Kori Ellis
04-07-2005, 12:28 AM
Spurs do enough to trip Clips
Web Posted: 04/07/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
With Tim Duncan on the injured list, a rotation that changes by the day and an aging forward who hadn't played in 13 months riding to the rescue, this is not how the Spurs intended to roll into the playoffs.
For more than two weeks, Gregg Popovich and his team have replaced continuity with improvisation. And, for one more night, on their own floor, they were good enough to win.
Brent Barry threw in four more 3-pointers, Glenn Robinson dusted off his own jump shot and Bruce Bowen set the tone defensively as the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers 91-82 Wednesday at the SBC Center.
Afterward, the Spurs flew to Dallas, touching down with a five-game lead in the Southwest Division. Already holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, they need any combination of three victories or Mavericks' losses to assure themselves of no worse than the Western Conference's third playoff seed.
"Everybody is just worrying about what they can do to contribute," said Barry, who added five rebounds and four assists and missed only one of his five 3-point attempts. "That's a great thing if we can get our big fella back."
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker joined Duncan on the sidelines for most of the fourth quarter. With the Spurs playing the first of six games in eight days, Popovich remained unsure whether he would keep Ginobili on the bench tonight.
"It's not so much about tomorrow," Popovich said. "It's another back-to-back on the weekend and it's the end of the season. We're going to have to pick and choose pretty carefully for him."
Ginobili provided an energetic 21 minutes when he was on the floor, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the second half, while taking only seven shots in the game.
"If (Popovich) thinks it's better and he would have a better peace of mind resting me, I'll take it," Ginobili said. "But I think I'm fine and I really want to play."
After an unintended layoff that lasted more than a year, Robinson was eager to get back on the court, too. In 13 minutes, he took four shots and made three, each a textbook midrange jumper.
After Robinson swished his final shot in the fourth quarter, Parker and Duncan smiled at each other.
"Everybody in the league knows inside 17 feet, when Glenn Robinson's shooting the ball, it's going to go in," Barry said. "It's nice to see, even though he's taken some time off, he can still stroke the ball."
Robinson, who signed with the Spurs on Monday night, has spent more time in recent months on a treadmill than in a gym. Clippers rookie guard Quinton Ross realized as much, quickly attacking Robinson for two fouls in five seconds.
"I was so excited," Robinson said, "I almost fouled out in the first half."
Robinson added three rebounds and a steal while committing a pair of turnovers. His only miss came when he tried to lay in an alley-oop pass from Beno Udrih.
"I could see both hamstrings and his groin going on that one," Popovich said. "Then we'd be signing (a sportswriter) tomorrow. That wasn't real smart."
The Spurs hadn't played since beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. They used much of the time to rest, knowing they would be busy in the coming days with three sets of back-to-backs.
The Clippers, meanwhile, were making their final stop on a seven-game, 12-day trip. They arrived with a better record than Los Angeles' other NBA franchise, but also with tired legs.
Like the Spurs, the Clippers had injury concerns — starting center Chris Kaman and small forward Bobby Simmons didn't play. They lost another starter in the second half when guard Marko Jaric had to leave with a sore right foot.
Corey Maggette led Los Angeles with 23 points, but Bowen made him work for them. The Clippers had 15 turnovers and shot 29.4 percent in the first half.
Thanks to Ginobili's aggressiveness and some timely shooting by Barry and Bowen, the Spurs took control near the end of the third quarter.
"We believe in the guys the coaches are bringing here and we believe in ourselves," Barry said. "We want our other guys back, but in the meantime we just have to hold the fort."
Web Posted: 04/07/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
With Tim Duncan on the injured list, a rotation that changes by the day and an aging forward who hadn't played in 13 months riding to the rescue, this is not how the Spurs intended to roll into the playoffs.
For more than two weeks, Gregg Popovich and his team have replaced continuity with improvisation. And, for one more night, on their own floor, they were good enough to win.
Brent Barry threw in four more 3-pointers, Glenn Robinson dusted off his own jump shot and Bruce Bowen set the tone defensively as the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers 91-82 Wednesday at the SBC Center.
Afterward, the Spurs flew to Dallas, touching down with a five-game lead in the Southwest Division. Already holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, they need any combination of three victories or Mavericks' losses to assure themselves of no worse than the Western Conference's third playoff seed.
"Everybody is just worrying about what they can do to contribute," said Barry, who added five rebounds and four assists and missed only one of his five 3-point attempts. "That's a great thing if we can get our big fella back."
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker joined Duncan on the sidelines for most of the fourth quarter. With the Spurs playing the first of six games in eight days, Popovich remained unsure whether he would keep Ginobili on the bench tonight.
"It's not so much about tomorrow," Popovich said. "It's another back-to-back on the weekend and it's the end of the season. We're going to have to pick and choose pretty carefully for him."
Ginobili provided an energetic 21 minutes when he was on the floor, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the second half, while taking only seven shots in the game.
"If (Popovich) thinks it's better and he would have a better peace of mind resting me, I'll take it," Ginobili said. "But I think I'm fine and I really want to play."
After an unintended layoff that lasted more than a year, Robinson was eager to get back on the court, too. In 13 minutes, he took four shots and made three, each a textbook midrange jumper.
After Robinson swished his final shot in the fourth quarter, Parker and Duncan smiled at each other.
"Everybody in the league knows inside 17 feet, when Glenn Robinson's shooting the ball, it's going to go in," Barry said. "It's nice to see, even though he's taken some time off, he can still stroke the ball."
Robinson, who signed with the Spurs on Monday night, has spent more time in recent months on a treadmill than in a gym. Clippers rookie guard Quinton Ross realized as much, quickly attacking Robinson for two fouls in five seconds.
"I was so excited," Robinson said, "I almost fouled out in the first half."
Robinson added three rebounds and a steal while committing a pair of turnovers. His only miss came when he tried to lay in an alley-oop pass from Beno Udrih.
"I could see both hamstrings and his groin going on that one," Popovich said. "Then we'd be signing (a sportswriter) tomorrow. That wasn't real smart."
The Spurs hadn't played since beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. They used much of the time to rest, knowing they would be busy in the coming days with three sets of back-to-backs.
The Clippers, meanwhile, were making their final stop on a seven-game, 12-day trip. They arrived with a better record than Los Angeles' other NBA franchise, but also with tired legs.
Like the Spurs, the Clippers had injury concerns — starting center Chris Kaman and small forward Bobby Simmons didn't play. They lost another starter in the second half when guard Marko Jaric had to leave with a sore right foot.
Corey Maggette led Los Angeles with 23 points, but Bowen made him work for them. The Clippers had 15 turnovers and shot 29.4 percent in the first half.
Thanks to Ginobili's aggressiveness and some timely shooting by Barry and Bowen, the Spurs took control near the end of the third quarter.
"We believe in the guys the coaches are bringing here and we believe in ourselves," Barry said. "We want our other guys back, but in the meantime we just have to hold the fort."