Kori Ellis
03-22-2005, 01:27 AM
Ludden: Spurs' finish painful: Cold spell costs lead; Duncan out 2-4 weeks
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA032205.1D.BKNspurs.knicks.gamer.16005b8c9.html
NEW YORK — Tim Duncan phoned Malik Rose on Sunday night to confess. The sprained right ankle, the crutches, the chartered flight home — all of it was just a cover.
Duncan was skipping the trip to New York, he said, because of a far more serious affliction: Malik-itis.
"He said he was worried I was going to hack him like in practice," Rose said. "I said I was looking forward to hacking him."
Rose isn't the only one counting the days until he reunites with Duncan. Hours after learning Duncan could be sidelined almost until the playoffs, the Spurs enhanced his MVP status by collapsing in the final 15 minutes of a 88-75 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
While Rose contributed to his former team's demise with 18 points and seven rebounds, the Spurs' inability to cure two longtime ailments — Stephon Marbury and the yips — put them on the losing end in the first game of their A.D. (After Duncan) Era.
Marbury scored 31 points, proving, for another night, that Tony Parker hasn't shaken his personal tormenter. The Spurs were considerably less prolific, failing to make a basket for 11 minutes, 23 seconds in the second half.
After Devin Brown drove for a layup for a 59-53 lead with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter, the Spurs didn't make another shot until 4:21 was left in the game. The Knicks outscored them 25-1 in that stretch.
"If you're missing someone like (Duncan), of course it hurts," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "But you still don't have to play as badly as we played from the three-minute point on. That's got nothing to do with Tim Duncan being there or not being there."
The Spurs won't be able to lean on Duncan for a while. He is expected to be sidelined for two to four weeks after tests confirmed he suffered a second-degree sprain to his right ankle in Sunday's loss in Detroit.
Duncan probably would miss all but the final two games of the regular season if his ankle takes a month to heal. Though Duncan has sprained the same ankle three times in the past six weeks, Popovich said he won't sit him just to protect him. The playoffs begin April 23.
"I'm going to just play it as it goes," Popovich said. "If he's ready to play, we're going to play him. If he's not ready to play, we won't.
"He won't allow me to let him sit there and not play if he's healthy and ready to go. If he doesn't play the rest of the regular season, it's because he's not healthy."
After watching replays of Duncan's injury, the Spurs were glad the prognosis wasn't worse. Duncan appeared to nearly fold his ankle in half after he landed on Rasheed Wallace's foot.
"I was kind of surprised it wasn't just god-awful and season-ending," Popovich said. "You look at the film of it, and you have to turn away."
Popovich could say the same about the Spurs' performance over the final 11/2 quarters Monday. Marbury scored the Knicks' final 13 points of the third quarter, which, coincidentally, was about the same time the Spurs lost their aim.
"That's a bad combination," Popovich said, "if you're not scoring and (Marbury) is rolling."
Parker provided little to counter Marbury. He scored the Spurs' first 10 points and 12 of their first 14 while making his first six shots. He didn't make another.
"For a while now he's had great first quarters, and that's dissipated as the game has continued," Popovich said. "That's a real concern."
Parker wasn't alone in his struggles. Brent Barry didn't make a shot for the second consecutive game. Robert Horry made 3 of 10 attempts.
Brown, the team's most consistent performer, scored 22 points but had to briefly leave because of a sore back.
The Spurs also had to contend with Rose. Facing his former teammates for the first time since he was traded to New York, Rose struggled with his shot early in the game — "At halftime," he said, "I thought somebody was going to shoot me because I was throwing the game" — before hitting back-to-back mid-range shots to close out the victory.
Rose also helped in other ways.
"He was coaching the Knicks," Manu Ginobili said. "Every time we called a play, he was telling everybody what to do."
The Spurs didn't have Duncan to do the same. It's a feeling they will have to get used to.
"We just stopped playing the last 14 minutes," Ginobili said. "Without our best player, there's no way we can do that."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA032205.1D.BKNspurs.knicks.gamer.16005b8c9.html
NEW YORK — Tim Duncan phoned Malik Rose on Sunday night to confess. The sprained right ankle, the crutches, the chartered flight home — all of it was just a cover.
Duncan was skipping the trip to New York, he said, because of a far more serious affliction: Malik-itis.
"He said he was worried I was going to hack him like in practice," Rose said. "I said I was looking forward to hacking him."
Rose isn't the only one counting the days until he reunites with Duncan. Hours after learning Duncan could be sidelined almost until the playoffs, the Spurs enhanced his MVP status by collapsing in the final 15 minutes of a 88-75 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
While Rose contributed to his former team's demise with 18 points and seven rebounds, the Spurs' inability to cure two longtime ailments — Stephon Marbury and the yips — put them on the losing end in the first game of their A.D. (After Duncan) Era.
Marbury scored 31 points, proving, for another night, that Tony Parker hasn't shaken his personal tormenter. The Spurs were considerably less prolific, failing to make a basket for 11 minutes, 23 seconds in the second half.
After Devin Brown drove for a layup for a 59-53 lead with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter, the Spurs didn't make another shot until 4:21 was left in the game. The Knicks outscored them 25-1 in that stretch.
"If you're missing someone like (Duncan), of course it hurts," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "But you still don't have to play as badly as we played from the three-minute point on. That's got nothing to do with Tim Duncan being there or not being there."
The Spurs won't be able to lean on Duncan for a while. He is expected to be sidelined for two to four weeks after tests confirmed he suffered a second-degree sprain to his right ankle in Sunday's loss in Detroit.
Duncan probably would miss all but the final two games of the regular season if his ankle takes a month to heal. Though Duncan has sprained the same ankle three times in the past six weeks, Popovich said he won't sit him just to protect him. The playoffs begin April 23.
"I'm going to just play it as it goes," Popovich said. "If he's ready to play, we're going to play him. If he's not ready to play, we won't.
"He won't allow me to let him sit there and not play if he's healthy and ready to go. If he doesn't play the rest of the regular season, it's because he's not healthy."
After watching replays of Duncan's injury, the Spurs were glad the prognosis wasn't worse. Duncan appeared to nearly fold his ankle in half after he landed on Rasheed Wallace's foot.
"I was kind of surprised it wasn't just god-awful and season-ending," Popovich said. "You look at the film of it, and you have to turn away."
Popovich could say the same about the Spurs' performance over the final 11/2 quarters Monday. Marbury scored the Knicks' final 13 points of the third quarter, which, coincidentally, was about the same time the Spurs lost their aim.
"That's a bad combination," Popovich said, "if you're not scoring and (Marbury) is rolling."
Parker provided little to counter Marbury. He scored the Spurs' first 10 points and 12 of their first 14 while making his first six shots. He didn't make another.
"For a while now he's had great first quarters, and that's dissipated as the game has continued," Popovich said. "That's a real concern."
Parker wasn't alone in his struggles. Brent Barry didn't make a shot for the second consecutive game. Robert Horry made 3 of 10 attempts.
Brown, the team's most consistent performer, scored 22 points but had to briefly leave because of a sore back.
The Spurs also had to contend with Rose. Facing his former teammates for the first time since he was traded to New York, Rose struggled with his shot early in the game — "At halftime," he said, "I thought somebody was going to shoot me because I was throwing the game" — before hitting back-to-back mid-range shots to close out the victory.
Rose also helped in other ways.
"He was coaching the Knicks," Manu Ginobili said. "Every time we called a play, he was telling everybody what to do."
The Spurs didn't have Duncan to do the same. It's a feeling they will have to get used to.
"We just stopped playing the last 14 minutes," Ginobili said. "Without our best player, there's no way we can do that."