TJastal
11-23-2010, 12:04 PM
Magic vs Spurs commentary & grades -- for anyone interested. Grades at the end =).
1st quarter.
Lewis opens w/ a 3 ball, Blair tries to go under the moving screen of Howard (no call of course), ker-splash. Not really Blair's fault IMO, but Pop subs in Bonner immediately. Manu splashes home a 3 ball of his own. Magic go right at Bonner immediately on the low block but Bonner defends and helps cause a missed 3. Manu & Timmy run a textbook P&R for a layup. Lewis drains another 3, thx to Bonner leaving him to double Vince Carter on the block against Manu. Bonner comes back and splashes a 3 of his own as if to say "hey, I'm Matt fucking Bonner here":lol. Magic again go at Bonner on the P&R, its a weak pick but Bonner shows anyway at the top of the key, and Lewis gets an uncontested 8 footer, but luckily for Bonner he misses. Pop now subs Blair back in for Bonner. Seems Pop has seen enough of Bonner's defense at this point and yanks him back out for Blair (lol Pop).
Nelson tries a fadeaway from the elbow, Parker does a good job contesting and forcing a miss by Jameer. Parker comes right back and drives it right down the magic's throat and scores before anyone can react. Blair gets a defensive 3 second call trying to jam the lane, and magic get a free point. Howard spins and dunks on Timmy. Parker comes back and after a pump fake to freeze Howard drives baseline and scores. Timmy plays good defense on Howard this time, forcing a bad shot. Manu does a slick move to impede Howard from running back on defense then floats a pass to Timmy for a layup. Magic call timeout.
VC gets to the rim on P&R but is met by Duncan who forces him to take a tough shot and miss. Howard throws Manu out of the way right in front of the ref and gathers in the rebound and goes for the dunk, but guess who is there to block him at the rim (vintage Tim Duncan). (I'm wondering at this point just how long Timmy is going to last at this rate, since Pop has some kind of phobia about playing Splitter). Howard again gives Manu a body check (obvious moving screen) to free Carter who misses the elbow jumper and Blair does a nice job of boxing out Lewis for the rebound.
Parker again pushing the pace forces the defense to collapse in the lane and finds a running Blair who is fouled by Carter. Manu looks to be in some kind of pain (thigh bruise from getting nailed by Howard would be my guess). Blair makes 1 of 2. Nelson runs Parker around 3 or 4 screens to get some room for a jumper. Parker tries to answer going baseline, and forces up a tough shot against Howard. Magic go right into the post against Ginobili, and Richards throws a shoulder into him which isn't called a foul, luckily for the spurs he loses control of the ball and Parker kicks it out but its called spurs ball (make up call apparently or just plain missed). Parker throws an off-target pass to Ginobili coming off a screen for turnover. Duncan fouls Carter on the other end, 2 free throws.
Manu just misses a 3, Blair tries to gather it but Howard is too big and strong. Duncan makes a crafty veteran play to keep Howard from catching a pass in the paint (Howard complains he his held) but IMO the pass is just too high. Magic turnover. Blair makes a nice move in the low post only to have Howard goal-tend it. Lewis pump fakes Blair easily and goes around him for a mid range J, which he misses. Manu valiantly holds his ground against Howard and Howard knocks it out of bounds, making a loud "Oh!!!" in disgust which the refs let go.
Jefferson just misses a wide open 3 from the top of the key, magic go to Howard in the post, but Duncan makes an outstanding block at the rim and almost blocks a Howard's putback attempt. Howard is given a technical for apparently arguing for a foul. (Defenitely nice to see the refs finally call something the spurs way for a change, and also Timmy making Howard his bitch :owned). Hill makes the technical free throw. Bonner again enters for Blair.
Parker again penetrates and makes a slick around the back pass to TD for a layup. He just made it look so effortless too. Nelson counters with a fading jumper over Duncan, and Parker again penetrates and almost scores over Richardson. Nelson makes a tough corner 3 with Parker's hand in his face. Hill misses a jumper, Nelson lobs it to Howard who is again rejected by Duncan but called for a foul (tough call). Howard makes 1 of 2. Parker answers with a beautiful double clutch jumper over Nelson. Nelson answers with an equally impressive fadeaway J.
