Game Blog: Spurs @ Pacers - Jan. 7

[flox]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[Andy25]

Good Game Pacers. Fuck. What a close game. I like the Pacer's commentators though... well fuck after listening to the Boston commentators anything sounds better than that shit.

[spurtech09]

defense!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Danny.Zhu]

Lol

[timtonymanu]

Thank God Pacers IQ is levels below us.

[MannyIsGod]

Pacers are kinda dumb tho :lol

No way he's making that shot against Duncan when it counts.

[Fireball]

thanks everyone ... good night

[ElNono]

No BS 3's please

[024]

granger for the long range 3!

[itzsoweezee]

Damn, O'Brien has zero respect for Duncan. Giving Hibert the shot to win it against Duncan?

[Spurs Brazil]

One more stop. Let's go

[024]

wtf the pacers still have posey??

[CFH]

Spurs escape with a win, that was ugly...

[Chieflion]

Epic fail. They went to Posey who hasn't played all game for the final shot.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

FUCK YEAH

I'm out, go spurs!!!!!!!!

P H E W!

[MannyIsGod]

Jesus fuck

[timtonymanu]

We lucked out this game. Whatever, I'll take it.

[Rummpd]

Not great play but a gutty win anyway with D

[HarlemHeat37]

Horrible game, but a W in the standings, so the rest is forgotten, I guess..Spurs need to learn from these games, they're playing horrible basketball right now..

[DJ Mbenga]

lol the pacers are like the twoves. just hand away victories.

[Tp9gospursgo]

Spurs win.

[rasho8]

what the fuck was that?

[Banzai]

Just going to say this..I thought LG forum was unstable..but I'd say this forum is somewhat similar.

[MannyIsGod]

Epic fail. They went to Posey who hasn't played all game for the final shot.

Epic fail was that the Spurs let him get off the shot. Its pretty stupid that tony didn't miss the last FT on purpose

[Bukefal]

Pheww. damn it, nervous end. But well, a win is a win. On to the next game, hopefully It will be better.

[angelbelow]

Lol Pop must be furious about this game, no Spur even celebrated the miss, multi Spurs walk to the locker room with their heads down.

[spurtech09]

spurs don't look exciting about the win lol:P

[Hemotivo]

lol GHILL

[024]

Just going to say this..I thought LG forum was unstable..but I'd say this forum is somewhat similar.
you clearly have not hung out here enough. spurstalk is #1 in the world at forum meltdowns.

[Spurs Brazil]

RJ missed his man on the last play

[Whisky Dog]

It's a road win. I'll take it.

First to 30!

[Cant_Be_Faded]

ROFLROFL I just replayed the final sequence of Hibbert VS Duncan

Hibbert fucking panicked like a little green bitch! Duncan played the post defense powerfully, and very aggressively (Bennett coulda easily called a handcheck twice on Duncan) but Hibbert panicked and threw up garbage because he had no mental clock going of how much time was left.

Awesome

[timtonymanu]

Lol Pop must be furious about this game, no Spur even celebrated the miss, multi Spurs walk to the locker room with their heads down.

Well good. They shouldn't be excited. 3 straight bad games. They have a lot of work to do.

[mystargtr34]

The only reason this is a good win is because the Spurs keep distance between themselves and the Lakers and Mavs... they need the 1 seed to have a chance of coming out of the West.

[Crookshanks]

Wow - just wow... the Spurs just totally insulted the Pacers. The Pacers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. But I'll take it!!!!

[carina_gino20]

Fluke win or not, I'll take it.

[u4lakers14]

must have been a good defensive 4th. pacers with 12

[easy7]

After being 15 points down, I thought Pop was going to sit the starters for the 4th quarter. Damn good ugly game. :toast

[DPG21920]

Spurs get the win but have to be very, very alarmed at the level of play. Tim Duncan is flat out not getting it done in a variety of ways in a bunch of games. Mental errors. Missed chip shots. Just really strange to see.

Manu is continuing to struggle. The team defense overall is out of sync.

Record is excellent, but there is so much room for improvement (I hope).

