tlongII
03-29-2011, 09:35 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/03/nicolas_batum_changes_game_wit.html
SAN ANTONIO — With the game hanging in the balance and the Trail Blazers struggling against a makeshift San Antonio Spurs lineup, Nicolas Batum turned to coach Nate McMillan and issued a passionate plea.
“He was killing us,” Batum said. “I went to (McMillan). I said, ‘I gotta guard this guy. That’s my job. I gotta guard this guy. (Put me) on him and he won’t score the basketball.’”
He is George Hill. And Batum backed up to his pledge, helping rescue the Blazers from what could have been the biggest eyesore of the season during a closer-than-it-sounds 100-92 victory Monday night at the AT&T Center.
Andre Miller carried the Blazers for much of the night, finishing with 26 points. Wesley Matthews hit some clutch free throws down the stretch. And Gerald Wallace hit a crucial three-pointer with roughly two minutes left that finished a 13-0 Blazers run and delivered a six-point lead they would never relinquish.
But Batum may just have been the difference.
Hill was torching the Blazers with a variety of slashing drives and pull-up jumpers, and after watching the lightning-quick point guard blow by Rudy Fernandez and create an easy scoring chance for the Spurs early in the fourth quarter, Batum had seen enough.
So he turned to McMillan during a stoppage in play and begged for the defensive assignment.
“I don’t know what happened ... my mind was,” Batum said, pausing, furrowing his brow and pointing each finger at opposite temples to reveal extreme focus. “I was mad. I don’t know why. I was like, ‘This guy, he won’t score. The last bucket he scored, that’s going to be the last bucket.’”
Hill finished with a game-high 27 points. But he would score just one point in the fourth quarter before the closing seconds, when the Blazers had built an insurmountable lead and he had two meaningless layups. The Spurs had their chances, missing nine consecutive three pointers in the fourth and making just 10 of 20 free throws in the game, but they couldn’t generate any offense as Batum hounded Hill.
Batum picked up Hill full-court. Batum fought through and worked around pick and rolls. He denied the ball and prevented Hill from breezing to the rim for easy baskets. Right about the time McMillan agreed to put Batum on Hill, the Blazers reeled off that difference-making 13-0 run.
The Blazers shouldn't have needed such heroics playing a short-handed Spurs team that sat injured players Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Antonio McDyess. But no one in the Blazers' locker room was making apologies afterward.
The Blazers (43-31) defeated the Spurs (57-17) for the ninth time in 11 games, including three of four this season.
Batum was the overt hero when the Blazers defeated the Spurs 98-96 Friday night at the Rose Garden, scoring four points in the final 0.9 seconds — including the game-winning alley-oop layup at the buzzer. He was the deceptive hero Monday night.
“Nic can really give those point guards problems,” Brandon Roy said. “He did a good job of just being aggressive. Hill was kind of controlling the game. Anytime you can kind of slow him down, it gives us an opportunity to get back and kind of gather ourselves defensively.”
SAN ANTONIO — With the game hanging in the balance and the Trail Blazers struggling against a makeshift San Antonio Spurs lineup, Nicolas Batum turned to coach Nate McMillan and issued a passionate plea.
“He was killing us,” Batum said. “I went to (McMillan). I said, ‘I gotta guard this guy. That’s my job. I gotta guard this guy. (Put me) on him and he won’t score the basketball.’”
He is George Hill. And Batum backed up to his pledge, helping rescue the Blazers from what could have been the biggest eyesore of the season during a closer-than-it-sounds 100-92 victory Monday night at the AT&T Center.
Andre Miller carried the Blazers for much of the night, finishing with 26 points. Wesley Matthews hit some clutch free throws down the stretch. And Gerald Wallace hit a crucial three-pointer with roughly two minutes left that finished a 13-0 Blazers run and delivered a six-point lead they would never relinquish.
But Batum may just have been the difference.
Hill was torching the Blazers with a variety of slashing drives and pull-up jumpers, and after watching the lightning-quick point guard blow by Rudy Fernandez and create an easy scoring chance for the Spurs early in the fourth quarter, Batum had seen enough.
So he turned to McMillan during a stoppage in play and begged for the defensive assignment.
“I don’t know what happened ... my mind was,” Batum said, pausing, furrowing his brow and pointing each finger at opposite temples to reveal extreme focus. “I was mad. I don’t know why. I was like, ‘This guy, he won’t score. The last bucket he scored, that’s going to be the last bucket.’”
Hill finished with a game-high 27 points. But he would score just one point in the fourth quarter before the closing seconds, when the Blazers had built an insurmountable lead and he had two meaningless layups. The Spurs had their chances, missing nine consecutive three pointers in the fourth and making just 10 of 20 free throws in the game, but they couldn’t generate any offense as Batum hounded Hill.
Batum picked up Hill full-court. Batum fought through and worked around pick and rolls. He denied the ball and prevented Hill from breezing to the rim for easy baskets. Right about the time McMillan agreed to put Batum on Hill, the Blazers reeled off that difference-making 13-0 run.
The Blazers shouldn't have needed such heroics playing a short-handed Spurs team that sat injured players Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Antonio McDyess. But no one in the Blazers' locker room was making apologies afterward.
The Blazers (43-31) defeated the Spurs (57-17) for the ninth time in 11 games, including three of four this season.
Batum was the overt hero when the Blazers defeated the Spurs 98-96 Friday night at the Rose Garden, scoring four points in the final 0.9 seconds — including the game-winning alley-oop layup at the buzzer. He was the deceptive hero Monday night.
“Nic can really give those point guards problems,” Brandon Roy said. “He did a good job of just being aggressive. Hill was kind of controlling the game. Anytime you can kind of slow him down, it gives us an opportunity to get back and kind of gather ourselves defensively.”