Game Blog: Suns @ Spurs - Dec. 20

[Trainwreck2100]

there's 40 seconds left

[Crookshanks]

27 points off turnovers - wow!!

[Spurs Brazil]

We didn't play well but a W is a W

[carina_gino20]

Can't see the game, but just looking at the boxscore, looks like a Ginobili-esque performance from Neal.

[BlairForceDejuan]

lol at suns' boards "wtf is Neal??"

[jestersmash]

Is anybody really surprised at Tim's performance? Ginobili's shot is just way off this game; Tim is very capable of picking up the slack. Tony did a terrific job as well.

That's precisely why the Spurs are so deadly. We don't have any single MVP on this team. We've got 3 guys who can either put up MVP type numbers or make an MVP type impact on any given game.

[Crookshanks]

lol at suns' boards "wtf is Neal??"

They'll get to know him - just like they did Roger Mason Jr. :lol

[Fireball]

lol at suns' boards "wtf is Neal??"

its a train :rollin

[Texas_Ranger]

what a pass

[Jason R]

Spurs just have to take care of the ball now.

[spurs1990]

Can't see the game, but just looking at the boxscore, looks like a Ginobili-esque performance from Neal.

Can you not access it online?

[Trainwreck2100]

Holy shit 2 straight games where bonner gets to the line

[Crookshanks]

geez - this Suns team just won't quit.

[TampaDude]

Manu seals the deal at the stripe.

[Texas_Ranger]

You don't have Tracy McGrady Phoenix so just give up!!

[janetcn12]

Another Win. Congrats Spurs. Kudos to all players...

[Crookshanks]

You don't have Tracy McGrady Phoenix so just give up!!

Yeah - just end the game already.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Just sink these 2 free throws and the Suns will back away.

[TampaDude]

geez - this Suns team just won't quit.

Nope. We're lucky to have a good cushion, cuz we're missing too many FTs.

[carina_gino20]

Can you not access it online?

let's say that I'm supposed to be doing something else at the moment :lol

[Jason R]

Loved the back to back blocks on Childress by Duncan.

[Spurs Brazil]

Props to Neal, great game. TD with a solid game. Quinn did a fine job again

Blair with some good plays but a lot of stupid decisions

[ducks]

duncan great game

[spurs1990]

No George Hill. No James Anderson. No Tiago Splitter. Alot of talent yet to be mixed in.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

No blowout here, but Spurs won. That's all that matters.

Now let's bring on those Nuggets!

[timtonymanu]

Neal has shown that he's capable of carrying the bench. I can't wait for Hill and Anderson to be back. These 3 will do alot for us.

[ducks]

Loved the back to back blocks on Childress by Duncan.

it was duncan then bonner

[dbestpro]

I guess we can say that Neal has earned that contract now.

[TampaDude]

Spurs win, 118-110!

24-3!!!!!

GO SPURS GO!!!!!

[Crookshanks]

Tony and Nash: hey, you wanna switch wives?

[janetcn12]

Congrats again Spurs...Now the next team pls

[ducks]

Neal has shown that he's capable of carrying the bench. I can't wait for Hill and Anderson to be back. These 3 will do alot for us.

neal is going to make it easier to trade hill if spurs want to

[Spurs Brazil]

I hope I'll not listen those Suns announcers again

[Jason R]

Good job Spurs. Sloppy but you pulled it out.

[Capt Bringdown]

Another good night from Quinn the Eskimo.

[Jason R]

it was duncan then bonner

Duncan got two blocks then Bonner got one.

[BoricuaCJA]

No blowout here, but Spurs won. That's all that matters.

Now let's bring on those Nuggets!
Exactly! It does not matter if you win by a point or 20 points, a win is a win. Hopefully we beat the Nuggets by a good margin on wed.

[007nites]

it was duncan then bonner

Duncan had two blocks on Childress back to back on the same poession, then Bonner got the third block right after right after Duncan's back to back.

[Jason R]

Good job Spurs. Sloppy but you pulled it out.

That's what she said.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

it was duncan then bonner

TD did block childress twice before bonner.

[DPG21920]

Spurs have two really tough games coming up potentially. Orlando has their new players. Denver will look for revenge. It's crucial to get that first win against Denver.

[Jason R]

Tough back to back Wednesday/Thursday .

[BoricuaCJA]

I hope I'll not listen those Suns announcers again
Truthfully, I got a headache from their stupid conversations.

[007nites]

I hope I'll not listen those Suns announcers again

They were alright. However, they had so nasty things to say about Bowen.

