duncan228
04-05-2009, 11:18 AM
Taxing season means April is uneasy for ailing Celtics, Spurs (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/11587944)
By Ken Berger
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
They've won the past two NBA titles and four of the past six. Their locker rooms are populated by some of the biggest names in the game -- and also some of the biggest names on the list of the battered and bruised. The playoffs begin two weeks from Saturday. Are the Spurs and Celtics ready?
Shhhhhhh ... don't wake them up.
The defending champion Celtics are limping to the finish line with their emotional leader and arguably most important player, Kevin Garnett, on the sideline until the final two or three games of the regular season at the earliest. Paul Pierce is their best and most potent playoff performer, but despite what Doc Rivers says, Boston won't come close to repeating if K.G. isn't 100 percent.
Rivers waved the white flag in the race for the No. 1 seed two weeks ago, conceding the top spot to Cleveland. Rightfully so; The Celts enter the weekend with a 4½-game deficit they couldn't erase even if they were trying. Further complicating matters, Boston is tied in the loss column with third-place Orlando.
• Playoff Race
The Spurs have been limping for months, with Tim Duncan in and out of the lineup and Manu Ginobili only beginning to recapture his rhythm, timing and health after missing five weeks with a stress reaction in his right ankle. (This after missing the first 12 games of the season following offseason surgery on his left ankle. I'm no orthopedic surgeon, but Ginobili doesn't have any ankles left.)
Manu's minutes have steadily increased since his return March 25 in Atlanta, and Duncan has finally started to resemble the cool, efficient, Hall of Fame assassin he has been for more than a decade with consecutive double-doubles against the Hornets and Thunder. But those were only two more losses to drop the Spurs' record in March to 9-8, a tailspin that has given Gregg Popovich's team scant hope of catching Denver for the No. 2 seed and left San Antonio clinging for dear life to the third spot.
"If we can get healthy and get everybody back on the court," Duncan said recently, "I think we'll be all right."
They'll get a read on whether Duncan is right Sunday when they visit Cleveland. Popovich, a former spy and expert at risk-management when it comes to balancing regular-season results with playoff health, doesn't know.
"Whatever it's going to be is what it will be," Popovich said. "I don't worry about what I'm going to feel. It doesn't matter what I feel. Whatever situation we're in, we're going to go forward once playoffs come. I'd like to have everybody healthy now and have Drew Gooden integrated into the program and have everything set -- rotations, time and all that. But we're not going to have that opportunity, so we'll have to wing it in some ways."
Everything starts with defense for the Spurs, and always has. Statistically, they're almost the same team they were last season, when they finished fifth in opponent field-goal percentage (.444) and third in points allowed (90.6). With Duncan limited by knee soreness and veteran stopper Bruce Bowen slipping out of the rotation, their numbers have dropped off a bit, but not dramatically. They're eighth in opponent field-goal percentage (.451) and third in points allowed (93.0).
Tony Parker has more than made up for the Duncan-Ginobili factor on the offensive end -- his streak of 10 consecutive 20-point games ended last Friday against the Clippers -- while Roger Mason Jr. and Matt Bonner have filled the void on the perimeter. But when Ginobili and Duncan aren't right, the Spurs are a shadow of the team that won four titles from 1999-2007.
"I see him with the same intensity, same desire, same sense for team as always," Ginobili said of Duncan. "He's always been very steady. You know how his character is. Right now there is more concern about his body, but he always wants to lead us, lead by example, and do the best he can for the team to make it to the Finals."
Garnett is to the Celtics what Duncan is to the Spurs. Without K.G. playing at a high level in the playoffs, the chances of raising banner No. 18 to the rafters at TD Banknorth Garden are about the same as Duncan providing an incendiary quote. Zero. This week Rivers seemed to back off the dire assessment of Garnett's situation, saying K.G. will be ready to go for the playoffs. He cleverly tossed out the notion that the Celtics can still repeat without him. Ray Allen tried to make the same point, but wound up proving mine: It's not what Garnett puts in the box score, but what he brings to the floor that the Celtics can't do without.
"It's not like Kev's shooting the ball a lot," Allen said. "You look at his minutes, you look at his rebounds -- it's not like he's our leading rebounder, our leading scorer, our leading assist guy, our leading steal guy. Those numbers are glaring that he's not that. He's the glue on this team, but mostly it's his defensive presence, his captainship on the defensive end that helps us stay together. And then he's an excellent offensive player, but he's not getting a lot of touches."
Duncan stood in the corner of the visiting locker room in Atlanta after the most recent (and last?) game that he missed and said it would be ideal for the Spurs to finish the regular season with five to 10 games at full strength. They'll exceed that goal by one if Duncan and Ginobili can stay in the floor the rest of the way.
"We need our full core of people on the floor and to have some experience with those guys on the floor," Duncan said. "But when it comes down to it, we're lucky enough to have been together for a couple of years now, so we've got that experience in the back of our minds."
Two nights later, Pierce stood in almost the same spot and surveyed the wreckage of a long season. In addition to Garnett, the Celtics are still waiting for Leon Powe (knee), a major factor in the Finals against the Lakers last year, and swingman Tony Allen (thumb), who could see limited action this weekend after missing 23 games. Even when they get everyone back, how will Pierce and Allen be affected by the extended minutes and workload they've had to carry in the absences?
"I'm just trying to stay healthy," Pierce said. "We've got so many guys out, I can't afford to go down."
The tipping point for both teams? "Being healthy," Parker said. "... In San Antonio, there's high expectations. Nobody cares that Manu has been out for 30 games and Timmy has been in and out. They want to see us at the top, and that's what we're trying to do."