McDyess misses a jumper from the top of the key, Reddick answers with his own miss from 3 (Hill does a good job fighting through multiple screens to contest). Parker again forces the issue and gets fouled going to the rim. Makes only 1 of 2 however. Magic go right to Howard on the post, but McDyess' defense causes him to travel. Bonner tries a floater in the lane and gets his shit stuffed by Howard (lol Bonner). Pietrus misses a jumper, Howard offensive rebound (McDyess tries to box him out). Duhon makes a jumper. Hill answers with a beautiful floater off glass over the outstretched arm of Howard. (lol Bonner again).
JJ Redick gets a wide open 3 (Gary Neal completely falls asleep at the wheel, bad rookie mistake) which he drains. McDyess answers with a jumper (Howard is leaving him wide open). Duhon misses a 3 (good contest by Tony). Neal just misses a 3. Reddick uses a Howard screen to get into the lane for a jumper. Parker again drives middle and is cut off by Howard, so he dishes cross court for a patented Hill corner 3. Splash! Great decision once again by Tony Parker.
SCORE Magic 30 Spurs 28
2nd quarter.
Spurs start off good, Manu takes it right at Howard for a layup. Reddick once again abuses Neal, who's defense is shit, for a mid range jumper which he easily connects. Hill just misses a beautiful reverse layup, magic come back and go right at Bonner in the post, however Bass travels. Bonner catch and shoot splash 3 to force a magic timeout. Out of timeout, Reddick again abuses Neal for a floater in the lane. Manu feeds McDyess on a P&R for a dunk (last year McDyess wouldn't have been expecting that kind of pass). Reddick again comes off multiple screens for a jumper, Bonner does get a hand in his face and Reddick misses. One thing I've learned so far, Gary Neal cannot fight through screens.
Manu tries some english off the glass and misses, Duhon gets an open 3 splash as Duncan is late getting back and Hill is forced to guard Gortat in the paint.
Manu again comes off screen for a 3, but defended well by Pietrus, Duncan misses a driving left handed scoop. Duhon gets his layup swatted to the 2nd row by Duncan. Carter misses a 3, and Bass easily outmuscles Bonner for the rebound, luckily Tim Duncan is there to deflect the ball off Bass' fingers. (This would have been an excellent time for Pop to use Splitter IMO but of course he sticks with the crotch rocket). Manu makes a circus teardrop layup over Gortat.
Bass comes back and muscles past Bonner in the paint which results in a Gortat offensive put-back. Hill makes a wild pass over Jefferson's head in the corner for a turnover. Bass luckily misses a wide open free throw line jumper (Bonner gets knocked backward by Gortat with minor contact). Manu almost makes another sweeping floater, Duncan goes for the tip in and does a good job selling a foul on Pietrus. Bonner makes a nice swing pass to Hill who pump fakes his man in the air and drills a mid range J. Duncan again sells another foul on VC, was a tad late getting there but the refs give it to him.
Duncan misses hook shot on Gortat. Bass gets called for a moving screen (he was barely moving compared to Howard's moving screens earlier lol). Hill & Duncan play hot potato with the basketball, and Hill completely misses Jefferson on an alley-oop cut to the rim, then misses him again in the corner for a wide open 3, and instead dumps it to Duncan in a bad spot who travels.:wtf Defenitely Hill needs to work on his point guard skills apparently.
Richardson misses a banker, and yes I had to rewind to make sure I saw right... Matt Bonner fights off Gortat for the rebound :wow, after Gortat shoved Duncan out of the play. Jefferson again clanks a 3, Howard makesa driving left layin. Manu makes a brilliant fadeaway. Nelson floater misses with a little help from Tim Duncan's arm and this time Matt Bonner fights off Dwight Howard for the rebound. Parker misses a J, magic again push the pace and Duncan makes a saving defection off glass which ignites a fast break and Parker misses a tough tear-drop in the lane (Jefferson was spotting up wide open in the corner, AGAIN). Nelson misses a J, Parker again forces the issue and gets a foul on Nelson driving to the hoop, Parker makes both.
Howard barely makes a lefty-hook (good defense by McDyess). McDyess short on jumper, Howard backdoor cuts McDyess for alley oop slam. Parker weaves in the paint for another jumper. Howard this time gets fouled by McDyess on another lefty layup. Howard makes 1 of 2. Manu gets a phantom foul call on Pietrus to bail out his runner which misses. Manu makes both. Lewis posts up Hill, Bonner comes to help nicely, but Lewis makes a tough fade. Parker hits a beautiful floater in the lane over Howard. Bass scores over Bonner in the paint. Manu clanks a 3. Bass misses a 10 footer, McDyess clears a tough rebound. Parker drives and kicks to Manu in the corner who splashes a 3 and gets fouled by Bass. 4pt play. Nelson drains a tough fallaway jumper from the top of the key to end the half (good defense applied by Splitter who makes a brief guest appearance in the game). For his 9 seconds of inspired defense, Splitter gets a pat on the ass from Duncan as they head to the locker room.
