timvp
01-11-2009, 09:01 AM
Although the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers put up a good fight in the first half, the San Antonio Spurs got going in the final two quarters to ease out a 106-84 victory. Despite trailing by six points at the end of the first quarter and one at half, the Spurs quickly ended the game in the third stanza.
To begin the second half, San Antonio went on an 18-6 run - with Michael Finley leading the way. Finley connected on three three-pointers during that decisive run and had 11 points for the quarter. Matt Bonner’s nine points in that quarter also helped the Spurs grab control of the game.
The Clippers weren’t too impressive but considering that they were without half their team including Baron Davis, Zach Randolph and Chris Kaman, their effort was commendable. Rookie Eric Gordon is very strong with the ball and looks to be a natural scoring. Al Thornton, per usual, also had a quality outing against the Spurs.
Overall, there wasn’t much to take from this game. The Clippers aren’t that good to begin with and their injuries made them borderline NBA quality. That said, with the Spurs ready to embark on an extremely tough part of their schedule that doesn’t let up until the second week of March, taking advantage of this last holiday gift was imperative.
Tim Duncan
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3173.jpg
31 minutes, eight points, nine assists, four rebounds, two blocks, three turnovers
4-for-11 from the field
Tim Duncan had one of the strangest stat lines of his career. More assists than points and only four rebounds in 31 minutes? Part of the issue was the way the Clippers were defending him. Whenever he touched the ball, Los Angeles was quick to send help. Even at times when he didn’t have the ball there would be an extra defender hovering around him. As a result, Duncan was able to pick the Clippers apart with his passing. When he looked for his own shot, he had difficulty converting – especially when he had Marcus Camby on him. Defensively, he wasn’t very good and didn’t do much on the glass. Though Duncan didn’t play very well overall, his passing alone helped win the game.
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Manu Ginobili
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3380.jpg
26 minutes, 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, four steals, one block
4-for-9 from the field, 1-for-5 on three-pointers, 4-for-4 at the line
Manu Ginobili had a productive 26 minutes of action. His one negative area was his three-point shooting – which has been a pattern of late. In his last four games, he’s shooting 15.8% (3-for-19) from beyond the arc. Although outside of his long distance struggles, Ginobili once again performed well. He made good decisions offensively, rebounded and was once again extremely active on the defensive end. His four steals and a block only tell part of his story on that side of the court. Ginobili now has at least three steals in four consecutive games and one block in three consecutive games.
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Tony Parker
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3527.jpg
30 minutes, 19 points, four assists, three rebounds
8-for-15 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers, 2-for-2 at the line
Tony Parker was decent against the Clippers. I thought his overall energy wasn’t where it needs to be – which was part of the reason why the Clippers were able to contend in the first half. His defense was passive for most of the game and he wasn’t attacking the basket early on. Eventually, Parker picked it up and helped dissect the Duncan-oriented zone the Clippers were utilizing. Parker also only had one turnover and for the season he is not only sporting a career-high in assists per game but also assist-to-turnover ratio.
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Michael Finley
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3023.jpg
25 minutes, 15 points, four rebounds
6-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 on three-pointers
Even outside of his third quarter three-pointers, Michael Finley played a good ballgame. He was defending well, rebounding well and moving well in the halfcourt sets. Finley’s shooting continues to be the most accurate it has been since he signed with the Spurs. Additionally, he’s having his best rebounding season as a Spur and his defense has been impressive more often than not.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3628.jpg
31 minutes, 18 points, five rebounds, three assists
7-for-15 from the field, 4-for-10 on three-pointers
While Roger Mason, Jr. definitely aided San Antonio with his shooting and overall play, he actually had a chance to have a much bigger game. Most of his six misses from deep were wide open looks. Then again, it’s tough to complain when he hit 40% of his three-pointers. Outside of his shooting, it was good to see him help out on the boards and pass the ball well. Turnovers have been somewhat of a problem for Mason this season but he’s done a better job in that area as of late. In his last eight games, he has only three turnovers compared to ten assists.