By Ken Berger
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
They've won the past two NBA titles and four of the past six. Their locker rooms are populated by some of the biggest names in the game -- and also some of the biggest names on the list of the battered and bruised. The playoffs begin two weeks from Saturday. Are the Spurs and Celtics ready?
Shhhhhhh ... don't wake them up.
The defending champion Celtics are limping to the finish line with their emotional leader and arguably most important player, Kevin Garnett, on the sideline until the final two or three games of the regular season at the earliest. Paul Pierce is their best and most potent playoff performer, but despite what Doc Rivers says, Boston won't come close to repeating if K.G. isn't 100 percent.
Rivers waved the white flag in the race for the No. 1 seed two weeks ago, conceding the top spot to Cleveland. Rightfully so; The Celts enter the weekend with a 4½-game deficit they couldn't erase even if they were trying. Further complicating matters, Boston is tied in the loss column with third-place Orlando.
• Playoff Race
The Spurs have been limping for months, with Tim Duncan in and out of the lineup and Manu Ginobili only beginning to recapture his rhythm, timing and health after missing five weeks with a stress reaction in his right ankle. (This after missing the first 12 games of the season following offseason surgery on his left ankle. I'm no orthopedic surgeon, but Ginobili doesn't have any ankles left.)
Manu's minutes have steadily increased since his return March 25 in Atlanta, and Duncan has finally started to resemble the cool, efficient, Hall of Fame assassin he has been for more than a decade with consecutive double-doubles against the Hornets and Thunder. But those were only two more losses to drop the Spurs' record in March to 9-8, a tailspin that has given Gregg Popovich's team scant hope of catching Denver for the No. 2 seed and left San Antonio clinging for dear life to the third spot.
"If we can get healthy and get everybody back on the court," Duncan said recently, "I think we'll be all right."
They'll get a read on whether Duncan is right Sunday when they visit Cleveland. Popovich, a former spy and expert at risk-management when it comes to balancing regular-season results with playoff health, doesn't know.
"Whatever it's going to be is what it will be," Popovich said. "I don't worry about what I'm going to feel. It doesn't matter what I feel. Whatever situation we're in, we're going to go forward once playoffs come. I'd like to have everybody healthy now and have Drew Gooden integrated into the program and have everything set -- rotations, time and all that. But we're not going to have that opportunity, so we'll have to wing it in some ways."
Everything starts with defense for the Spurs, and always has. Statistically, they're almost the same team they were last season, when they finished fifth in opponent field-goal percentage (.444) and third in points allowed (90.6). With Duncan limited by knee soreness and veteran stopper Bruce Bowen slipping out of the rotation, their numbers have dropped off a bit, but not dramatically. They're eighth in opponent field-goal percentage (.451) and third in points allowed (93.0).
Tony Parker has more than made up for the Duncan-Ginobili factor on the offensive end -- his streak of 10 consecutive 20-point games ended last Friday against the Clippers -- while Roger Mason Jr. and Matt Bonner have filled the void on the perimeter. But when Ginobili and Duncan aren't right, the Spurs are a shadow of the team that won four titles from 1999-2007.
"I see him with the same intensity, same desire, same sense for team as always," Ginobili said of Duncan. "He's always been very steady. You know how his character is. Right now there is more concern about his body, but he always wants to lead us, lead by example, and do the best he can for the team to make it to the Finals."
Garnett is to the Celtics what Duncan is to the Spurs. Without K.G. playing at a high level in the playoffs, the chances of raising banner No. 18 to the rafters at TD Banknorth Garden are about the same as Duncan providing an incendiary quote. Zero. This week Rivers seemed to back off the dire assessment of Garnett's situation, saying K.G. will be ready to go for the playoffs. He cleverly tossed out the notion that the Celtics can still repeat without him. Ray Allen tried to make the same point, but wound up proving mine: It's not what Garnett puts in the box score, but what he brings to the floor that the Celtics can't do without.
"It's not like Kev's shooting the ball a lot," Allen said. "You look at his minutes, you look at his rebounds -- it's not like he's our leading rebounder, our leading scorer, our leading assist guy, our leading steal guy. Those numbers are glaring that he's not that. He's the glue on this team, but mostly it's his defensive presence, his captainship on the defensive end that helps us stay together. And then he's an excellent offensive player, but he's not getting a lot of touches."
Duncan stood in the corner of the visiting locker room in Atlanta after the most recent (and last?) game that he missed and said it would be ideal for the Spurs to finish the regular season with five to 10 games at full strength. They'll exceed that goal by one if Duncan and Ginobili can stay in the floor the rest of the way.
"We need our full core of people on the floor and to have some experience with those guys on the floor," Duncan said. "But when it comes down to it, we're lucky enough to have been together for a couple of years now, so we've got that experience in the back of our minds."
Two nights later, Pierce stood in almost the same spot and surveyed the wreckage of a long season. In addition to Garnett, the Celtics are still waiting for Leon Powe (knee), a major factor in the Finals against the Lakers last year, and swingman Tony Allen (thumb), who could see limited action this weekend after missing 23 games. Even when they get everyone back, how will Pierce and Allen be affected by the extended minutes and workload they've had to carry in the absences?
"I'm just trying to stay healthy," Pierce said. "We've got so many guys out, I can't afford to go down."
The tipping point for both teams? "Being healthy," Parker said. "... In San Antonio, there's high expectations. Nobody cares that Manu has been out for 30 games and Timmy has been in and out. They want to see us at the top, and that's what we're trying to do."