Good news is, this is the worst stretch of ball they have played and they are still giving themselves a shot to win almost every game. Good signs.

[timaios]

I can't believe we stole that game !!!

Unreal !

[Cessation]

I think there is alot reason to complain, spurs playing like shit last couple of games. Does it really seem surprising to think this will be 3rd in a row, spurs got lucky to win this. If pacers didn't make so many bonehead mistakes down the stretch, this would be a guaranteed loss.

[janetcn12]

Than God.. Finally a win. Lucky Spurs & stupid Pacers.

[Budkin]

The most pathetic win since those 20 pt comebacks. Damn.

[spurtech09]

surprise spurs still won....with the refs screwing the spurs once again.....but spurs got the win and thats what matters....

[Martin R]

I have 1 question, who the hell is T. Hansbrough?? he dropped 23 on us????

[quentin_compson]

Dodged a bullet there. Tim really had a couple of bad plays down the stretch.

[ElNono]

I wanna see the grades....

Hill F-

[Crookshanks]

After being 15 points down, I thought Pop was going to sit the starters for the 4th quarter. Damn good ugly game. :toast

The last time we played the Pacers, the same thing happened. Pacers were up by 15, and then gave the game away. I know the Spurs didn't deserve to win this one - but a win is a win and I'm very thankful we don't have a 3-game losing streak.

[Banzai]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/29/fthisthread.gif (http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=4879) ugly win spurs..but a win nonetheless.

[rasho8]

you clearly have not hung out here enough. spurstalk is #1 in the world at forum meltdowns.

This... stop by when the Spurs lose 1 game. You would think that someone went out and shot SequSpurs dog, his mom and his blow up doll right in front of him. The melt downs in this forum are spectacular.

[024]

I wanna see the grades....

Hill F-
meh, hill semi redeemed himself with that 3 pt play at the end.

[Cessation]

Several meltdowns on this thread today, but none as big as the one on the pacers forum, lol.

[Capt Bringdown]

Spurs overcome their own weaknesses (Blair & Bonner) to steal this win. And what was up with RJ, just 4 shots tonight?

[DPG21920]

I wanna see the grades....

Hill F-

Case of good numbers, but not great impact. Although, he did have a couple of big 4th quarter plays.

[Cessation]

lol banzai, nice one

[Crookshanks]

Spurs overcome their own weaknesses (Blair & Bonner) to steal this win. And what was up with RJ, just 4 shots tonight?

Spurs need to get in the gym and just keep shooting until they get their stroke and their confidence back.

[timtonymanu]

I wanna see the grades....

Hill F-

I would have given Duncan an A, but those last stretches really hurt him. Manu is probably the only one I would pass today.

[spurtech09]

hey 20 pt comebacks were pretty awesome.....

[SpurAddict561]

Fuck it I'll take it

Would have rather had a pull out win vs Boston the other night but oh well

[DPG21920]

Tim had a solid game tonight and I am thrilled with his boarding. Solid there. But those 4th quarter mistakes and that "T" is something small that can easily be remedied.

[ohmwrecker]

Good. Another undeserved win where the Spurs have rely on the other team making errors down the stretch. Just what you want to see.

[mystargtr34]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/29/fthisthread.gif (http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=4879) ugly win spurs..but a win nonetheless.

:lol

[Capt Bringdown]

I have 1 question, who the hell is T. Hansbrough?? he dropped 23 on us????

Similar to Glen Davis looking like Elvin Hayes when he played us.
Big hole in our lineup that will continue to be exploited. Especially in the playoffs.
Big problem.

[Crookshanks]

I have 1 question, who the hell is T. Hansbrough?? he dropped 23 on us????

Yeah - and he had his first career double-double tonight. Just another game where a scrub player looks like an all star against the Spurs. :lol

[spurtech09]

Win111

[Solid D]

When Gary Neal opened the 4th with 5 straight points and Gino's tech foul shot got it within 5 points, I though "here we go".

Then when Neal got caught fouling Dunleavy on the silly 3-pt attempt at the shot clock buzzer I thought " oh no, here we go."