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Matt Bonner
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3748.jpg
22 minutes, 11 points, three rebounds, two blocks
5-for-6 from the field, 1-for-2 on three-pointers
After a silent first half, Matt Bonner came out firing in the final two periods. He had all 11 of his points and two of his three rebounds in the second half. Bonner did a good job of moving without the ball when the Clippers left him to defend Duncan, which resulted in a number of open looks for Bonner around the basket. On the other end of the court, he wasn’t as remarkable. Bonner had another sub par rebounding game and Thornton scored on him quite easily. Although comparatively speaking, Bonner has done much worse against Thornton than he did this time.
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George Hill
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/4488.jpg
18 minutes, six points, two assists, one rebound, one steal
3-for-5 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
Following a breakout performance against the Heat, George Hill backed it up with another quality showing. Though his numbers aren’t as impressive, he was very active on defense and did fine work running the show. After only having one game with at least three made field goals in a span of nine contests, he’s now accomplished that feat in back-to-back games.
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Kurt Thomas
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3012.jpg
17 minutes, nine points, nine rebounds, two blocks
4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-2 at the line
Following a string of lukewarm outings, Kurt Thomas had one of his better performances of the season. On the defensive end, he rebounded and protected the rim extremely well. Offensively, he hit all four of the shots he attempted. Perhaps best of all, Thomas ran the court extremely hard and showed good spring in his legs. Hopefully he continues to be productive and be the solid interior player the Spurs oftentimes seem to lack outside of Duncan.
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Ime Udoka
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3501.jpg
16 minutes, five points, three rebounds, one steal, one block
2-for-7 from the field, 1-for-4 on three-pointers
Ime Udoka got some more first half action and did more harm than good. After missing a few shots badly, he began to pass up open looks and single-handedly bogged down the offense. Defensively he gave good effort but didn’t make up for his offensive shortcomings. Udoka played better in the second half but consistency continues to be one of his main problems.
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Bruce Bowen
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3167.jpg
14 minutes, one steals
0-for-1 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
Bruce Bowen didn’t do much in his 14 minutes of action. He had a few notable defensive stands but his overall defense wasn’t anything to write home about. On offense, Bowen airballed the only shot he attempted. It was only the second time in his last 12 outings that Bowen failed to hit at least 50% of the shots he attempted.
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Gregg Popovich
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sports/popovich_gregg030428.jpg
Pop didn’t have to do much in this game. He weathered the first quarter storm and allowed his team to adjust to the gimmick defense of the Clippers. Perhaps the best thing Pop did was rest Duncan for the final 13 minutes of the game despite the contest being fairly close. It appears as if Pop is trying to force feed Udoka back into the rotation but that experiment hasn’t been panning out too well.
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Offense
Once the Spurs figured out they could get wide open looks by playing inside-out, their offense took off. In the final three quarters, they scored 90 points and played with a nice rhythm. On the whole, the Spurs shot 51.2% from the field, 11-of-29 from the three-point arc and had 28 assists to only eight turnovers. The glaring negative feature of their offensive attack was the fact that the Spurs only shot eight free throws. Shooting eight free throws while hoisting 29 three-pointers is a recipe for disaster against a quality opponent.
Defense
The defense wasn’t too inspiring against the Clippers. Los Angeles shot 44.3% for the game – a mark that was much too high considering the available talent. The Clippers also hit 6-of-13 three-pointers and pulled down 11 offensive boards. Thankfully, the Spurs forced 15 turnovers and limited them to 16 assists and only 12 free throw attempts. San Antonio also won the rebounding battle by a final mark of 39-34.
Drive to Five
After playing a relatively easy set of games as of late, that fun time is over. The Spurs now have a challenging schedule for basically the next two months. Their first challenge is when Dwight Howard and the 29-8 Orlando Magic come to town for a showdown on Sunday night. Orlando has a league-best 13-5 record on the road but hopefully the Spurs can get some revenge for the earlier loss.