[Capt Bringdown]

Nice photo, Neal & Duncan
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/ap/25/fullj.eb9e174fec5abd3753707e80a7e9a042/ap-17fa18ff998d4c72bfc0d67a5a423fce.jpg

[TampaDude]

Exactly! It does not matter if you win by a point or 20 points, a win is a win. Hopefully we beat the Nuggets by a good margin on wed.

It was typical big-lead sloppiness by the Spurs. Once the Suns got close again, the Spurs woke up and put the game away. Like you said, a win is a win. :toast

[DPG21920]

neal is going to make it easier to trade hill if spurs want to


Absolutely not.

[Spurs Brazil]

Manu 3PT shot is way off this month

[Cessation]

Chris Quin with +19 lol, highest on the team.

[TampaDude]

Someone always steps up...that's one of the hallmarks of a championship team.

Keep on winning, guys! GO SPURS GO!!!!!

[ducks]

Absolutely not.

if spurs can trade and improve the team
spurs are going to have to trade a player to get a player in return
hill will get you more of a player then neal

[ElNono]

Choooo fucking choooo

Great win!

[smrattler]

NBA TV interviewing Gary Neil... Brent Bary there listening to him talk about Tony Parker. Now asking him questions.

Awkward...

[ducks]

Manu 3PT shot is way off this month

tired legs
more back to back games
more games in in a row


glad there is no game tell thursday
manu old body should be rested:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao

[Spurs Brazil]

tired legs
more back to back games
more games in in a row


glad there is no game tell thursday
manu old body should be rested:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao

We play Wednesday

[TMTTRIO]

Manu 3PT shot is way off this month
He just had a really good start this year with it but now you can see he's really coming back down to earth and inconsistant with it. It has nothing to do with being tired.

[ducks]

We play Wednesday

that means MANU WILL SUCK ON THURSDAY:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang
on tnt

[ducks]

He just had a really good start this year with it but now you can see he's really coming back down to earth and inconsistant with it. It has nothing to do with being tired.

lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lol:lo l:lol:lol

[jestersmash]

Good news about Ginoili's shot being way off for the past couple of games - he's due for a fantastic game in the near future, and we've got some tough opponents coming up. With the way he's going, he's poised to go on a positive streak during a game where we really need him.

And I disagree about Ginobili not being tired. He specifically said he was extremely tired for the Denver game and that he didn't have his legs under him at all (post game interview for the Spurs-Denver game). Spurs had - what - a day rest for Memphis and then a day rest for Phoenix? It'd probably be helpful if Spurs had a 2+ day rest streak for Ginobili to rejuvenate his legs again.

[Kool Bob Love]

My dude Ducks stay trolling. Iaintevenmad.jpg
I wonder how this dude acts outside of ST.:lol

[Kool Bob Love]

Great game for everyone.
On To The Next One.:toast

[Jason R]

The Spurs have had trouble putting away opponents lately, even while racking up the wins. Following an overtime victory against Memphis the Spurs had hoped to do away with the Suns relatively easily. The Suns, shorthanded and without the aid of their new trade acquisitions, such as Vince Carter, looked like something of a sure win to the streaking Spurs.


Steve Nash and company, however, had other plans. Nash himself put up 17 points along with 10 assists, while Jared Dudley, averaging 6.8 points per game this season, exploded for 27 points on 54% shooting. Grant Hill added another 19 points to go along with significant contributions from Hakeem Warrick and Josh Childress. As a team the Suns shot 53% from the field and showed that regardless of how short handed they might be, no Steve Nash led team would go down without putting up a fight.


The Spurs, lacking a fantastic sixth man in George Hill, saw their best scoring come from Gary Neal, who put in 22 points including clutch free throw shooting down the stretch. Tony Parker, recently named player of the week in the Western Conference, added 19 points and six assists despite spending a good amount of time in foul trouble. Tim Duncan's impact was felt on all sides of the court as he rumbled in for 20 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals in what was one of his best all around performances of the season. It's obvious Duncan still has a lot in the tank, even if he is letting other players carry more of the load these days.


The Spurs started sluggish but started to pull away in the later half of the 1st quarter, moving to an 11 point lead. However, the Suns battled back, going up by a single point and entering the halftime break in the lead, 54-53. The Spurs respond, starting out the 3rd quarter strong to break open the game, leading 93-78 entering the 4th. The Suns would never catch the Spurs but they would challenge for the lead several times during the final twelve minutes of the game. A strong offensive performance by Gary Neal balanced Tim Duncan's defensive presence, which was highlighted by Duncan's back-to-back blocks against Josh Childress. Though the Spurs shot atrociously from the 3-point line, hitting only 28% of their shots, they managed to find ways to score in the paint and with an array of midrange shots.