Then when G-Hill scapped and scraped and got the reverse layup from underneath to tie it a 83, I said, "here we go!"

Then when Timmy got that tech foul, down three, I said, "oh, here we go."

Then when Granger missed both FTs around that tech, I said "here we go!"

Then when Hill made that and-1 runner to tie, I went...."Vaccums!...Express Lube!!!!"

[Muser]

Tim had a solid game tonight and I am thrilled with his boarding. Solid there. But those 4th quarter mistakes and that "T" is something small that can easily be remedied.

:tu I'm confident come playoff time Tim won't miss those chip shots.

[Spurs Brazil]

I have 1 question, who the hell is T. Hansbrough?? he dropped 23 on us????

I think you and me can score some pts against Bonner and Blair playing D

[CFH]

Then when Hill made that and-1 runner to tie, I went...."Vaccums!...Express Lube!!!!"

:lmao

[Creation88]

terrible effort. lucky to win. bonner/blair should never be on the floor together.

[Gospursel]

what does pop have to do to get hill to be aggressive? something neutered both he and parker in those last few min. until he came back out with the and 1. When hill wants it bad enough he can do a really good manu impression.

[024]

to those complaining about hill, he was still the second leading scorer for the spurs with 16.

[Spurs Brazil]

to those complaining about hill, he was still the second leading scorer for the spurs with 16.

I don't know why but he was afraid to shot. He had a bunch of open shots he didn't take. But his and one in the end was great

[cd98]

Tim Duncan defense A+

Great fourth quarter defense by all. Impressive against a team that was shooting well.

[cd98]

Twolves win was luck. This win happened b/c of great defense. Give the Spurs credit. Clutch offense and clutch defense.

If we could get them to play this defense for more than 12 minutes...

[Budkin]

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/29/fthisthread.gif (http://www.threadbombing.com/details.php?image_id=4879) ugly win spurs..but a win nonetheless.

Holy fucking shit I'm in tears! :lmao

[carina_gino20]

When Gary Neal opened the 4th with 5 straight points and Gino's tech foul shot got it within 5 points, I though "here we go".

Then when Neal got caught fouling Dunleavy on the silly 3-pt attempt at the shot clock buzzer I thought " oh no, here we go."

Then when G-Hill scapped and scraped and got the reverse layup from underneath to tie it a 83, I said, "here we go!"

Then when Timmy got that tech foul, down three, I said, "oh, here we go."

Then when Granger missed both FTs around that tech, I said "here we go!"

Then when Hill made that and-1 runner to tie, I went...."Vaccums!...Express Lube!!!!"

:rollin

[duncan228]

Some post-game quotes.

Video:

Jim O'Brien post-game interview.

http://www.nba.com/pacers/video/2011/01/07/obrien110107spurs-1516083/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2

Pacers locker room interview.

http://www.nba.com/pacers/video/2011/01/07/players110107spurs-1516106/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2

Highlights

http://www.nba.com/video/games/pacers/2011/01/07/0021000525_sas_ind_recap.nba/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2


Ginobili leads Spurs past Pacers (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011010711)
By Cliff Brunt

The San Antonio Spurs' typically potent offense struggled at times against the Indiana Pacers. Their defense made up for it, though.

The Spurs held the Pacers to 1-for-15 shooting in the fourth quarter to win 90-87 and snap a two-game skid. Roy Hibbert had a chance to give the Pacers the lead in the closing seconds, but his hook shot fell short.

"We got the win," San Antonio guard George Hill, an Indianapolis native, said. "Our veterans stepped up when we needed to, and that's all that matters."

According to STATS Inc., Indiana's one field goal in the fourth quarter was the fewest the Pacers have made in a quarter in at least 19 years. STATS' records go back to the 1991-92 season.

"It's never just great defense," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They missed some shots also. Sometimes you don't make shots. That was part of it. I thought our intensity level, our physicality, got better. I thought we had a good mix on the court that reacted well."

Manu Ginobili scored 25 points, Tim Duncan had 15 points and 15 rebounds and Hill scored 16 points for the Spurs, who overcame a 15-point deficit to become the first team in the league to win 30 games.