SCORE Magic 50 Spurs 53
3rd quarter.
Spurs open things by finding Blair in the paint for a flip shot over Howard. Richardson answers with a nice lefty layup around Duncan. Manu gets a nice pass cutting to the rim by Parker but front-rims the dunk attempt, Nelson drills a jumper. Manu draws a charge the other way then appears to kick him as he's stepping over. No technical foul called on Jameer unfortunately for Manu. Manu misses step back 3, Blair called for a lame loose ball foul trying to get an offensive rebound. Lewis clanks a jumper & Parker gets it to Jefferson in the corner who drives baseline and picks up a foul, makes both 'throws.
Howard makes a left handed scoop, Jefferson called for another lame foul (arms straight up on the play). Howard makes free throw. Duncan makes a nice driving layup (Blair was right there for a putback if necessary).
Richardson misses a hook in the post up, Jefferson and Blair do a nice job fighting off Howard for the rebound. Duncan this time goes left and makes a beautiful layup. Nelson makes a bad pass to Howard, Ginobili misses a floater (thought he was fouled). Carter then gets a foul on Ginobil going the other way on similar contact. Makes both. Manu misses baseline J badly, but Nelson can't connect either. Jefferson drains a 3 finally from the top of the key.
Blair with some nice defense on Lewis to force a bad pass, but Parker's alley oop to Jefferson partially blocked. Timmy feeds Richard on the post, but he gives it up to Parker who passes up an open J back to Timmy in the corner, who clanks (overpassing). Parker with quick hands pickpockets Howard, and starts fast break resulting in a badly missed 3. Carter makes a circus around the back lay up over Duncan. Splitter goes to the scorer's bench.... haha fooled ya, its Bonner aka "crotch rocket". :p
Hill barely misses a floater in the lane, Duncan boards and tippy toes falling out of bounds heaves it back out to reset. Duncan draws a shooting foul on Howard. Duncan makes 1 of 2. Lewis muscles Bonner into the lane but misses fallaway hook shot (Splitter would have stuffed him :p) Jefferson penetrates just misses driving layup, Nelson misses tear drop, and even flat-footed, Duncan out rebounds Dwight Howard.:wow Parker tries a wild reverse layup which misses badly, Howard reposts Duncan for a right handed hook deep in the paint. Parker drills a 3 from the corner. Howard answers with a spinning hook over Duncan. Jefferson misses a wild shot in the lane, Nelson misses, and Parker forces another foul on the magic pushing the tempo.
Parker makes both and Neal comes in for Jefferson, Dice for Duncan. Lewis called for push to the back on Bonner on Richardson miss. Magic in the penalty, Bonner clanks the 1st attempt off back iron, but rattles in the 2nd. Spurs play excellent defense, forcing Lewis into a tough fadeaway, which Bonner pulls down in traffic. Parker makes a fabulous driving layup over Gortat. Howard misses the same hook he made on Duncan a few minutes ago badly this time (McDyess guarding him very well). Ginobili's lazy floater-pass to Dice gets picked off, Reddick misses layup on other end, Bonner smartly wraps up Howard and makes him go to the line. Howard makes 1 of 2. Ginobili makes another stupid pass that gets picked off resulting in Howard hook. Hill throws another careless pass away, Pietrus drills a 3. Manu again tries an ill-advised drive, and coughs it up. Pietrus drills another 3. Hill finally answers the magic run with a nice floater over Howard. Neal fouls Duhon (Pop upset wanted in Howard) but fortunately Duhon makes only 1.
SCORE Magic 77 Spurs 74
4th quarter.
Magic go right at Bonner in the post, Bonner defends well, and Ginobili helps causing turnover. Neal misses a catch and shoot J, McDyess goes high to tip the rebound away from Howard, spurs get a rare offensive rebound. Manu makes driving lefty layup, then picks off Bass's crosscourt pass. McDyess splashes an elbow J. McDyess then outmuscles Howard for position and picks off the lazy entry pass, but spurs can't convert (24 sec violation). Reddick cans a jumper in Hill's face. Bonner answers with a 3 splash, with a little help from McDyess who held Bass just enough for Bonner to get his quick release off. Bass answers right back by driving it right down Bonner's throat. McDyess misses open J, Duhon misses runner, Howard fouled on rebound. Duhon misses J, spurs defense is defenitely cranked up.