The Spurs' victory earns them a 9 game win streak, one of only a few NBA teams to have multiple 9 game streaks in the first half of the season. They begin back-to-back nights against Denver and then Orlando, starting on Wednesday. Tune in here for game previews and recaps as the week continues.


http://www.examiner.com/san-antonio-spurs-in-san-antonio/recap-spurs-beat-suns-118-110

[carina_gino20]

that means MANU WILL SUCK ON THURSDAY:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang
on tnt

Thanks in advance! :toast

[Fundamental]

SPURS!!!!! :king

[duncan228]

Spurs handle Suns for 9th straight win (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2010122024)
By Paul J. Weber

The San Antonio Spurs looked like they have all season, happy with yet another victory as the NBA’s winningest team.

The Phoenix Suns won’t look like this again. That made them happy, too.

Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the Spurs won their won their ninth in a row, 118-110 over the Suns, who played undermanned again Monday night following their blockbuster trade with Orlando over the weekend.

The Suns are expected to debut Vince Carter, Martin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus on Thursday back home against Miami. In the meantime, coach Alvin Gentry used just eight players against the Spurs, a night after a draining upset at Oklahoma City.

“Grant (Hill), being the guy he is, said to me, ‘I’m really sorry. I just got tired,” Gentry said. “I mean, I felt like an idiot with him saying that.”

Gary Neal scored 22 off the bench for the Spurs, who improved the NBA’s best record to 24-3 and are one victory from their second double-digit winning streak already this season.

The Spurs are again cruising after putting together 12 consecutive victories earlier this season. It has put the surprising Spurs atop the NBA in the midst of a historic franchise start for the four-time champions.

“We feel pretty good about ourselves right now. But I think we still have a lot to build on, honestly,” Duncan said. “Our record is really good, and that’s a great situation to be in, but we got a lot of things we can clean up.”

Tony Parker scored 19 points, Richard Jefferson had 17 and Manu Ginobili had 15 as every starter for the Spurs was in double figures. DeJuan Blair had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Jared Dudley had 27 points for the Suns, whose halftime lead dissolved into a near-blowout. The Spurs outscored the Suns 40-24 in the third quarter, as Phoenix scored on just two of its first 14 possessions of the half.

In a span of just six minutes, a one-point lead evaporated into a 19-point deficit.

“They had nobody to stop Timmy,” Parker said. “He was getting easy baskets and getting baskets for everybody.”

Steve Nash added 17 points and 10 assists for the Suns. Hill, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds in 37 minutes on Sunday against the Thunder, scored 19 points in 39 minutes.

The 38-year-old entered the game averaging around 30 minutes. But he didn’t make excuses afterward.

“It wasn’t so much tired. I think I was frustrated that we weren’t getting to the free throw line,” Hill said. “I think I was trying to prove a point to the officials driving and we weren’t getting calls. I allowed that to get me frustrated and not read the situation.”

Phoenix returned to San Antonio for the first time since its stunning sweep in the West semifinals last May, but after the latest Suns shake-up, it wasn’t exactly a rematch.

Phoenix on Sunday completed a six-player trade with Orlando, sending Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark to the Magic. Carter and Gortat arrived in Phoenix on Monday while their new team was still in Texas.

Gentry—who joked before the game that he came back to San Antonio with the same team except for “that Amare guy”—said he’s already thought about how he’ll use his newcomers.

For a few stretches against San Antonio, the short-handed Suns didn’t look desperate for their new trio just yet. Phoenix took a 54-53 halftime lead after finishing the second quarter on a 21-7 burst, holding the Spurs to just three field goals in the final seven minutes.

Josh Childress scored 15 points and Robin Lopez had 14 for the Suns. Channing Frye had just three points for the Suns on 1-of-10 shooting.

“We should be optimistic,” Nash said. “We got a lot of guys coming in that give us size, depth and scoring, and defense. We should be a better team.”

Notes: Spurs G George Hill is expected to miss several more games while recovering from a sore right big toe. Hill, the top scorer for the Spurs off the bench, is wearing a boot on the foot. …The Suns have already used seven different starting lineups after using eight all of last season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2010122024

[duncan228]

Notes on a scorecard: Why the Spurs are fortunate Gary Neal isn’t your typical NBA rookie (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2010/12/21/notes-on-a-scorecard-why-the-spurs-are-fortunate-gary-neal-isnt-your-typical-nba-rookie/)
Tim Griffin

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2010/12/21/notes-on-a-scorecard-why-the-spurs-are-fortunate-gary-neal-isnt-your-typical-nba-rookie/

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

that means MANU WILL SUCK ON THURSDAY:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang
on tnt
Sure......

