duncan228
01-03-2009, 11:45 PM
Updated.
Parker sinks Sixers with buzzer-beater
Spurs hold off 76ers on Parker's last-second shot (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_hold_off_76ers_on_Parkers_last-second_shot.html)
Jeff McDonald
The Spurs had surrendered a 21-point lead, had cooled off from a record-setting pace from the 3-point line, had seemingly forgotten how to play defense.
They were playing the second night of a back-to-back against perhaps the league’s most athletic team, their legs were fading fast, and they were in danger of blowing a game at the AT&T Center for the second time in five nights.
Tony Parker made sure none of that would matter Saturday night.
His 15-foot turnaround heave at the final horn — off a Manu Ginobili miss — gave the Spurs a 108-106 victory over Philadelphia that, in a perfect world, might not have come down to that.
“I was just trying to make sure I gave it a chance,” Parker said. “I put enough air under it, and it was good.”
The horn sounded just before the ball swished, giving the Spurs (22-11) their second buzzer-beating victory in nine days.
Roger Mason Jr., whose 3-pointer at the horn won a game at Phoenix on Christmas Day, was the first to hug Parker after the Spurs’ latest white-knuckler ended in triumph.
The victory was the Spurs’ 13th in 16 games and lifted them half a game ahead of New Orleans for the Southwest Division lead.
“We got a little lucky there at the end,” Tim Duncan said. “Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Duncan continued his hot start to the new year, totaling 26 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 11 of 15 from the field. Ginobili had 21 points, matching his season high. Mason added 19 points, hitting all five of his 3-point tries to account for a third of the Spurs’ 15.
Parker scored only four of his 15 points in the second half, but added 10 assists and provided the biggest basket of the night.
After the first quarter, it seemed unlikely the script would call for a dramatic conclusion.
The Spurs led 40-19 after the first quarter, turning the opening stanza into their own personal game of Pop-A-Shot. They made eight 3-pointers, equaling a franchise record for a quarter, and missed only one of them.
Even as the Spurs were making nearly everything they tossed up — Mason even made one from out of bounds that didn’t count — they knew the good times could not continue to roll.
“Shots like that aren’t going to fall the entire game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The game isn’t that long. If the game was a 24-minute game, that would be great.”
The Spurs led by 16 at the half, but the 76ers’ 12-0 run late in the third quarter got them back in it.
When Andre Miller made one of two foul shots with 57.9 seconds to go, it gave Philadelphia a 79-78 lead, its first of the game.
“Early on, things were going so well,” Mason said. “When some of those shots stopped going in, our defense didn’t pick up. That’s human nature, but it’s not championship basketball.”
The 76ers (13-20) deserve some credit for making the game worth the price of admission.
In the second half, the Sixers tightened up their defense, and used that to fuel much of their fast-break offense. Miller turned into a charging bull, scoring 15 of his 28 points in the third quarter.
That helped set the stage for a fourth quarter that would literally come down to the final second.
The score was tied at 106 with 30 seconds left. The Sixers had the ball. For the Spurs, overtime was not a good option.
Miller drove and looked to dish, but Ginobili got a hand on the pass. Parker scooped up the ball and, for the first time in a while, didn’t quite know what to do with it.
He raced to the other end, then looked to the Spurs’ bench for advice. Popovich obliged.
“He told me, ‘Go, go,’” Parker said.
So Parker went. He zipped into the lane and dished to Ginobili. Andre Iguodala closed quickly, causing Ginobili to put too much loft on the ball.
It skimmed the rim, and bounded again toward Parker, who corralled it and, in one motion, turned and fired in desperation.
The horn sounded. The ball swished. Parker raised his arms aloft.
And the Spurs celebrated their fortune, both lucky and good.
Parker sinks Sixers with buzzer-beater
Spurs hold off 76ers on Parker's last-second shot (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_hold_off_76ers_on_Parkers_last-second_shot.html)
Jeff McDonald
The Spurs had surrendered a 21-point lead, had cooled off from a record-setting pace from the 3-point line, had seemingly forgotten how to play defense.
They were playing the second night of a back-to-back against perhaps the league’s most athletic team, their legs were fading fast, and they were in danger of blowing a game at the AT&T Center for the second time in five nights.
Tony Parker made sure none of that would matter Saturday night.
His 15-foot turnaround heave at the final horn — off a Manu Ginobili miss — gave the Spurs a 108-106 victory over Philadelphia that, in a perfect world, might not have come down to that.
“I was just trying to make sure I gave it a chance,” Parker said. “I put enough air under it, and it was good.”
The horn sounded just before the ball swished, giving the Spurs (22-11) their second buzzer-beating victory in nine days.
Roger Mason Jr., whose 3-pointer at the horn won a game at Phoenix on Christmas Day, was the first to hug Parker after the Spurs’ latest white-knuckler ended in triumph.
The victory was the Spurs’ 13th in 16 games and lifted them half a game ahead of New Orleans for the Southwest Division lead.
“We got a little lucky there at the end,” Tim Duncan said. “Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Duncan continued his hot start to the new year, totaling 26 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 11 of 15 from the field. Ginobili had 21 points, matching his season high. Mason added 19 points, hitting all five of his 3-point tries to account for a third of the Spurs’ 15.
Parker scored only four of his 15 points in the second half, but added 10 assists and provided the biggest basket of the night.
After the first quarter, it seemed unlikely the script would call for a dramatic conclusion.
The Spurs led 40-19 after the first quarter, turning the opening stanza into their own personal game of Pop-A-Shot. They made eight 3-pointers, equaling a franchise record for a quarter, and missed only one of them.
Even as the Spurs were making nearly everything they tossed up — Mason even made one from out of bounds that didn’t count — they knew the good times could not continue to roll.
“Shots like that aren’t going to fall the entire game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The game isn’t that long. If the game was a 24-minute game, that would be great.”
The Spurs led by 16 at the half, but the 76ers’ 12-0 run late in the third quarter got them back in it.
When Andre Miller made one of two foul shots with 57.9 seconds to go, it gave Philadelphia a 79-78 lead, its first of the game.
“Early on, things were going so well,” Mason said. “When some of those shots stopped going in, our defense didn’t pick up. That’s human nature, but it’s not championship basketball.”
The 76ers (13-20) deserve some credit for making the game worth the price of admission.
In the second half, the Sixers tightened up their defense, and used that to fuel much of their fast-break offense. Miller turned into a charging bull, scoring 15 of his 28 points in the third quarter.
That helped set the stage for a fourth quarter that would literally come down to the final second.
The score was tied at 106 with 30 seconds left. The Sixers had the ball. For the Spurs, overtime was not a good option.
Miller drove and looked to dish, but Ginobili got a hand on the pass. Parker scooped up the ball and, for the first time in a while, didn’t quite know what to do with it.
He raced to the other end, then looked to the Spurs’ bench for advice. Popovich obliged.
“He told me, ‘Go, go,’” Parker said.
So Parker went. He zipped into the lane and dished to Ginobili. Andre Iguodala closed quickly, causing Ginobili to put too much loft on the ball.
It skimmed the rim, and bounded again toward Parker, who corralled it and, in one motion, turned and fired in desperation.
The horn sounded. The ball swished. Parker raised his arms aloft.
And the Spurs celebrated their fortune, both lucky and good.