duncan228
11-28-2009, 12:54 AM
Spurs don't have to go far to end road-game misery (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_dont_have_to_go_far_to_end_road-game_misery.html)
Mike Monroe
HOUSTON — Spurs guard George Hill looked like a turtle as he stood in front of a mirror after the Spurs' 92-84 victory over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
He peeked out of the neck of a gray sweater as he slowly pulled it over his head, being extra careful not to get his nose caught on the neck.
Two stitches in the tip of Hill's nose were a reminder of a collision with Houston's Kyle Lowry with 48.6 seconds left in a game that required a lot of effort to secure. The stitches had been painful enough. He didn't want to risk pulling one of them out just to look good on his way to the team bus.
The play that earned Hill the stitches was one of the biggest of the Spurs' gritty victory, their first road win of the season. Protecting a four-point lead with 28 seconds left, he had grabbed a rebound he had guaranteed he would get.
As Lowry tried to rip the ball from Hill's grasp, a fingernail went up Hill's nose.
“All I know,” Hill said, “is that I had just told Tony (Parker) that I guaranteed I'll get the rebound on this play. I went and got it, and I felt a fingernail up my nose.”
Listening to Hill's description, teammate Michael Finley nodded in Parker's direction.
“Make sure he gets some rabies shots when we get back to San Antonio,” Finley said.
Because there were no bats involved, the rabies shots won't be necessary, and Hill made another guarantee: He won't miss Sunday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers, either.
Hill nearly didn't get a chance to shoot the free throws he was awarded for Lowry's indelicate assault on his nostrils. After Hill stayed on his back on the court for more than a minute while trainer Will Sevening attended to the wound, lead referee Bob Delaney was about to ask Houston coach Rick Adelman which Spur he wanted to shoot the free throws if Hill could not, per NBA rules. Then, Hill walked toward the foul line, Delaney reconvened the players on the court, and Hill made both shots, pushing the Spurs lead to 90-84 with 28 seconds remaining.
“I was dizzy for a little while because I guess blood rushes to your nose when you get hit like that,” Hill said. “After I got up and took a couple of steps, I was fine. There was no way I wasn't shooting those free throws.”
Hill's teammates were just as determined to defend the 14-point lead they built in the third quarter with one of their best defensive stretches of the season. Trailing by two, 46-44, after an offensively challenged first half for both teams, the Spurs held the Rockets scoreless for the first 7:23 of the third period.
Until Luis Scola made an 18-foot jumper with 4:37 remaining in the period, Houston had missed 17 straight shots.
The key to the defensive effort: forcing the Rockets to play strictly in the half-court, without a single fast break or early offense.
“They score a lot in transition,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It's a big part of their offense. If we didn't do a good job in transition, we wouldn't have been in the ball game at all. So the biggest factor for us in trying to win a ball game was trying to get back in defensive transition.”
Center Antonio McDyess and power forward Tim Duncan combined for 26 rebounds and five blocks. McDyess' 15-point, 14-rebound game was his best of the season.
Duncan knew the Rockets were struggling in the third, but was surprised by the enormity of their offensive ineptitude.
“You're in the game and don't really know what's going on,” he said. “I didn't know how they were shooting but I knew, defensively, we were doing a much better job contesting shots. We were up on them. They got a lot less clean looks, and I think that helped.”
Popovich knew something else.
“We're thrilled to get out of here with a win,” he said. “It's good to win on the road.”
Mike Monroe
HOUSTON — Spurs guard George Hill looked like a turtle as he stood in front of a mirror after the Spurs' 92-84 victory over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
He peeked out of the neck of a gray sweater as he slowly pulled it over his head, being extra careful not to get his nose caught on the neck.
Two stitches in the tip of Hill's nose were a reminder of a collision with Houston's Kyle Lowry with 48.6 seconds left in a game that required a lot of effort to secure. The stitches had been painful enough. He didn't want to risk pulling one of them out just to look good on his way to the team bus.
The play that earned Hill the stitches was one of the biggest of the Spurs' gritty victory, their first road win of the season. Protecting a four-point lead with 28 seconds left, he had grabbed a rebound he had guaranteed he would get.
As Lowry tried to rip the ball from Hill's grasp, a fingernail went up Hill's nose.
“All I know,” Hill said, “is that I had just told Tony (Parker) that I guaranteed I'll get the rebound on this play. I went and got it, and I felt a fingernail up my nose.”
Listening to Hill's description, teammate Michael Finley nodded in Parker's direction.
“Make sure he gets some rabies shots when we get back to San Antonio,” Finley said.
Because there were no bats involved, the rabies shots won't be necessary, and Hill made another guarantee: He won't miss Sunday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers, either.
Hill nearly didn't get a chance to shoot the free throws he was awarded for Lowry's indelicate assault on his nostrils. After Hill stayed on his back on the court for more than a minute while trainer Will Sevening attended to the wound, lead referee Bob Delaney was about to ask Houston coach Rick Adelman which Spur he wanted to shoot the free throws if Hill could not, per NBA rules. Then, Hill walked toward the foul line, Delaney reconvened the players on the court, and Hill made both shots, pushing the Spurs lead to 90-84 with 28 seconds remaining.
“I was dizzy for a little while because I guess blood rushes to your nose when you get hit like that,” Hill said. “After I got up and took a couple of steps, I was fine. There was no way I wasn't shooting those free throws.”
Hill's teammates were just as determined to defend the 14-point lead they built in the third quarter with one of their best defensive stretches of the season. Trailing by two, 46-44, after an offensively challenged first half for both teams, the Spurs held the Rockets scoreless for the first 7:23 of the third period.
Until Luis Scola made an 18-foot jumper with 4:37 remaining in the period, Houston had missed 17 straight shots.
The key to the defensive effort: forcing the Rockets to play strictly in the half-court, without a single fast break or early offense.
“They score a lot in transition,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It's a big part of their offense. If we didn't do a good job in transition, we wouldn't have been in the ball game at all. So the biggest factor for us in trying to win a ball game was trying to get back in defensive transition.”
Center Antonio McDyess and power forward Tim Duncan combined for 26 rebounds and five blocks. McDyess' 15-point, 14-rebound game was his best of the season.
Duncan knew the Rockets were struggling in the third, but was surprised by the enormity of their offensive ineptitude.
“You're in the game and don't really know what's going on,” he said. “I didn't know how they were shooting but I knew, defensively, we were doing a much better job contesting shots. We were up on them. They got a lot less clean looks, and I think that helped.”
Popovich knew something else.
“We're thrilled to get out of here with a win,” he said. “It's good to win on the road.”