Spurs at Blazers Previews

[duncan228]

Thursday: Spurs (28-19) at Trail blazers (29-22) (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Thursday_Spurs_28-19_at_Trail_blazers_29-22.html)

Time: 9:30 p.m.
TV: KMYS, TNT
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - TRAIL BLAZERS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 9th yr) - 24 Andre Miller (6-2, 11th yr)
Parker expects to make return from ankle sprain; final call up to Pop.

SG - 3 George Hill (6-2, 2nd yr) - 4 Jerryd Bayless (6-3, 2nd yr)
Bayless scorched Spurs for career-high 31 in shorthanded Dec. 23 win.

SF - 24 Richard Jefferson (6-7, 9th yr) - 23 Martell Webster (6-7, 5th yr)
Message received: Spurs want Jefferson to be “attack guy” on offense.

PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 13th yr) - 12 L. Aldridge (6-11, 4th yr)
Duncan shot 47.4 percent in January, his worst month so far.

C - 34 A. McDyess (6-10, 15th yr) - 6 Juwan Howard (6-9, 16th yr)
Soon-to-be 37-year-old Howard giving injury-addled Blazers big minutes.

SPURS RESERVES

45 DeJuan Blair, C/F, 6-7, 1st yr
15 Matt Bonner, C/F, 6-10, 6th yr
10 Keith Bogans, G, 6-5, 7th yr
4 Michael Finley, G, 6-7, 15th yr
20 Manu Ginobili, G, 6-6, 8th yr
8 Roger Mason Jr., G, 6-5, 6th yr
42 Theo Ratliff, F/C, 6-10, 15th yr

TRAIL BLAZERS RESERVES

88 Nicolas Batum, F, 6-8, 2nd yr
2 Steve Blake, G, 6-3, 7th yr
33 D. Cunningham, F, 6-8, 1st yr
5 R. Fernandez, G/F, 6-6, 2nd yr
8 Patrick Mills, G, 6-0, 1st yr
25 Travis Outlaw, F, 6-9, 7th yr
31 Jeff Pendergraph, F, 6-9, 1st yr

COACHES
Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Trail Blazers: Nate McMillan

INJURIES

Spurs: Parker (sprained left ankle) is probable.
Trail Blazers: Brandon Roy (right hamstring) is day-to-day. Joel Przybilla (right knee), Greg Oden (left knee) and Outlaw (left foot) are out.

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS

Spurs: Ian Mahinmi, Malik Hairston
Trail Blazers: Outlaw, Przybilla, Oden

NOTABLE

Portland has won five of its past six against Spurs, including two meetings this season. ... Blazers are still banged up, but getting healthier. Roy, the All-Star guard who has missed 10 of the past 11 games with a right hamstring strain, is expected to be re-evaluated today and could play. ... Spurs are 3-5 this season on second night of back-to-backs. Blazers are 8-3.

- Jeff McDonald

[timtonymanu]

dont want to get swept by portland so win this spurs.

[Ditty]

hope roy is out if is and parker returns looking good and spurs make some shots like tonight and blazers dont catch fire like last game then it could be the start of a road trip that could look good after this game and if spurs can get on of the lakers or nuggets games i would be happy

[duncan228]

San Antonio (28-19) at Portland (29-22) (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010020422&prov=ap)
Game info: 10:30 pm EST Thu Feb 4, 2010
TV: TNT
By Matt Beardmore

The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t need Brandon Roy to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in late December. The Trail Blazers are hoping for a similar result should Roy be unavailable when the teams meet Thursday night at the Rose Garden.

Portland (29-22), which is aiming for a sweep of the three-game season series, has defeated San Antonio (28-19) four consecutive times and five of six after dropping the previous 12 meetings between the teams. One of those wins was the first game missed this season by Roy, who is averaging a team-high 23.1 points with 5.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds.

Roy was unable to play Dec. 23 due to a sore shoulder, but second-year guard Jerryd Bayless made his first career start and scored a career-high 31 points with seven assists as the Trail Blazers won 98-94 in San Antonio.

Roy has now missed eight straight games with a strained right hamstring, and his return could be delayed until Saturday when Portland hosts the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bayless has played well while starting the last five games, averaging 14.6 points on 49.1 percent shooting, but the Trail Blazers are 3-5 since Roy was injured Jan. 20 against Philadelphia and have fallen to eighth place in the Western Conference.

“We think about it every day,” LaMarcus Aldridge said after scoring 27 points with 12 rebounds in Wednesday’s 118-105 loss at Utah. “We know that every game is important and are trying to fight and get back up in the standings.”

While Portland must prepare to take the court again without its star guard, Tony Parker might rejoin the Spurs’ lineup after missing the last three games with a sprained left ankle.

Parker, who had 16 points and four assists in the Dec. 23 loss to the Trail Blazers, sprained his left ankle in the second quarter of a 96-84 loss at the Rose Garden on Nov. 6 - the Spurs’ third straight loss in Portland. The three-time All-Star missed four of the next five games.

Just as Bayless has performed admirably in a fill-in role for Portland, George Hill has played well as Parker’s backup for San Antonio.

The second-year guard matched a career high with 23 points and had a career-best nine assists as the Spurs - who play 23 of their final 35 games on the road - opened their season-high eight-game trip with a 115-113 victory at Sacramento on Wednesday.

“George is probably the most improved player in the whole league,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “From his rookie year last year to this year he’s starting to get confident and played well at both ends of the floor. He’s going to be a really fine player for us.”

Tim Duncan has been a fine player for years. Named a starter to his 12th All-Star game last week, Duncan is more concerned with getting his team back on track after it lost six of nine heading into the trip.

“This is really important because of how bad we have played so far,” said Duncan, who had 22 points and 13 rebounds in Wednesday’s win. “We’re very up and down, losing a lot of games on the road and at home against teams that we should have beaten.”