The Spurs were unhappy with the way they played late in a 105-103 loss to Boston on Wednesday and were determined to play better against the Pacers.

"We lost the other night in Boston at the end of the third quarter and the end of the fourth quarter when we didn't close," Popovich said. "We turned it over, we imploded defensively, didn't execute on offense."

Tyler Hansbrough had career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds in his first start of the season for the Pacers.

"He almost took the game away from us," Popovich said. "We couldn't find anybody to guard him. He ripped us up tonight."

The Pacers have lost five of six.

"I'm very disappointed for our guys," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "We played a solid defensive game. For them to come back and beat us, it's painful. They took their defense to a whole different level in the fourth quarter."

Indiana led 87-83 in the fourth quarter when Hill scored and was fouled. He made the free throw to cut Indiana's lead to 87-86 with 1:07 to play.

San Antonio rebounded a miss by Mike Dunleavy and took a timeout with 23.1 seconds remaining. Ginobili drove to the basket and was fouled by Jeff Foster with 15.7 seconds to play. He made both free throws to give the Spurs their first lead of the quarter.

After Hibbert's miss, the Pacers were forced to foul. Tony Parker made two free throws with 0.8 seconds left to make it 90-87. Indiana's James Posey missed a 3-pointer from the left corner in his only action of the game as time expired.

"We had them down and led them up," Indiana point guard Darren Collison said. "We just can't seem to find a way to close a game out. We have to keep working at that until we get it right."

The Pacers led for most of the first half, but Ginobili scored eight straight points to turn a 44-40 deficit into a 48-44 lead for the Spurs. Granger made a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to trim San Antonio's lead to 48-47 at the break.

Hansbrough hit back-to-back shots, then Granger drained a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 60-55 lead.

Indiana extended the lead through the rest of the quarter and began to play to the crowd. Dunleavy faked a behind-the-back pass, kept the ball and laid it in to give Indiana a 75-60 lead. Hansbrough had 12 points and six rebounds in the third quarter to help the Pacers take a 75-64 lead at the end of the period.

Gary Neal's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter cut Indiana's lead to 75-69 and caused the Pacers to call timeout. Indiana didn't make a field goal in the quarter until Dunleavy made a floater with 6:41 left, and the Pacers didn't make another field goal the rest of the game.

"They just kept playing the game," Popovich said of his Spurs. "That's a great sign. We've done that several times this year. That's what a team really needs to sustain in this league. We're fortunate to get that win tonight."

NOTES: Hibbert went down holding his ankle in the first quarter, but got it retaped and returned later in the period. ... Hansbrough scored Indiana's first six points. ... Granger didn't score until 9:05 remained in the second quarter. ... Indiana has been held under 100 points for eight straight games.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011010711

[Dex]

Just finished watching the game.

...whew.

[Sean Cagney]

Similar to Glen Davis looking like Elvin Hayes when he played us.
Big hole in our lineup that will continue to be exploited. Especially in the playoffs.
Big problem.

Thats wht I keep telling people, they point out a three point PCT or some other shyt like wins! This will bite us big in the playoffs! Sides Tim there is not a big out there who is very good IMO! Dyess is closest and Splitter? GOD KNOWS! Until then this is a problem and some bum will beat us up when we meet down low.

[sanman53]

Celebrating our three year wedding anniversary, my wife and I went to the game. T'was a good game and it was great to get Manu's autograph before the game. Here are just a couple observations I noticed from the game:

1. Tony looked very disinterested in the game (I just read he was feeling sick before the game, this explains his disinterest).
2. They were all very tired. Shots were short all night.
3. Pacer fans were rude all evening. All the Spurs fans that were at the game were very friendly and cheered the team on all night.

[awktalk]

Some post-game quotes.