Believe.
To begin the second half, San Antonio went on an 18-6 run - with Michael Finley leading the way. Finley connected on three three-pointers during that decisive run and had 11 points for the quarter. Matt Bonner’s nine points in that quarter also helped the Spurs grab control of the game.
The Clippers weren’t too impressive but considering that they were without half their team including Baron Davis, Zach Randolph and Chris Kaman, their effort was commendable. Rookie Eric Gordon is very strong with the ball and looks to be a natural scoring. Al Thornton, per usual, also had a quality outing against the Spurs.
Overall, there wasn’t much to take from this game. The Clippers aren’t that good to begin with and their injuries made them borderline NBA quality. That said, with the Spurs ready to embark on an extremely tough part of their schedule that doesn’t let up until the second week of March, taking advantage of this last holiday gift was imperative.
Tim Duncan
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3173.jpg
31 minutes, eight points, nine assists, four rebounds, two blocks, three turnovers
4-for-11 from the field
Tim Duncan had one of the strangest stat lines of his career. More assists than points and only four rebounds in 31 minutes? Part of the issue was the way the Clippers were defending him. Whenever he touched the ball, Los Angeles was quick to send help. Even at times when he didn’t have the ball there would be an extra defender hovering around him. As a result, Duncan was able to pick the Clippers apart with his passing. When he looked for his own shot, he had difficulty converting – especially when he had Marcus Camby on him. Defensively, he wasn’t very good and didn’t do much on the glass. Though Duncan didn’t play very well overall, his passing alone helped win the game.
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Manu Ginobili
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3380.jpg
26 minutes, 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, four steals, one block
4-for-9 from the field, 1-for-5 on three-pointers, 4-for-4 at the line
Manu Ginobili had a productive 26 minutes of action. His one negative area was his three-point shooting – which has been a pattern of late. In his last four games, he’s shooting 15.8% (3-for-19) from beyond the arc. Although outside of his long distance struggles, Ginobili once again performed well. He made good decisions offensively, rebounded and was once again extremely active on the defensive end. His four steals and a block only tell part of his story on that side of the court. Ginobili now has at least three steals in four consecutive games and one block in three consecutive games.
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Tony Parker
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3527.jpg
30 minutes, 19 points, four assists, three rebounds
8-for-15 from the field, 1-for-1 on three-pointers, 2-for-2 at the line
Tony Parker was decent against the Clippers. I thought his overall energy wasn’t where it needs to be – which was part of the reason why the Clippers were able to contend in the first half. His defense was passive for most of the game and he wasn’t attacking the basket early on. Eventually, Parker picked it up and helped dissect the Duncan-oriented zone the Clippers were utilizing. Parker also only had one turnover and for the season he is not only sporting a career-high in assists per game but also assist-to-turnover ratio.
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Michael Finley
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3023.jpg
25 minutes, 15 points, four rebounds
6-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 on three-pointers
Even outside of his third quarter three-pointers, Michael Finley played a good ballgame. He was defending well, rebounding well and moving well in the halfcourt sets. Finley’s shooting continues to be the most accurate it has been since he signed with the Spurs. Additionally, he’s having his best rebounding season as a Spur and his defense has been impressive more often than not.
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Roger Mason, Jr.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3628.jpg
31 minutes, 18 points, five rebounds, three assists
7-for-15 from the field, 4-for-10 on three-pointers
While Roger Mason, Jr. definitely aided San Antonio with his shooting and overall play, he actually had a chance to have a much bigger game. Most of his six misses from deep were wide open looks. Then again, it’s tough to complain when he hit 40% of his three-pointers. Outside of his shooting, it was good to see him help out on the boards and pass the ball well. Turnovers have been somewhat of a problem for Mason this season but he’s done a better job in that area as of late. In his last eight games, he has only three turnovers compared to ten assists.