Duncan is averaging 21.1 points and 10.7 rebounds in 24 career games in Portland. He won’t have to face centers Greg Oden or Joel Przybilla, who both suffered season-ending knee injuries, but veteran Juwan Howard has been a solid replacement for the injury-riddled Blazers, averaging 8.3 boards in his last eight games.

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Tim Duncan SA 19.8
Brandon Roy Por 23.1

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.8
Greg Oden Por 8.5

Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.8
Andre Miller Por 5.2

[duncan228]

Game 52 Preview: Spurs vs. Blazers (http://www.blazersedge.com/)
by Dave
Blazersedge

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/261814/75581_spurs_hornets_basketball.jpg
"OK, Brandon Roy has to make a constitution check to see if he can return for this game. Also Tony Parker will have a -2 reaction adjustment tonight because of his injuries. And what's that I hear? 1000 platinum pieces for the first guy to score a critical hit on Nicolas Batum's shoulder? Sweet! That's enough to get that +2 plate I've been dreaming of!"


Even a cursory look at San Antonio's season to date tells you that this isn't your grandmother's Spurs team. They're still good, mind you. The winning record will tell you that. But early-season slumps aside San Antonio used to win against all comers. This year they're bolstering their record by beating weaker teams, primarily at home. They've had quality wins but they've also played 29 games in San Antonio versus 18 on the road. They're right around .500 away from home. They're right around .500 against conference teams. They aren't the world-beaters they used to be.

Gone are the days when the Spurs packed the most feared defense in the league. This season they rank 12th in field goal percentage allowed, 16th in points in the paint allowed, 18th in fast-break points allowed, and 10th in defensive efficiency. They're giving up almost 3 more points per game on average than they did last season. The one thing they still do at an exemplary level is hit the defensive boards.

Fortunately for San Antonio they are also scoring 3.8 more points per game than they did last season. They're 6th in the league in field goal percentage, 7th in effective field goal percentage, 8th in true shooting percentage, and 7th in offensive efficiency. They play fairly slowly but they're efficient with their possessions as always.

San Antonio's offense still relies on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker but not as heavily as it once seemed. Together the two take around 38% of the team's shots. Both are steady performers and have the distinction of being the only Spurs besides DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess who don't shoot a ton of threes. The other 62% of the attempts are spread out between Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, and a bunch of other three-point shooters. Every non-big-man reserve attempts at least a quarter of their shots from beyond the arc, many drifting towards half or more of their attempts being from range. They're good at it though. The Spurs' field goal percentage remains high from both two- and three-point ranges. The classic attack is to pressure you with the stars and let the supporting cast clean up with open jumpers. Blair, McDyess, and Duncan try to clean up what the others miss.

Even though percentages are high, assists are plentiful, turnovers are manageable, and efficiency is good the Spurs still get anemic offensive performances that cripple them. Richard Jefferson averages only 12.4 per game coming off of a 19.6 average last year. He's shooting better than he was last season but he's not getting near the number of attempts. Ginobili is shooting a career-low 39% and is scoring 12.9 per game, down 2.6 from the previous season and 6.6 from two years ago. Michael Finley has been injured and is a non-entity outside of stroking the occasional three. The Spurs have some big names playing pretty small. On the other hand reserve point guard George Hill has had a fine season offensively. Rookie Blair has been a terror on the boards as has McDyess. In short the top and bottom of the rotation are solid but the middle is sagging.

For all of the changes and evolutions the Spurs still play as a team. They pass the ball, gang rebound, distribute shots, and field 10 guys averaging 18 or more minutes per game. They're not a team to give the win to you. You have to beat them legitimately in order to take it. They've been here and done this before and have playoff runs and rings to show for it.

Keys to the Game

1. This is the classic EFT game: Energy, Focus, Toughness. Even depleted the Blazers have the talent to take these guys at home, especially with Parker on the fritz or just coming back. But they'll have to hustle. They'll have to execute plays and not get caught heaving desperation bombs against the shot clock because San Antonio won't let you have a second chance. They will also have to stand up to the Spurs. San Antonio isn't exactly Denver. They're not going to out-and-out beat you up. But Richard Jefferson and Tim Duncan have been around for a while. They know how to use their bodies. Jefferson at least knows how to use his meanly. McDyess won't let you have a free lunch either. When the Spurs push the Blazers at least have to not back down. At best they'd push back a little.

2. The Spurs rebound well as a team. The Blazers need to do the same.

3. If Parker plays don't let him run. He's bad enough in a measured game but if he's breaking he'll score 28 with 10 assists and we'll lose.

4. LaMarcus usually accepts the challenge against Duncan and LMA has had a couple of nice games lately. If LMA can match Duncan's output the rest of the team has a reasonable chance of outscoring their collective counterparts.

5. Push every chance you get. Make the older, slower Spurs commit to getting back on you just like you have to on Parker.

6. Life would be better if Brandon would come back.

Final Thoughts

I'm not as confident as usual about the game against the L*kers this weekend, home court or no. That means this would be a nice win to get. It turns an L.A. loss into a non-issue and a win against L.A. into a tangible gain.

[DesignatedT]

duncan only played 28 minutes tonight against sactown so he should be a go against portland no if and or buts.

[HarlemHeat37]

Please don't let Jerry Bayless go for 60..

[Manu-of-steel]

Im disappointed with mason. Hope he'll have a good shooting night againsty the blazers.

[duncan228]

Referee assignments:

Bill Kennedy
Eli Roe
Zach Zarba


Hope you're okay shelshor. :)

[Bukefal]

I hope I was wrong with my RRT prediction and hope they'll win.

http://www.dixieflag.com/catalog/SPURSBANNER.jpg