duncan228
02-18-2009, 12:51 AM
Knicks' tiny guard jams Spurs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Knicks_tiny_guard_jams_Spurs.html)
Jeff McDonald
NEW YORK — Gregg Popovich didn’t just spend his All-Star vacation in a New York state of mind. He actually spent it in New York.
In need of some time to decompress, Popovich flew to the Big Apple directly from Toronto after the Spurs’ last game before the break and spent five days, in his words, “wandering the streets of New York.”
When Popovich finally got around to venturing into Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, however, tour time was over.
“I could have gone to Broadway again, could have eaten dinner someplace,” Popovich lamented before the Spurs faced the Knicks. “But I’ve got to go to a game.”
By the end of it, a surprising 112-107 overtime victory for the capsizing Knicks, Popovich probably wished he had taken in a show at The Met instead.
With jump shots clanking like falling subway tokens, and done in by a player not quite tall enough to ride the big-kid rides at Coney Island, the Spurs lost to a team that had yet to win a game in the month of February.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for New York (22-31). For the Spurs, it was an extension of their last game before the All-Star break, a 91-89 loss at similarly struggling Toronto.
This time, they were undone by a slam-dunk king.
Nate Robinson — all 5-foot-9 of him — encored his All-Star Weekend jam session by dumping 32 points on the Spurs. He didn’t log a single dunk, but scored every other way en route to his third-straight 30-point game.
Robinson had the first six points of overtime for the Knicks, who opened up a six-point lead with 1:31 to go and held on. He also notched 10 rebounds.
All in all, Popovich couldn’t have seen a more clever performance from a little man had he gone to a Broadway production of “Wicked.”
“He gets after it,” Popovich said. “He kind of does for them what (Manu) Ginobili does for us, in a way.”
The Spurs (35-17) would have no chance to see Ginobili’s Nate Robinson impression Tuesday. The guard was home in San Antonio, nursing a sore right ankle.
Tim Duncan picked up some of the slack, going for 26 points and 15 rebounds. Double-teamed at almost every touch, Duncan also coughed up seven turnovers — or half the Spurs’ total.
Roger Mason Jr. added 20 points and Kurt Thomas supplied an efficient 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench, but it was a rough offensive night for most every other player in silver and black.
It was close to a nightmare for the one wearing No. 9.
Tony Parker missed 15 of 20 field goals on his way to 14 points, including an 0-for-3 overtime.
“I was missing shots,” Parker said. “I was missing everything.”
Robinson, who was 13 of 23 from the field, was the anti-Parker.
“He was making all his shots,” Parker said. “He was the opposite of me.”
Despite it all, the Spurs had a chance to win in regulation, but Duncan’s turnaround bank shot skipped off the glass at the horn. To that point, Duncan was 6 for 6 in the fourth quarter after taking over the stretch run.
“I got a shot to go down and started making a few more of them,” Duncan said. “Wish the last one would have gone down, but such is life.”
Such is life for Popovich, too. He could have spent the evening taking a Handsome Carriage ride through Central Park. Instead, he was back on the job.
If there was ever a sign his All-Star break was over, it came four minutes in. Matt Bonner had blown a defensive assignment, giving up a basket to David Lee.
Popovich called timeout and proceeded to blast Bonner at full throat. By the end of his final night in the city, Popovich was even talking like a native New Yorker: TV cameras caught him responding to an official’s call with a curse word.
By the time of his postgame news conference, Popovich had softened a bit.
“Win or lose, you still get to eat,” he said, slapping a reporter on the back.
And with that, he was off to wander the streets of New York again. At least until it was time to head to Detroit.
Jeff McDonald
NEW YORK — Gregg Popovich didn’t just spend his All-Star vacation in a New York state of mind. He actually spent it in New York.
In need of some time to decompress, Popovich flew to the Big Apple directly from Toronto after the Spurs’ last game before the break and spent five days, in his words, “wandering the streets of New York.”
When Popovich finally got around to venturing into Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, however, tour time was over.
“I could have gone to Broadway again, could have eaten dinner someplace,” Popovich lamented before the Spurs faced the Knicks. “But I’ve got to go to a game.”
By the end of it, a surprising 112-107 overtime victory for the capsizing Knicks, Popovich probably wished he had taken in a show at The Met instead.
With jump shots clanking like falling subway tokens, and done in by a player not quite tall enough to ride the big-kid rides at Coney Island, the Spurs lost to a team that had yet to win a game in the month of February.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for New York (22-31). For the Spurs, it was an extension of their last game before the All-Star break, a 91-89 loss at similarly struggling Toronto.
This time, they were undone by a slam-dunk king.
Nate Robinson — all 5-foot-9 of him — encored his All-Star Weekend jam session by dumping 32 points on the Spurs. He didn’t log a single dunk, but scored every other way en route to his third-straight 30-point game.
Robinson had the first six points of overtime for the Knicks, who opened up a six-point lead with 1:31 to go and held on. He also notched 10 rebounds.
All in all, Popovich couldn’t have seen a more clever performance from a little man had he gone to a Broadway production of “Wicked.”
“He gets after it,” Popovich said. “He kind of does for them what (Manu) Ginobili does for us, in a way.”
The Spurs (35-17) would have no chance to see Ginobili’s Nate Robinson impression Tuesday. The guard was home in San Antonio, nursing a sore right ankle.
Tim Duncan picked up some of the slack, going for 26 points and 15 rebounds. Double-teamed at almost every touch, Duncan also coughed up seven turnovers — or half the Spurs’ total.
Roger Mason Jr. added 20 points and Kurt Thomas supplied an efficient 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench, but it was a rough offensive night for most every other player in silver and black.
It was close to a nightmare for the one wearing No. 9.
Tony Parker missed 15 of 20 field goals on his way to 14 points, including an 0-for-3 overtime.
“I was missing shots,” Parker said. “I was missing everything.”
Robinson, who was 13 of 23 from the field, was the anti-Parker.
“He was making all his shots,” Parker said. “He was the opposite of me.”
Despite it all, the Spurs had a chance to win in regulation, but Duncan’s turnaround bank shot skipped off the glass at the horn. To that point, Duncan was 6 for 6 in the fourth quarter after taking over the stretch run.
“I got a shot to go down and started making a few more of them,” Duncan said. “Wish the last one would have gone down, but such is life.”
Such is life for Popovich, too. He could have spent the evening taking a Handsome Carriage ride through Central Park. Instead, he was back on the job.
If there was ever a sign his All-Star break was over, it came four minutes in. Matt Bonner had blown a defensive assignment, giving up a basket to David Lee.
Popovich called timeout and proceeded to blast Bonner at full throat. By the end of his final night in the city, Popovich was even talking like a native New Yorker: TV cameras caught him responding to an official’s call with a curse word.
By the time of his postgame news conference, Popovich had softened a bit.
“Win or lose, you still get to eat,” he said, slapping a reporter on the back.
And with that, he was off to wander the streets of New York again. At least until it was time to head to Detroit.