spurschick
05-22-2005, 09:49 PM
Note to Shaq: Spurs center shows go-to guys come through when needed
By Mike Celizic
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 8:28 p.m. ET May 22, 2005
You didn’t have to know anything about basketball to know that Tim Duncan wasn’t operating at peak efficiency. He ran the court stiffly, had trouble jumping, grabbed at a leg as if there was pain at the end of it.
But the tall guy from San Antonio played 40 minutes, scored 28 points, pulled down 15 rebounds, and was a big factor in his team’s stealing home-court advantage from Phoenix in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
If this were the regular season, Duncan might well have sat out the game. At best, he would have played half as many minutes and not had nearly the same stat line.
But it’s the playoffs, and this is what all stars do. In the language of sports, they suck it up.
You have to figure Shaquille O’Neal, who’s been hobbled by a deep thigh bruise for five weeks, watched Duncan and the Spurs clamp down on the Suns, the team with the NBA’s best regular-season record.
As we all know by now, there is not a more dominant player in the game than Shaq. Thanks to him, with help from Kobe Bryant — and not the other way around — the Lakers won three straight titles. There is no defense that’s ever worked against him. When he’s on the court, he changes the way the game is played.
His injury forced him into civvies for the final two games of the Heat’s sweep of the Wizards. After more than a week off, the Heat are due to start the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, which beat Shaq and the Lakers in last year’s championship round.
Shaq has finally made it back to the practice court, but he’s being coy about whether he will be able to play in Game 1 against Detroit. The Pistons say they expect him to be there. It’s the only assumption to make.
By Mike Celizic
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 8:28 p.m. ET May 22, 2005
You didn’t have to know anything about basketball to know that Tim Duncan wasn’t operating at peak efficiency. He ran the court stiffly, had trouble jumping, grabbed at a leg as if there was pain at the end of it.
But the tall guy from San Antonio played 40 minutes, scored 28 points, pulled down 15 rebounds, and was a big factor in his team’s stealing home-court advantage from Phoenix in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
If this were the regular season, Duncan might well have sat out the game. At best, he would have played half as many minutes and not had nearly the same stat line.
But it’s the playoffs, and this is what all stars do. In the language of sports, they suck it up.
You have to figure Shaquille O’Neal, who’s been hobbled by a deep thigh bruise for five weeks, watched Duncan and the Spurs clamp down on the Suns, the team with the NBA’s best regular-season record.
As we all know by now, there is not a more dominant player in the game than Shaq. Thanks to him, with help from Kobe Bryant — and not the other way around — the Lakers won three straight titles. There is no defense that’s ever worked against him. When he’s on the court, he changes the way the game is played.
His injury forced him into civvies for the final two games of the Heat’s sweep of the Wizards. After more than a week off, the Heat are due to start the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, which beat Shaq and the Lakers in last year’s championship round.
Shaq has finally made it back to the practice court, but he’s being coy about whether he will be able to play in Game 1 against Detroit. The Pistons say they expect him to be there. It’s the only assumption to make.