[Dex]

Views from the other side:



Phoenix Suns once again short-handed in 118-110 loss to streaking San Antonio Spurs
by Paul Coro - Dec. 20, 2010 09:07 PM
The Arizona Republic

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Suns showed why they traded for center Marcin Gortat on Saturday night, handing the best team in the league 17 extra chances to score on offensive rebounds and losing 118-110 at San Antonio largely because of it.

But for a second consecutive night, the Suns showed they might be fine at the wing position with Jason Richardson gone and Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus not in uniform yet.

The stellar play of Grant Hill, Jared Dudley and Josh Childress is all the more important with the Suns and Carter considering arthroscopic surgery for Carter's troublesome left knee that could put him out for up to a month.

With a few hundred thousand dollars of the team's Monday night payroll watching in Phoenix, the Suns were bargain fighters with San Antonio for a while. The wings starred with Dudley posting a career-high 27 points, Hill following up outplaying Kevin Durant by outdueling Manu Ginobili and Josh Childress going from squeezed out to played in.

If Carter was to start, the Suns have Dudley, Childress and Pietrus as bench wings. The problem of five wings for four rotation spots would remain, although Childress has played power forward too.

Finishing a three-game, four-night trip against three of the West's top four teams, the Suns jumped ahead 15-8 and led 54-53 at halftime but gave up a 40-point third quarter for the second night in a row. The 40-24 quarter was a Spurs season best.

The Suns carried the renewed spirit over from Sunday's win at Oklahoma City and cut the lead to 105-98 with 5:39 to go but San Antonio (24-3) pulled away for its season's second nine-game win streak.

The Suns (13-14) began the night at .500 for the 10th time this season. They lost eight of those times, typifying a season going in circles until a new look resets the season Thursday vs. Miami.

"The best thing we could take form it is that we played hard from start to finish," said Childress, who matched his season high with 15 points. "Undersized and overmatched at times, we made up for it with effort. If we keep playing with that kind of effort, I'll take our chances against anybody."

The Spurs put six scorers in double figures, including a season-high 22 points from reserve guard Gary Neal, to spoil Dudley's 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting. His previous career best was 20 points.

"It's not a good thing if I'm our leading scorer," said Dudley, who scored two in Sunday's win. "It's bittersweet. I'd rather have my numbers last game when we won."

The Suns fell to 2-5 on the second nights of back-to-back sets, losing all three of the road ones. The Suns could not overcome 23 Spurs second-chance points and 27 Spurs points off Suns turnovers. San Antonio's league-worst 3-point shooting defense kept the Suns to 6-for-22 shooting on 3s. Channing Frye went 0 for 8, shrinking the floor spacing.

"We need to be optimistic," said Steve Nash, who had 17 points and 10 assists. "A lot of guys are coming in that will provide us with depth and defense. We should be a better team."
Suns report

Key player: Guard Gary Neal, a Spurs summer find from Euroleague play, set his season high with 22 points off the bench.

Key moment: After closing the first half well for a 54-53 lead, the Suns gave up 25 points in the third quarter's first six minutes.

Key number: 23. Spurs second-chance points, 21 of which came in the first three quarters when they built a 15-point lead.
View from press row

The pregame joke in the Suns locker room Monday was whether Jared Dudley was going to get another triple-couple -- at least two points, two rebounds and two assists. (OK, he actually had three rebounds in his Sunday start at Oklahoma City.) But just as one wing stepped up with Jason Richardson gone the first time Sunday, Dudley took his turn on Monday. He had his career high in scoring before the third quarter ended. Grant Hill was still great at both ends, showing again that he is better on back-to-backs this season.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2010/12/20/20101220phoenix-suns-loss-san-antonio-spurs.html#ixzz18lkexYCG

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Mavericks play Magic tonight. Either team that loses is good because Mavericks are behind us for the playoff spot and we have to go to Orlando on Thursday, and they've lost 7 out of 8 recently, so one more loss would be nice for them.

[duncan228]

A quick note on that 40-point third quarter (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/spurs-40-point-third-quarter-vs-suns#more-11993)
by Andrew A. McNeill
48 Minutes of Hell

AT&T CENTER — Lost in the shuffle of Gary Neal’s career night (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/san-antonio-spurs-118-phoenix-suns-110-gary-neal-is-more-than-just-a-shooter-poster) may have been the lines put up by DeJuan Blair and Tim Duncan. DeBeast put up 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists in his 23 minutes on the floor – though he had a team-high four turnovers also — with most of his damage coming in the Spurs 40-point third quarter.

Keep reading → (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/spurs-40-point-third-quarter-vs-suns#more-11993)