Bonner misses a fugly left handed floater down the lane, McDyess once again is there tipping it away from the magic right to Bonner who lays it in. P&R Lewis drains an open J, Bonner for some reason hesitates instead of staying on him. Hill comes in for Ginobili who makes an angry gesture on his way back to the bench which I'm guessing is directed toward Bonner for not staying with Lewis on the last play. McDyess misses a turnaround J in the lane, but defends Howard well on a lefty hook and snags the board right out from Bonner's nose. Parker misses an easy J in the lane, Carter misses, & Bonner splashes a DEEP 3 pointer. Carter makes a tough athletic layup on Jefferson but pays the price with a hurt ankle.
Hill misses a set shot, but makes Reddick miss a J with some hounding defense, then Parker shows Hill how its done right at the other end. Nelson cans a jumper on Parker, & Parker makes a careless pass which is picked off resulting in another Pietrus 3. Once again, Parker responds to his own misdeeds, this time with a 3 of his own. Howard backs down Duncan for a score, but Jefferson drains a 3 with Pietrus right in his grill. Nelson misses a wide open J (courtesy Howard pick), Duncan trips and misses layup, Bonner gets lost on defense and Lewis drains a 3. Manu drains a HUGE step over 3.
Nelson loses the ball out of bounds (courtesy the hounding defense of George Hill). Jefferson cuts to the basket and Duncan feeds, but Pietrus swats him from behind. Pietrus finally clanks a 3, Bonner boxes out Howard for the rebound. Parker slings to Duncan on P&R in the paint who lays it in.
lol Manu trips Jameer Nelson (no-call) Jameer falls down and the ball is kicked out of bounds. On the replay the magic get screwed twice IMO because it appears (to me, at least) that Manu not only fouls Jameer, but kicks the ball out of bounds, and yet the officials award the ball to the spurs. Manu then makes a floater in the lane (Pietrus does get him on the arm this time). Manu makes FT. Shameless plug here, I love Sean Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ & Bill Land's color commentary. :D
Reddick just misses a circus 3 in the corner, Duncan fouled makes both. Howard dunk. Parker throws a bad pass to Jefferson, luckily Reddick misses, Parker fouls Howard. Duncan harasses Richardson into a miss, and Manu seals the game with two free throws.
Grades.
Tony Parker. A- Tony was brilliant tonight on both ends of the floor for 95% of the game, but displayed lapses in judgement that are uncharacteristic of him in the final 5%. And if he doesn't make both of his 3's, this grade could have been worse (and spurs probably lose). I also thought he forced up a few of his shots.
Manu Ginobili A- Like Parker, was brilliant for large stretches of the game, but unnervingly erratic in that other 5%. Manu was also on the recieving end of a number of generous calls from the officals.
Dejuan Blair B- Wasn't on floor long, and didn't do much, wasn't really a force on the O-boards when he was in the game. Made a shot and got to the line on another however.
Tim Duncan A Filled the stat sheet with timely rebounds, steals, and blocks. Played great defense on Howard, along with McDyess.
Richard Jefferson B Defended well, made a few timely 3's to seal the victory, and should have had a few more if teammates could find him. Never really got into a good rhythym, thx in part to blind teammates.
George Hill B Played great defense and made some nice floaters in the lane. Also made a few bad passes however, and missed Jefferson wide open twice on the same play. Gotta start working on his point guard skills, ASAP.
Gary Neal C Missed the two open shots he got, and played atrocious defense.
Matt Bonner B+ Bonner did some decent work on the boards in the 2nd half (after a pansy 1st half effort). Defensively still a liability most of the time. Made alot of 3's, which saved the spurs on a number of occassions.
Antonio McDyess B+ Great game for Antonio. Made a few timely shots, rebounded, and defended extremely well. Set up Bonner for one of his easy scores with a tap back. Missed a few too many J's which cost him an A.
Tiago Splitter A Defended Nelson brilliantly. Did his damndest to foul as instructed, Nelson just popped the cork on him. On a serious note, Pop seriously needs to find this guy some steady PT from some combination of the other 3 bigs, my preference would be Bonner, who should only ever be used (and sparingly at that) when the offense is stalled.
