Kori Ellis
06-17-2005, 01:41 AM
Series even as Spurs get wall-to-wall walloping
Web Posted: 06/17/2005 01:09 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA061705.1S.BKNspurs.pistons.gamer4.186973d9.htm l
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Heads bowed, shoulders sagging, the Spurs walked off the court and into their shoebox of a locker room. For two quarters Thursday night, they had done exactly what they had vowed not to do: Pressured by the NBA's defending champions, they had crumbled.
As the Spurs sat in front of their lockers, coach Gregg Popovich told them he had never witnessed a worse half of basketball. Popovich, of course, should have waited another hour to make his assessment. He still had two more quarters to watch.
By the time the Detroit Pistons skipped off the floor at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the remainder of the 22,076 fans dancing in their seats, no one needed to debate the decisiveness of the 102-71 verdict. Not only had the Pistons evened the NBA Finals at two victories apiece, they had given the Spurs reason to wonder whether they are headed for a collapse just as thorough as the one they endured last season at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
"If it doesn't get better," Popovich said of the Spurs' performance in the past two games, "we'll be in big trouble."
Thursday's 31-point defeat — their worst in the playoffs since the Lakers blitzed them 111-72 in Game 3 of the 2001 Western Conference finals — provided further evidence the Spurs are already in trouble. After winning the first two games by a combined 36 points, the Spurs have done little right since touching down in Detroit.
Unable to solve the Pistons' suffocating defense, they shot 37.1 percent from the field while committing 18 more turnovers. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili combined for 28 points, only seven more than the season-low 21 they totaled in Game 3.
"Frustration has nothing to do with it," Popovich said. "You play well or you play poorly. You do the things the way you practice and the way you've done them over the year or you don't.
"It's disappointing that (the Pistons') physical play and their defense has taken us away from everything that we normally do. I think they are the same guys who played in San Antonio, the last time I checked."
While the Pistons bear the same names, they have looked considerably more hungry since returning home. Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace anchored the team's defense by alternately frustrating Duncan and protecting the rim from Ginobili and Tony Parker.
Led by 17 points from Chauncey Billups and Lindsey Hunter, Detroit had seven players score in double figures.
"I really believe, in all honesty, that this is probably ... the best game that we've played," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "I think I told you guys after Game 3, we had to play our best game to win, and this was a pretty special game."
Not, however, for the Spurs. While they had hoped to get more production than the 14 points Duncan provided in Game 3, he missed 12 of 17 shots and finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Taken out of the game for the final time, Duncan took a seat next to Popovich, who talked quietly to him for a few minutes. Whether Popovich was counseling or consoling his star mattered not. Duncan needed both.
"They throw a lot of bodies into you," Duncan said, "and each with their own style."
The Pistons not only crawled inside the Spurs' jerseys, they also appeared to slip into their heads. Duncan pleaded with the officials on more than a handful of occasions. In the time it took Bruce Bowen to bark for a call, the Pistons took the ball to the rim and drew a foul of their own.
After bruising his left quadriceps early in Game 3, Ginobili played with a thigh pad Thursday, though the injury didn't limit him nearly as much as the Pistons did. Often crowded on the perimeter, Ginobili didn't get to the rim until near the end of the second quarter.
The Spurs spent much of the previous two days discussing how they planned to reduce their 18 turnovers from Game 3. They wanted to move the ball better. Be more patient. Execute their press offense.
Talking being easier than doing, Parker then went out and threw a pass off Duncan's ankles. Ginobili lost the ball to Richard Hamilton. Duncan missed a layup then was stripped by Ben Wallace on the following possession.
Barely three minutes into the second quarter, the Spurs already had 10 turnovers.
"We made the adjustments," Duncan said. "Things just didn't go as planned."
Rasheed Wallace drilled a 3-pointer with one second left in the opening quarter, triggering a flurry that saw the Pistons run off 14 unanswered points. Parker was on the bench for all but the final 14 seconds of the three-minute, 20-second stretch, allowing the Pistons to take advantage of backup point guard Beno Udrih much the same way they did at the end of Tuesday's third quarter: with Hunter pressuring him the length of the court.
Parker returned just in time to see Antonio McDyess throw in an 18-footer as Nazr Mohammed fouled him. After slapping hands with a couple of courtside fans, McDyess made his free throw to complete the three-point play and give Detroit a 34-17 lead with 8:41 left in the second quarter.
The Spurs never recovered.
"We definitely need to show up on Sunday," Parker said. "We need to refocus. We have two, three days to think about it and come back strong."
