duncan228
02-05-2010, 01:55 AM
Spurs fizzle late against Blazers (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_fizzle_late_against_Blazers.html)
Jeff McDonald
PORTLAND, Ore. – Spurs coach Gregg Popovich began night talking about belief.
He was riffing on the Portland Trail Blazers, and their uncanny ability to survive injury after injury, but he might as well have been preaching to his own team.
“That’s what this journey is about,” Popovich said before tipoff Thursday. “It’s an exercise in commitment to each other, and having the character to continue to believe, and not try and moan and blame, but to try and be the best group you can be, no matter what.”
Given a chance to put the power of positive thinking into action later that night at the Rose Garden, the Spurs – like most everything else during this frustrating stretch of the season – let it slip through their fingers.
Martell Webster had 21 points, including two huge fourth-quarter 3-pointers, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 13 rebounds, as Portland overcame a 10-point deficit in the final frame to earn a 96-93 victory over the Spurs.
With the victory, the Trail Blazers (30-22) extended their winning streak over the Spurs to five, including a 3-0 mark this season. They have beaten the Spurs (28-20) in six of the past seven meetings, including four in a row at the Rose Garden.
Heading down the stretch Thursday, the Spurs were in a position to grind out what could have been a season-turning victory. Instead, they fell into a familiar pattern, out-executed in crunch time again.
A 16-3 run during a six-minute stretch of the fourth quarter allowed the Blazers to wipe out a double-digit deficit in a hurry.
A Webster 3-pointer, followed by Aldridge’s pull-up jumper, gave Portland an 88-87 lead with 2:54 to go.
The Blazers would not trail again.
The Spurs, after scoring at will during a 53-point first half, managed just two field goals in the final 4:59, both of them on Manu Ginobili drives.
Ginobili led the Spurs with 21 points off the bench, but missed his biggest attempt of the game.
Afforded one last gasp – down 92-89 after Andre Miller missed one of two foul shots – Ginobili got a wide open look at a corner 3-pointer with 10.9 seconds to go. It missed, and Webster made four free throws in the next 10 seconds to seal the game.
It marked the second time this season Portland beat the Spurs with All-Star Brandon Roy and his 23.1 points per game inactive. With the loss, the Spurs fell to 1-1 on their rodeo road trip, which resumes Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Returning from a three-game layoff while resting a sprained left ankle, Tony Parker looked rested, not rusty, early but faded late. He had 16 points in the first half, scoring on an array of drives and jumpers to help pace the Spurs to a 53-51 lead at the break.
Parker would make just one more field goal the rest of the way, as the second half turned into a defensive slog.
Portland shot a sizzling 57.5 percent in the first half, getting a good bulk of their points in transition off the Spurs’ misses.
The Blazers began to cool off, just a tad, in the third quarter, as the Spurs began to get a few stops.
Portland was 7 for 27 in the quarter, managing just 15 points, and the Spurs began to open up a modest lead. Back-to-back Ginobili 3-pointers to close the quarter – his first of the game – put the Spurs up 74-66 heading into the final frame. It was their largest edge to that point.
When Parker threw in a 20-footer 90 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Spurs owned the game’s first double-digit lead.
Jeff McDonald
PORTLAND, Ore. – Spurs coach Gregg Popovich began night talking about belief.
He was riffing on the Portland Trail Blazers, and their uncanny ability to survive injury after injury, but he might as well have been preaching to his own team.
“That’s what this journey is about,” Popovich said before tipoff Thursday. “It’s an exercise in commitment to each other, and having the character to continue to believe, and not try and moan and blame, but to try and be the best group you can be, no matter what.”
Given a chance to put the power of positive thinking into action later that night at the Rose Garden, the Spurs – like most everything else during this frustrating stretch of the season – let it slip through their fingers.
Martell Webster had 21 points, including two huge fourth-quarter 3-pointers, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 13 rebounds, as Portland overcame a 10-point deficit in the final frame to earn a 96-93 victory over the Spurs.
With the victory, the Trail Blazers (30-22) extended their winning streak over the Spurs to five, including a 3-0 mark this season. They have beaten the Spurs (28-20) in six of the past seven meetings, including four in a row at the Rose Garden.
Heading down the stretch Thursday, the Spurs were in a position to grind out what could have been a season-turning victory. Instead, they fell into a familiar pattern, out-executed in crunch time again.
A 16-3 run during a six-minute stretch of the fourth quarter allowed the Blazers to wipe out a double-digit deficit in a hurry.
A Webster 3-pointer, followed by Aldridge’s pull-up jumper, gave Portland an 88-87 lead with 2:54 to go.
The Blazers would not trail again.
The Spurs, after scoring at will during a 53-point first half, managed just two field goals in the final 4:59, both of them on Manu Ginobili drives.
Ginobili led the Spurs with 21 points off the bench, but missed his biggest attempt of the game.
Afforded one last gasp – down 92-89 after Andre Miller missed one of two foul shots – Ginobili got a wide open look at a corner 3-pointer with 10.9 seconds to go. It missed, and Webster made four free throws in the next 10 seconds to seal the game.
It marked the second time this season Portland beat the Spurs with All-Star Brandon Roy and his 23.1 points per game inactive. With the loss, the Spurs fell to 1-1 on their rodeo road trip, which resumes Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Returning from a three-game layoff while resting a sprained left ankle, Tony Parker looked rested, not rusty, early but faded late. He had 16 points in the first half, scoring on an array of drives and jumpers to help pace the Spurs to a 53-51 lead at the break.
Parker would make just one more field goal the rest of the way, as the second half turned into a defensive slog.
Portland shot a sizzling 57.5 percent in the first half, getting a good bulk of their points in transition off the Spurs’ misses.
The Blazers began to cool off, just a tad, in the third quarter, as the Spurs began to get a few stops.
Portland was 7 for 27 in the quarter, managing just 15 points, and the Spurs began to open up a modest lead. Back-to-back Ginobili 3-pointers to close the quarter – his first of the game – put the Spurs up 74-66 heading into the final frame. It was their largest edge to that point.
When Parker threw in a 20-footer 90 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Spurs owned the game’s first double-digit lead.