1st quarter.
Lewis opens w/ a 3 ball, Blair tries to go under the moving screen of Howard (no call of course), ker-splash. Not really Blair's fault IMO, but Pop subs in Bonner immediately. Manu splashes home a 3 ball of his own. Magic go right at Bonner immediately on the low block but Bonner defends and helps cause a missed 3. Manu & Timmy run a textbook P&R for a layup. Lewis drains another 3, thx to Bonner leaving him to double Vince Carter on the block against Manu. Bonner comes back and splashes a 3 of his own as if to say "hey, I'm Matt fucking Bonner here":lol. Magic again go at Bonner on the P&R, its a weak pick but Bonner shows anyway at the top of the key, and Lewis gets an uncontested 8 footer, but luckily for Bonner he misses. Pop now subs Blair back in for Bonner. Seems Pop has seen enough of Bonner's defense at this point and yanks him back out for Blair (lol Pop).
Nelson tries a fadeaway from the elbow, Parker does a good job contesting and forcing a miss by Jameer. Parker comes right back and drives it right down the magic's throat and scores before anyone can react. Blair gets a defensive 3 second call trying to jam the lane, and magic get a free point. Howard spins and dunks on Timmy. Parker comes back and after a pump fake to freeze Howard drives baseline and scores. Timmy plays good defense on Howard this time, forcing a bad shot. Manu does a slick move to impede Howard from running back on defense then floats a pass to Timmy for a layup. Magic call timeout.
VC gets to the rim on P&R but is met by Duncan who forces him to take a tough shot and miss. Howard throws Manu out of the way right in front of the ref and gathers in the rebound and goes for the dunk, but guess who is there to block him at the rim (vintage Tim Duncan). (I'm wondering at this point just how long Timmy is going to last at this rate, since Pop has some kind of phobia about playing Splitter). Howard again gives Manu a body check (obvious moving screen) to free Carter who misses the elbow jumper and Blair does a nice job of boxing out Lewis for the rebound.
Parker again pushing the pace forces the defense to collapse in the lane and finds a running Blair who is fouled by Carter. Manu looks to be in some kind of pain (thigh bruise from getting nailed by Howard would be my guess). Blair makes 1 of 2. Nelson runs Parker around 3 or 4 screens to get some room for a jumper. Parker tries to answer going baseline, and forces up a tough shot against Howard. Magic go right into the post against Ginobili, and Richards throws a shoulder into him which isn't called a foul, luckily for the spurs he loses control of the ball and Parker kicks it out but its called spurs ball (make up call apparently or just plain missed). Parker throws an off-target pass to Ginobili coming off a screen for turnover. Duncan fouls Carter on the other end, 2 free throws.
Manu just misses a 3, Blair tries to gather it but Howard is too big and strong. Duncan makes a crafty veteran play to keep Howard from catching a pass in the paint (Howard complains he his held) but IMO the pass is just too high. Magic turnover. Blair makes a nice move in the low post only to have Howard goal-tend it. Lewis pump fakes Blair easily and goes around him for a mid range J, which he misses. Manu valiantly holds his ground against Howard and Howard knocks it out of bounds, making a loud "Oh!!!" in disgust which the refs let go.
Jefferson just misses a wide open 3 from the top of the key, magic go to Howard in the post, but Duncan makes an outstanding block at the rim and almost blocks a Howard's putback attempt. Howard is given a technical for apparently arguing for a foul. (Defenitely nice to see the refs finally call something the spurs way for a change, and also Timmy making Howard his bitch :owned). Hill makes the technical free throw. Bonner again enters for Blair.
Parker again penetrates and makes a slick around the back pass to TD for a layup. He just made it look so effortless too. Nelson counters with a fading jumper over Duncan, and Parker again penetrates and almost scores over Richardson. Nelson makes a tough corner 3 with Parker's hand in his face. Hill misses a jumper, Nelson lobs it to Howard who is again rejected by Duncan but called for a foul (tough call). Howard makes 1 of 2. Parker answers with a beautiful double clutch jumper over Nelson. Nelson answers with an equally impressive fadeaway J.
