duncan228
04-25-2009, 11:50 PM
Spurs' season on the brink (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_season_on_the_brink.html)
Jeff McDonald
DALLAS — Tony Parker walked off the floor at the American Airlines Center a beaten man.
He had done all he could do, given all he could give. He had lifted the Spurs by their collective collars, put them on his back and told them to come along for the ride. He had played the postseason game of his life.
Now vanquished, with a sold-out crowd celebrating the Mavericks' 99-90 Game 4 victory around him, Parker was left to grapple with the unthinkable. His everything had not been enough.
Parker set a career postseason high with 43 points Saturday, but couldn't save the Spurs from the brink of playoff elimination.
“I played 41, 42 minutes,” Parker said, and even that wasn't enough. “I was trying to go hard every play. In the end, I was a little bit tired.”
Now, the buzzards are circling for the Spurs. They trail the series 3-1 as it returns to San Antonio, facing a deficit that has been deadly to all but eight teams in NBA history.
The Mavs are one win away from clinching their first playoff series since besting Phoenix in the 2006 Western Conference finals. The Spurs are one loss from bowing out in the first round for the first time since 2000.
“It's time to show our character, to step up and show what this group is made of,” Spurs swingman Ime Udoka said. “It's do or die for us.”
Josh Howard had 28 points to lead the Mavericks, who made more free throws (33) than field goals (28). The Spurs held Dallas to 39.4 percent shooting, and limited Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry to a combined 22 points.
That defensive effort wasn't enough, either.
For most of Game 4, the Spurs were Tony Parker and a bunch of other guys. This was a development Gregg Popovich didn't mind.
He knew that for the Spurs to get by a Dallas team that outmatched them at almost every turn, Parker would have to be a scoring fool. Parker knew it, too: He had 38 points in the Spurs' only victory of the series.
In the second quarter Saturday, with Dallas already ahead by nine and the Spurs already teetering, Parker threw in a rare 3-pointer.
Moments later, out on the break, he pulled up for another one. This was a “heat check,” a term NBA players use to describe how hot they are at a given moment. But it was also a sign of the Spurs' desperation.
That one went in, too. By half, behind 31 points from Parker that matched George Gervin's 21-year-old franchise playoff record, the Spurs were ahead by four.
By night's end, Parker would own the Spurs' most prolific postseason game since Gervin's 44-point night against Denver on April 26, 1983.
“Tony was unbelievable,” Tim Duncan said. “You hate to have an effort like that go to waste.”
Duncan eventually provided Parker some relief, with 25 points and 10 rebounds, despite accounting for seven of the Spurs' 12 missed free throws.
Only three other players made field goals for the Spurs. During one astounding stretch of 30:37, from the middle of the first quarter to late in the third, no Spurs player other than Parker or Duncan made a basket.
“Tony was our engine,” Roger Mason Jr. said. “He did everything for us.”
By the fourth, Parker's engine light was blinking red. He floored it anyway.
With the Spurs down 12 early in the fourth, Parker went backdoor for a couple of layups, then buried back-to-back 20-footers. Suddenly, the Spurs were back within three.
They would be that close again at the 2:32 mark, after George Hill stroked his second 3-pointer, but couldn't manage another point the rest of the way. They closed the game with five straight 3-point misses.
His engine blown, Parker had taken the Spurs as far as he could.
Down to their last gasp in Game 5, the Spurs will again ask Parker for everything he's got.
As Parker trudged off the floor Saturday, tired, beaten and cramping, it was fair to wonder: What more can he give?
Jeff McDonald
DALLAS — Tony Parker walked off the floor at the American Airlines Center a beaten man.
He had done all he could do, given all he could give. He had lifted the Spurs by their collective collars, put them on his back and told them to come along for the ride. He had played the postseason game of his life.
Now vanquished, with a sold-out crowd celebrating the Mavericks' 99-90 Game 4 victory around him, Parker was left to grapple with the unthinkable. His everything had not been enough.
Parker set a career postseason high with 43 points Saturday, but couldn't save the Spurs from the brink of playoff elimination.
“I played 41, 42 minutes,” Parker said, and even that wasn't enough. “I was trying to go hard every play. In the end, I was a little bit tired.”
Now, the buzzards are circling for the Spurs. They trail the series 3-1 as it returns to San Antonio, facing a deficit that has been deadly to all but eight teams in NBA history.
The Mavs are one win away from clinching their first playoff series since besting Phoenix in the 2006 Western Conference finals. The Spurs are one loss from bowing out in the first round for the first time since 2000.
“It's time to show our character, to step up and show what this group is made of,” Spurs swingman Ime Udoka said. “It's do or die for us.”
Josh Howard had 28 points to lead the Mavericks, who made more free throws (33) than field goals (28). The Spurs held Dallas to 39.4 percent shooting, and limited Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry to a combined 22 points.
That defensive effort wasn't enough, either.
For most of Game 4, the Spurs were Tony Parker and a bunch of other guys. This was a development Gregg Popovich didn't mind.
He knew that for the Spurs to get by a Dallas team that outmatched them at almost every turn, Parker would have to be a scoring fool. Parker knew it, too: He had 38 points in the Spurs' only victory of the series.
In the second quarter Saturday, with Dallas already ahead by nine and the Spurs already teetering, Parker threw in a rare 3-pointer.
Moments later, out on the break, he pulled up for another one. This was a “heat check,” a term NBA players use to describe how hot they are at a given moment. But it was also a sign of the Spurs' desperation.
That one went in, too. By half, behind 31 points from Parker that matched George Gervin's 21-year-old franchise playoff record, the Spurs were ahead by four.
By night's end, Parker would own the Spurs' most prolific postseason game since Gervin's 44-point night against Denver on April 26, 1983.
“Tony was unbelievable,” Tim Duncan said. “You hate to have an effort like that go to waste.”
Duncan eventually provided Parker some relief, with 25 points and 10 rebounds, despite accounting for seven of the Spurs' 12 missed free throws.
Only three other players made field goals for the Spurs. During one astounding stretch of 30:37, from the middle of the first quarter to late in the third, no Spurs player other than Parker or Duncan made a basket.
“Tony was our engine,” Roger Mason Jr. said. “He did everything for us.”
By the fourth, Parker's engine light was blinking red. He floored it anyway.
With the Spurs down 12 early in the fourth, Parker went backdoor for a couple of layups, then buried back-to-back 20-footers. Suddenly, the Spurs were back within three.
They would be that close again at the 2:32 mark, after George Hill stroked his second 3-pointer, but couldn't manage another point the rest of the way. They closed the game with five straight 3-point misses.
His engine blown, Parker had taken the Spurs as far as he could.
Down to their last gasp in Game 5, the Spurs will again ask Parker for everything he's got.
As Parker trudged off the floor Saturday, tired, beaten and cramping, it was fair to wonder: What more can he give?