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Matt Bonner
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3748.jpg
22 minutes, 11 points, three rebounds, two blocks
5-for-6 from the field, 1-for-2 on three-pointers
After a silent first half, Matt Bonner came out firing in the final two periods. He had all 11 of his points and two of his three rebounds in the second half. Bonner did a good job of moving without the ball when the Clippers left him to defend Duncan, which resulted in a number of open looks for Bonner around the basket. On the other end of the court, he wasn’t as remarkable. Bonner had another sub par rebounding game and Thornton scored on him quite easily. Although comparatively speaking, Bonner has done much worse against Thornton than he did this time.
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George Hill
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/4488.jpg
18 minutes, six points, two assists, one rebound, one steal
3-for-5 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
Following a breakout performance against the Heat, George Hill backed it up with another quality showing. Though his numbers aren’t as impressive, he was very active on defense and did fine work running the show. After only having one game with at least three made field goals in a span of nine contests, he’s now accomplished that feat in back-to-back games.
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Kurt Thomas
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3012.jpg
17 minutes, nine points, nine rebounds, two blocks
4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-2 at the line
Following a string of lukewarm outings, Kurt Thomas had one of his better performances of the season. On the defensive end, he rebounded and protected the rim extremely well. Offensively, he hit all four of the shots he attempted. Perhaps best of all, Thomas ran the court extremely hard and showed good spring in his legs. Hopefully he continues to be productive and be the solid interior player the Spurs oftentimes seem to lack outside of Duncan.
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Ime Udoka
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3501.jpg
16 minutes, five points, three rebounds, one steal, one block
2-for-7 from the field, 1-for-4 on three-pointers
Ime Udoka got some more first half action and did more harm than good. After missing a few shots badly, he began to pass up open looks and single-handedly bogged down the offense. Defensively he gave good effort but didn’t make up for his offensive shortcomings. Udoka played better in the second half but consistency continues to be one of his main problems.
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Bruce Bowen
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/images/basketball/nba/players/3167.jpg
14 minutes, one steals
0-for-1 from the field, 0-for-1 on three-pointers
Bruce Bowen didn’t do much in his 14 minutes of action. He had a few notable defensive stands but his overall defense wasn’t anything to write home about. On offense, Bowen airballed the only shot he attempted. It was only the second time in his last 12 outings that Bowen failed to hit at least 50% of the shots he attempted.
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Gregg Popovich
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sports/popovich_gregg030428.jpg
Pop didn’t have to do much in this game. He weathered the first quarter storm and allowed his team to adjust to the gimmick defense of the Clippers. Perhaps the best thing Pop did was rest Duncan for the final 13 minutes of the game despite the contest being fairly close. It appears as if Pop is trying to force feed Udoka back into the rotation but that experiment hasn’t been panning out too well.
-------------------------------
Offense
Once the Spurs figured out they could get wide open looks by playing inside-out, their offense took off. In the final three quarters, they scored 90 points and played with a nice rhythm. On the whole, the Spurs shot 51.2% from the field, 11-of-29 from the three-point arc and had 28 assists to only eight turnovers. The glaring negative feature of their offensive attack was the fact that the Spurs only shot eight free throws. Shooting eight free throws while hoisting 29 three-pointers is a recipe for disaster against a quality opponent.
Defense
The defense wasn’t too inspiring against the Clippers. Los Angeles shot 44.3% for the game – a mark that was much too high considering the available talent. The Clippers also hit 6-of-13 three-pointers and pulled down 11 offensive boards. Thankfully, the Spurs forced 15 turnovers and limited them to 16 assists and only 12 free throw attempts. San Antonio also won the rebounding battle by a final mark of 39-34.
Drive to Five
After playing a relatively easy set of games as of late, that fun time is over. The Spurs now have a challenging schedule for basically the next two months. Their first challenge is when Dwight Howard and the 29-8 Orlando Magic come to town for a showdown on Sunday night. Orlando has a league-best 13-5 record on the road but hopefully the Spurs can get some revenge for the earlier loss.
Believe.