McDyess misses a jumper from the top of the key, Reddick answers with his own miss from 3 (Hill does a good job fighting through multiple screens to contest). Parker again forces the issue and gets fouled going to the rim. Makes only 1 of 2 however. Magic go right to Howard on the post, but McDyess' defense causes him to travel. Bonner tries a floater in the lane and gets his shit stuffed by Howard (lol Bonner). Pietrus misses a jumper, Howard offensive rebound (McDyess tries to box him out). Duhon makes a jumper. Hill answers with a beautiful floater off glass over the outstretched arm of Howard. (lol Bonner again).
JJ Redick gets a wide open 3 (Gary Neal completely falls asleep at the wheel, bad rookie mistake) which he drains. McDyess answers with a jumper (Howard is leaving him wide open). Duhon misses a 3 (good contest by Tony). Neal just misses a 3. Reddick uses a Howard screen to get into the lane for a jumper. Parker again drives middle and is cut off by Howard, so he dishes cross court for a patented Hill corner 3. Splash! Great decision once again by Tony Parker.
SCORE Magic 30 Spurs 28
2nd quarter.
Spurs start off good, Manu takes it right at Howard for a layup. Reddick once again abuses Neal, who's defense is shit, for a mid range jumper which he easily connects. Hill just misses a beautiful reverse layup, magic come back and go right at Bonner in the post, however Bass travels. Bonner catch and shoot splash 3 to force a magic timeout. Out of timeout, Reddick again abuses Neal for a floater in the lane. Manu feeds McDyess on a P&R for a dunk (last year McDyess wouldn't have been expecting that kind of pass). Reddick again comes off multiple screens for a jumper, Bonner does get a hand in his face and Reddick misses. One thing I've learned so far, Gary Neal cannot fight through screens.
Manu tries some english off the glass and misses, Duhon gets an open 3 splash as Duncan is late getting back and Hill is forced to guard Gortat in the paint.
Manu again comes off screen for a 3, but defended well by Pietrus, Duncan misses a driving left handed scoop. Duhon gets his layup swatted to the 2nd row by Duncan. Carter misses a 3, and Bass easily outmuscles Bonner for the rebound, luckily Tim Duncan is there to deflect the ball off Bass' fingers. (This would have been an excellent time for Pop to use Splitter IMO but of course he sticks with the crotch rocket). Manu makes a circus teardrop layup over Gortat.
Bass comes back and muscles past Bonner in the paint which results in a Gortat offensive put-back. Hill makes a wild pass over Jefferson's head in the corner for a turnover. Bass luckily misses a wide open free throw line jumper (Bonner gets knocked backward by Gortat with minor contact). Manu almost makes another sweeping floater, Duncan goes for the tip in and does a good job selling a foul on Pietrus. Bonner makes a nice swing pass to Hill who pump fakes his man in the air and drills a mid range J. Duncan again sells another foul on VC, was a tad late getting there but the refs give it to him.
Duncan misses hook shot on Gortat. Bass gets called for a moving screen (he was barely moving compared to Howard's moving screens earlier lol). Hill & Duncan play hot potato with the basketball, and Hill completely misses Jefferson on an alley-oop cut to the rim, then misses him again in the corner for a wide open 3, and instead dumps it to Duncan in a bad spot who travels.:wtf Defenitely Hill needs to work on his point guard skills apparently.
Richardson misses a banker, and yes I had to rewind to make sure I saw right... Matt Bonner fights off Gortat for the rebound :wow, after Gortat shoved Duncan out of the play. Jefferson again clanks a 3, Howard makesa driving left layin. Manu makes a brilliant fadeaway. Nelson floater misses with a little help from Tim Duncan's arm and this time Matt Bonner fights off Dwight Howard for the rebound. Parker misses a J, magic again push the pace and Duncan makes a saving defection off glass which ignites a fast break and Parker misses a tough tear-drop in the lane (Jefferson was spotting up wide open in the corner, AGAIN). Nelson misses a J, Parker again forces the issue and gets a foul on Nelson driving to the hoop, Parker makes both.
Howard barely makes a lefty-hook (good defense by McDyess). McDyess short on jumper, Howard backdoor cuts McDyess for alley oop slam. Parker weaves in the paint for another jumper. Howard this time gets fouled by McDyess on another lefty layup. Howard makes 1 of 2. Manu gets a phantom foul call on Pietrus to bail out his runner which misses. Manu makes both. Lewis posts up Hill, Bonner comes to help nicely, but Lewis makes a tough fade. Parker hits a beautiful floater in the lane over Howard. Bass scores over Bonner in the paint. Manu clanks a 3. Bass misses a 10 footer, McDyess clears a tough rebound. Parker drives and kicks to Manu in the corner who splashes a 3 and gets fouled by Bass. 4pt play. Nelson drains a tough fallaway jumper from the top of the key to end the half (good defense applied by Splitter who makes a brief guest appearance in the game). For his 9 seconds of inspired defense, Splitter gets a pat on the ass from Duncan as they head to the locker room.
