duncan228
12-24-2009, 12:56 AM
Blazers' Bayless comes up big against Spurs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Blazers_Bayless_comes_up_big_against_Spurs.html)
Mike Monroe
Spurs guard George Hill has done a solid job defending some of the league's better perimeter scorers this season, but there was little he, or anyone else, could do Wednesday to slow Portland's Jerryd Bayless, a member of the same 2008 draft class that included Hill.
Bayless' well-defended 3-pointer with two minutes left in the Trail Blazers' 98-94 victory over the Sours at AT&T Center not only served as the dagger that did in the Spurs, it gave him 31 points for the game, a career high.
Bayless made 10 of 24 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, and nine of 10 free throws.
Hill, however, wasn't quite ready to put Bayless among the NBA's elite scoring guards.
He was just making shots, Hill said. He played aggressive and he played with confidence. Once you make a couple of shots, that's what happens. He made a couple and started feeling it, but I wouldn't put him up there with the he-got-so-hot-you-can't-stop-him' guys.
Hill said the Spurs defended Bayless' late 3-pointer it gave the Trail Blazers a 96-87 lead with two minutes left as well as possible without getting a hand on the shot.
The only thing we can do is challenge shots, he said. It was great D,' but a better shot.
Tough matchup: Richard Jefferson, the Spurs' 6-foot-7 small forward, ended up matched up on Portland's 6-11 LaMarcus Aldridge for most of the fourth quarter, but said he was not surprised to get the assignment.
I did it some last game (against Portland), he said, so I wasn't surprised. And with Matty (Bonner) out, I've been playing more power forward so it's one of those things you're always prepared for. You always have to be prepared for whatever Pop throws at us.
Aldridge made four of five shots in the fourth, and 22 points for the game.
Ageless wonder: Portland's Juwan Howard is 36 years old and in his 16th NBA season, but the injuries that have decimated the Trail Blazers' front line have made him one of their key players.
In back-to-back road wins, Tuesday in Dallas and Wednesday, against the Spurs, Howard played 71 minutes and 34 seconds and had his first back-to-back double-doubles, in points and rebounds, in nearly three years.
Mike Monroe
Spurs guard George Hill has done a solid job defending some of the league's better perimeter scorers this season, but there was little he, or anyone else, could do Wednesday to slow Portland's Jerryd Bayless, a member of the same 2008 draft class that included Hill.
Bayless' well-defended 3-pointer with two minutes left in the Trail Blazers' 98-94 victory over the Sours at AT&T Center not only served as the dagger that did in the Spurs, it gave him 31 points for the game, a career high.
Bayless made 10 of 24 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, and nine of 10 free throws.
Hill, however, wasn't quite ready to put Bayless among the NBA's elite scoring guards.
He was just making shots, Hill said. He played aggressive and he played with confidence. Once you make a couple of shots, that's what happens. He made a couple and started feeling it, but I wouldn't put him up there with the he-got-so-hot-you-can't-stop-him' guys.
Hill said the Spurs defended Bayless' late 3-pointer it gave the Trail Blazers a 96-87 lead with two minutes left as well as possible without getting a hand on the shot.
The only thing we can do is challenge shots, he said. It was great D,' but a better shot.
Tough matchup: Richard Jefferson, the Spurs' 6-foot-7 small forward, ended up matched up on Portland's 6-11 LaMarcus Aldridge for most of the fourth quarter, but said he was not surprised to get the assignment.
I did it some last game (against Portland), he said, so I wasn't surprised. And with Matty (Bonner) out, I've been playing more power forward so it's one of those things you're always prepared for. You always have to be prepared for whatever Pop throws at us.
Aldridge made four of five shots in the fourth, and 22 points for the game.
Ageless wonder: Portland's Juwan Howard is 36 years old and in his 16th NBA season, but the injuries that have decimated the Trail Blazers' front line have made him one of their key players.
In back-to-back road wins, Tuesday in Dallas and Wednesday, against the Spurs, Howard played 71 minutes and 34 seconds and had his first back-to-back double-doubles, in points and rebounds, in nearly three years.