Video:

Jim O'Brien post-game interview.

http://www.nba.com/pacers/video/2011/01/07/obrien110107spurs-1516083/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2

Pacers locker room interview.

http://www.nba.com/pacers/video/2011/01/07/players110107spurs-1516106/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2

Highlights

http://www.nba.com/video/games/pacers/2011/01/07/0021000525_sas_ind_recap.nba/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2



http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011010711

For the love of allah, what is up with that Pacer "media studio" for the postgame conference. Looks like a fuggin PTA meeting room.

[Dex]

Views from the Other Side:



http://www.indystar.com/article/20110108/SPORTS04/101080333/1062/SPORTS04/As-Pacers-shooting-goes-cold-they-miss-chance-upset-Spurs

As Pacers' shooting goes cold, they miss chance to upset Spurs
Jan 8, 2011 | Comments
Written by Mike Wells

The Indiana Pacers were about a minute away from getting a much-needed emotional boost to their season.

All they needed was Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert to come through in the clutch.

That didn't happen.

Tyler Hansbough's career game took a backseat to a horrible fourth quarter in the Pacers' 90-87 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Pacers have dropped five of their past six games.

"I'm very disappointed for our guys," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "They played very hard, played a solid defensive game. For them to come back and beat us is painful."

The Spurs completed their 15-point comeback when guard Manu Ginobili, who had 25 points, made two free throws to put them up 88-87 with 15.7 seconds left.

The Pacers called a timeout to try to set up Granger for the winning shot.

The play never developed and Hibbert ended up taking an off-balance 6-foot shot that wasn't close.

"Danny drove and then threw me the pass, but I bobbled it and then tried to get it up," Hibbert said. "The shot didn't look pretty."

Tony Parker's two free throws gave the Spurs a three-point lead. James Posey missed a desperation 3-pointer in front of the Spurs bench as time expired.

"We lost the other night in Boston at the end of the third and fourth quarter when we didn't close," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We turned it over, we imploded defensively, didn't execute on offense, and tonight we did those things."

Hansbrough had a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, but all the talk afterward was about the Pacers' inability to close out the game.

The Spurs held the Pacers to 1-of-15 shooting and forced them into five turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Pacers' lone field goal came on a Mike Dunleavy floater in the lane.

"We got a little stagnant," Dunleavy said. "We have some guys who have a tendency of doing that. For the most part, I feel like we got some pretty good looks. We just didn't make enough plays to win."

The poor shooting quarter wouldn't have matter if the Pacers (14-19) had found a way to score a few more points. Granger, an 83 percent free throw shooter, missed two foul shots with 1:11 left that would have given the Pacers a six-point lead.

"I've never missed two in a row," he said. "Bad time to miss them. It happens."

The Spurs then got a three-point play from former Broad Ripple High School and IUPUI standout George Hill to get within one.

"I think they were clearly important free throws," O'Brien said.

"To have missed both of them, that's difficult. It happens to good shooters."

The Pacers got the ball to Hibbert in the post on their next possession.

Hibbert's attempt looked more like a shot put throw than a left-handed hook over Tim Duncan. Hibbert was only 5-of-17 from the field.

"A 7-2 guy three feet from the basket, whether that was the first or second option, it really doesn't matter," O'Brien said. "You want the basketball there at any point in time in the game."

[spurs10]

A lot of people throwing their friends under the bus....hmm...GSG!!

[TampaDude]

Great to see the Spurs didn't quit on D last night. Ugly win for the Spurs, but a win is a win.

[duncan228]

Notes on a scorecard: Why old ugly beats a loss any time (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/01/08/notes-on-a-scorecard-why-old-ugly-beats-a-loss-any-time/)
Tim Griffin

...The big difference down the stretch was San Antonio’s defense. The Pacers missing 16 of their last 17 shots, including a 1-for-15 effort in the fourth quarter. After missing their final two shots in the third quarter, Indiana clanked their first seven shots of the fourth quarter along with two turnovers before Dunleavy hit a floating jumper with 6:42 left. They then finished the game by missing their final seven shots with two turnovers.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/01/08/notes-on-a-scorecard-why-old-ugly-beats-a-loss-any-time/

[Slippy]

0.8 secs remaining, Hill manages to lose his guy. Atleast he gaurded a zone.:rolleyes