Web Posted: 06/17/2005 01:09 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA061705.1S.BKNspurs.pistons.gamer4.186973d9.htm l
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Heads bowed, shoulders sagging, the Spurs walked off the court and into their shoebox of a locker room. For two quarters Thursday night, they had done exactly what they had vowed not to do: Pressured by the NBA's defending champions, they had crumbled.
As the Spurs sat in front of their lockers, coach Gregg Popovich told them he had never witnessed a worse half of basketball. Popovich, of course, should have waited another hour to make his assessment. He still had two more quarters to watch.
By the time the Detroit Pistons skipped off the floor at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the remainder of the 22,076 fans dancing in their seats, no one needed to debate the decisiveness of the 102-71 verdict. Not only had the Pistons evened the NBA Finals at two victories apiece, they had given the Spurs reason to wonder whether they are headed for a collapse just as thorough as the one they endured last season at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
"If it doesn't get better," Popovich said of the Spurs' performance in the past two games, "we'll be in big trouble."
Thursday's 31-point defeat — their worst in the playoffs since the Lakers blitzed them 111-72 in Game 3 of the 2001 Western Conference finals — provided further evidence the Spurs are already in trouble. After winning the first two games by a combined 36 points, the Spurs have done little right since touching down in Detroit.
Unable to solve the Pistons' suffocating defense, they shot 37.1 percent from the field while committing 18 more turnovers. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili combined for 28 points, only seven more than the season-low 21 they totaled in Game 3.
"Frustration has nothing to do with it," Popovich said. "You play well or you play poorly. You do the things the way you practice and the way you've done them over the year or you don't.
"It's disappointing that (the Pistons') physical play and their defense has taken us away from everything that we normally do. I think they are the same guys who played in San Antonio, the last time I checked."
While the Pistons bear the same names, they have looked considerably more hungry since returning home. Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace anchored the team's defense by alternately frustrating Duncan and protecting the rim from Ginobili and Tony Parker.
Led by 17 points from Chauncey Billups and Lindsey Hunter, Detroit had seven players score in double figures.
"I really believe, in all honesty, that this is probably ... the best game that we've played," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "I think I told you guys after Game 3, we had to play our best game to win, and this was a pretty special game."
Not, however, for the Spurs. While they had hoped to get more production than the 14 points Duncan provided in Game 3, he missed 12 of 17 shots and finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Taken out of the game for the final time, Duncan took a seat next to Popovich, who talked quietly to him for a few minutes. Whether Popovich was counseling or consoling his star mattered not. Duncan needed both.
"They throw a lot of bodies into you," Duncan said, "and each with their own style."
The Pistons not only crawled inside the Spurs' jerseys, they also appeared to slip into their heads. Duncan pleaded with the officials on more than a handful of occasions. In the time it took Bruce Bowen to bark for a call, the Pistons took the ball to the rim and drew a foul of their own.
After bruising his left quadriceps early in Game 3, Ginobili played with a thigh pad Thursday, though the injury didn't limit him nearly as much as the Pistons did. Often crowded on the perimeter, Ginobili didn't get to the rim until near the end of the second quarter.
The Spurs spent much of the previous two days discussing how they planned to reduce their 18 turnovers from Game 3. They wanted to move the ball better. Be more patient. Execute their press offense.
Talking being easier than doing, Parker then went out and threw a pass off Duncan's ankles. Ginobili lost the ball to Richard Hamilton. Duncan missed a layup then was stripped by Ben Wallace on the following possession.
Barely three minutes into the second quarter, the Spurs already had 10 turnovers.
"We made the adjustments," Duncan said. "Things just didn't go as planned."
Rasheed Wallace drilled a 3-pointer with one second left in the opening quarter, triggering a flurry that saw the Pistons run off 14 unanswered points. Parker was on the bench for all but the final 14 seconds of the three-minute, 20-second stretch, allowing the Pistons to take advantage of backup point guard Beno Udrih much the same way they did at the end of Tuesday's third quarter: with Hunter pressuring him the length of the court.
Parker returned just in time to see Antonio McDyess throw in an 18-footer as Nazr Mohammed fouled him. After slapping hands with a couple of courtside fans, McDyess made his free throw to complete the three-point play and give Detroit a 34-17 lead with 8:41 left in the second quarter.
The Spurs never recovered.
"We definitely need to show up on Sunday," Parker said. "We need to refocus. We have two, three days to think about it and come back strong."