SCORE Magic 50 Spurs 53
3rd quarter.
Spurs open things by finding Blair in the paint for a flip shot over Howard. Richardson answers with a nice lefty layup around Duncan. Manu gets a nice pass cutting to the rim by Parker but front-rims the dunk attempt, Nelson drills a jumper. Manu draws a charge the other way then appears to kick him as he's stepping over. No technical foul called on Jameer unfortunately for Manu. Manu misses step back 3, Blair called for a lame loose ball foul trying to get an offensive rebound. Lewis clanks a jumper & Parker gets it to Jefferson in the corner who drives baseline and picks up a foul, makes both 'throws.
Howard makes a left handed scoop, Jefferson called for another lame foul (arms straight up on the play). Howard makes free throw. Duncan makes a nice driving layup (Blair was right there for a putback if necessary).
Richardson misses a hook in the post up, Jefferson and Blair do a nice job fighting off Howard for the rebound. Duncan this time goes left and makes a beautiful layup. Nelson makes a bad pass to Howard, Ginobili misses a floater (thought he was fouled). Carter then gets a foul on Ginobil going the other way on similar contact. Makes both. Manu misses baseline J badly, but Nelson can't connect either. Jefferson drains a 3 finally from the top of the key.
Blair with some nice defense on Lewis to force a bad pass, but Parker's alley oop to Jefferson partially blocked. Timmy feeds Richard on the post, but he gives it up to Parker who passes up an open J back to Timmy in the corner, who clanks (overpassing). Parker with quick hands pickpockets Howard, and starts fast break resulting in a badly missed 3. Carter makes a circus around the back lay up over Duncan. Splitter goes to the scorer's bench.... haha fooled ya, its Bonner aka "crotch rocket". :p
Hill barely misses a floater in the lane, Duncan boards and tippy toes falling out of bounds heaves it back out to reset. Duncan draws a shooting foul on Howard. Duncan makes 1 of 2. Lewis muscles Bonner into the lane but misses fallaway hook shot (Splitter would have stuffed him :p) Jefferson penetrates just misses driving layup, Nelson misses tear drop, and even flat-footed, Duncan out rebounds Dwight Howard.:wow Parker tries a wild reverse layup which misses badly, Howard reposts Duncan for a right handed hook deep in the paint. Parker drills a 3 from the corner. Howard answers with a spinning hook over Duncan. Jefferson misses a wild shot in the lane, Nelson misses, and Parker forces another foul on the magic pushing the tempo.
Parker makes both and Neal comes in for Jefferson, Dice for Duncan. Lewis called for push to the back on Bonner on Richardson miss. Magic in the penalty, Bonner clanks the 1st attempt off back iron, but rattles in the 2nd. Spurs play excellent defense, forcing Lewis into a tough fadeaway, which Bonner pulls down in traffic. Parker makes a fabulous driving layup over Gortat. Howard misses the same hook he made on Duncan a few minutes ago badly this time (McDyess guarding him very well). Ginobili's lazy floater-pass to Dice gets picked off, Reddick misses layup on other end, Bonner smartly wraps up Howard and makes him go to the line. Howard makes 1 of 2. Ginobili makes another stupid pass that gets picked off resulting in Howard hook. Hill throws another careless pass away, Pietrus drills a 3. Manu again tries an ill-advised drive, and coughs it up. Pietrus drills another 3. Hill finally answers the magic run with a nice floater over Howard. Neal fouls Duhon (Pop upset wanted in Howard) but fortunately Duhon makes only 1.
SCORE Magic 77 Spurs 74
4th quarter.
Magic go right at Bonner in the post, Bonner defends well, and Ginobili helps causing turnover. Neal misses a catch and shoot J, McDyess goes high to tip the rebound away from Howard, spurs get a rare offensive rebound. Manu makes driving lefty layup, then picks off Bass's crosscourt pass. McDyess splashes an elbow J. McDyess then outmuscles Howard for position and picks off the lazy entry pass, but spurs can't convert (24 sec violation). Reddick cans a jumper in Hill's face. Bonner answers with a 3 splash, with a little help from McDyess who held Bass just enough for Bonner to get his quick release off. Bass answers right back by driving it right down Bonner's throat. McDyess misses open J, Duhon misses runner, Howard fouled on rebound. Duhon misses J, spurs defense is defenitely cranked up.
