[Spurs Brazil]

Raptors lost to Thunder last night

We must win this one today

[mrspurs]

After Orlando's loss I think the Spurs finally found something. And I think they're gonna win out the rest of this year.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

:toast here is hoping you guys beat the raps and the Nuggets beat the Suns

[boutons_]

15-10 is 49-33.

Not much fun, on average, being a Spurs fan until ASB, at earliest.

[gingerwave]

great read. txh. let's go Spurs. http://imagepot.info/img/593/d08k1211mczw/santa_smiley.gif

[duncan228]

Raptors, Spurs square off in the Alamo City (http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4198553)

(Sports Network) - The San Antonio Spurs kickoff a three-game homestand on Saturday when they welcome the reeling Toronto Raptors to the Alamo City.

The Spurs dropped their second straight game in Orlando Thursday when Jameer Nelson scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Magic welcomed back Dwight Howard with a 90-78 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Howard, who missed Orlando's previous two games due to a knee injury, battled through foul trouble for most of the game but still finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Tim Duncan posted 19 points to go with nine boards for San Antonio, which was coming off a road loss to New Orleans on Wednesday that halted a six-game win streak.

Tony Parker shot an ugly 3-for-17 from the field to finish with nine points, while Manu Ginobili and Roger Mason each tallied 10 points in defeat.

The Raptors, meanwhile, dropped their fourth straight contest on Friday to the hapless Thunder when Kevin Durant had 24 points and eight rebounds as the Oklahoma City won for just the third time this season with a 91-83 triumph over Toronto at the Ford Center.

Chris Bosh collected 22 points and 16 rebounds to pace the Raptors, who have dropped nine of 11 overall while opening a six-game road trip Friday.

Andrea Bargnani netted 16 points while Jose Calderon added eight points and as many assists in a losing effort.

The Raptors, who are 5-8 as the visitor this season, will also face the LA Clippers, Sacramento, Portland and Golden State on their trip.

The Spurs, who are 8-5 in the Alamo City this season, have won six of their last seven games against Toronto.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Sat. Dec. 20
Toronto @ San Antonio: D. Stafford, T. Brown, O. Poole

[ploto]

The Raptors did beat the Spurs in San Antonio last season- a game in which the Spurs only managed 73 points.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

The Raptors did beat the Spurs in San Antonio last season- a game in which the Spurs only managed 73 points.

Raptors of last year >>> Raptors of this year

and judging by the boos Bosh has been receiving in Toronto, he's definitely booking it in 2010 and the franchise will go back to being shit