Bonner misses a fugly left handed floater down the lane, McDyess once again is there tipping it away from the magic right to Bonner who lays it in. P&R Lewis drains an open J, Bonner for some reason hesitates instead of staying on him. Hill comes in for Ginobili who makes an angry gesture on his way back to the bench which I'm guessing is directed toward Bonner for not staying with Lewis on the last play. McDyess misses a turnaround J in the lane, but defends Howard well on a lefty hook and snags the board right out from Bonner's nose. Parker misses an easy J in the lane, Carter misses, & Bonner splashes a DEEP 3 pointer. Carter makes a tough athletic layup on Jefferson but pays the price with a hurt ankle.
Hill misses a set shot, but makes Reddick miss a J with some hounding defense, then Parker shows Hill how its done right at the other end. Nelson cans a jumper on Parker, & Parker makes a careless pass which is picked off resulting in another Pietrus 3. Once again, Parker responds to his own misdeeds, this time with a 3 of his own. Howard backs down Duncan for a score, but Jefferson drains a 3 with Pietrus right in his grill. Nelson misses a wide open J (courtesy Howard pick), Duncan trips and misses layup, Bonner gets lost on defense and Lewis drains a 3. Manu drains a HUGE step over 3.
Nelson loses the ball out of bounds (courtesy the hounding defense of George Hill). Jefferson cuts to the basket and Duncan feeds, but Pietrus swats him from behind. Pietrus finally clanks a 3, Bonner boxes out Howard for the rebound. Parker slings to Duncan on P&R in the paint who lays it in.
lol Manu trips Jameer Nelson (no-call) Jameer falls down and the ball is kicked out of bounds. On the replay the magic get screwed twice IMO because it appears (to me, at least) that Manu not only fouls Jameer, but kicks the ball out of bounds, and yet the officials award the ball to the spurs. Manu then makes a floater in the lane (Pietrus does get him on the arm this time). Manu makes FT. Shameless plug here, I love Sean Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Lu ck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_Luck_The_Fakers_ & Bill Land's color commentary. :D
Reddick just misses a circus 3 in the corner, Duncan fouled makes both. Howard dunk. Parker throws a bad pass to Jefferson, luckily Reddick misses, Parker fouls Howard. Duncan harasses Richardson into a miss, and Manu seals the game with two free throws.
Grades.
Tony Parker. A- Tony was brilliant tonight on both ends of the floor for 95% of the game, but displayed lapses in judgement that are uncharacteristic of him in the final 5%. And if he doesn't make both of his 3's, this grade could have been worse (and spurs probably lose). I also thought he forced up a few of his shots.
Manu Ginobili A- Like Parker, was brilliant for large stretches of the game, but unnervingly erratic in that other 5%. Manu was also on the recieving end of a number of generous calls from the officals.
Dejuan Blair B- Wasn't on floor long, and didn't do much, wasn't really a force on the O-boards when he was in the game. Made a shot and got to the line on another however.
Tim Duncan A Filled the stat sheet with timely rebounds, steals, and blocks. Played great defense on Howard, along with McDyess.
Richard Jefferson B Defended well, made a few timely 3's to seal the victory, and should have had a few more if teammates could find him. Never really got into a good rhythym, thx in part to blind teammates.
George Hill B Played great defense and made some nice floaters in the lane. Also made a few bad passes however, and missed Jefferson wide open twice on the same play. Gotta start working on his point guard skills, ASAP.
Gary Neal C Missed the two open shots he got, and played atrocious defense.
Matt Bonner B+ Bonner did some decent work on the boards in the 2nd half (after a pansy 1st half effort). Defensively still a liability most of the time. Made alot of 3's, which saved the spurs on a number of occassions.
Antonio McDyess B+ Great game for Antonio. Made a few timely shots, rebounded, and defended extremely well. Set up Bonner for one of his easy scores with a tap back. Missed a few too many J's which cost him an A.
Tiago Splitter A Defended Nelson brilliantly. Did his damndest to foul as instructed, Nelson just popped the cork on him. On a serious note, Pop seriously needs to find this guy some steady PT from some combination of the other 3 bigs, my preference would be Bonner, who should only ever be used (and sparingly at that) when the offense is stalled.