spursupporter
11-16-2005, 05:24 AM
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
For one fleeting moment Tuesday night, the Atlanta Hawks looked up at the SBC Center's overhead scoreboard and envisioned the possibilities.
They had a 13-point lead over the defending NBA champion, leaving them three quarters removed from not only their first victory of the season but also a huge upset. Al Harrington, as stunningly, was on pace for 88 points.
And then, of course, reality intervened. Bruce Bowen held Harrington without a basket the rest of the evening, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 65 points and the Spurs cruised to a 103-79 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 18,797 that spent much of the opening quarter groaning.
"The first quarter was really bad," said Ginobili, who led the Spurs with 24 points and five steals. "Besides that, we had a great game."
The Spurs won as they usually do, with good defense, even if it didn't appear until the start of the second quarter. The Spurs outscored the Hawks 85-48 over the final three quarters and limited them to 27 points on 25 percent shooing in the second half.
After a record-tying 22-point first quarter, Harrington had only one free throw the rest of the way. As a result, Atlanta (0-7) and Toronto remained the league's only winless teams.
"There's a reason why they won, but nothing changed the second half," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "It's just that we didn't compete the second half, and that's disheartening. You can't play at this level and not compete."
The Spurs, meanwhile, saved their best for last — not that they could have looked much worse in the first quarter. In their first home game in almost two weeks, they had reason to believe they were still in Washington with Gilbert Arenas shooting over them.
With one difference. Harrington, by halftime, was on pace to surpass the 43 points Arenas hung on the Spurs on Saturday. He made 10 of 15 shots to match former Dallas guard Rolando Blackman (in 1983) for the most points the Spurs allowed in a first quarter.
Trailing Harrington 14-8 less than six minutes into the game, the Spurs burned their first timeout and coach Gregg Popovich emptied his bench. Out came Rasho Nesterovic, Bowen, Ginobili, Duncan and Parker. In went Sean Marks, Melvin Sanders, Nick Van Exel, Nazr Mohammed and Beno Udrih.
With the exception of Nesterovic, the Spurs' starters returned to the floor to begin the second quarter. Atlanta's fun ended not long after.
Less than eight minutes into the quarter, the Hawks' lead evaporated.
"We finally found some combinations that worked well for us," Popovich said. "The team kept its composure very well. They didn't try to get back in the game quickly. They did it as a team and methodically continued to improve as the game went along."
Popovich also made one key defensive switch after the first quarter, moving Bowen onto Harrington. Harrington attempted only seven shots in the final three quarters, missing all of them.
"Coach Pop said he wasn't going to let me get off any more," Harrington said. "They made a good adjustment, and it was hard for me to get any sort of one-on-one move after the first (quarter)."
Despite giving up close to 50 pounds to Harrington, Bowen did his best to front him while the Spurs brought help from behind.
"You don't want him to get anything easy," Bowen said. "If he's supposed to get the ball on the elbow, I'm going to push him out and fight him as much as I can so he's not catching it in his sweet spot where he has the advantage."
With the Spurs' best perimeter defender hounding Harrington, Robert Horry started the third quarter matched against Hawks small forward Josh Childress. Fabricio Oberto helped by contributing eight points and eight rebounds.
Parker, who provided 18 points and eight assists, also asked to help guard Atlanta guard Joe Johnson, who missed eight of his 12 shots.
Parker "is one of the few point guards in the league," Popovich said, "who enjoys the defensive end as much as he does the offensive."
Duncan and Ginobili took care of the offense. After missing 15 of 18 shots against the Wizards, Duncan found his stroke, going 11 for 14 to finish with 23 points. He helped seize control in the third quarter before the Spurs buried Atlanta by running off the first 10 points of the fourth.
One sequence in that stretch symbolized the Hawks' struggles: Harrington drove to the rim, where he was met by Oberto's hand. Josh Smith plucked the ball out of the air and threw down a vicious dunk — that found only the front of the rim.
Said Popovich: "It was all about the 'D' tonight."
Express-News Staff Writer
For one fleeting moment Tuesday night, the Atlanta Hawks looked up at the SBC Center's overhead scoreboard and envisioned the possibilities.
They had a 13-point lead over the defending NBA champion, leaving them three quarters removed from not only their first victory of the season but also a huge upset. Al Harrington, as stunningly, was on pace for 88 points.
And then, of course, reality intervened. Bruce Bowen held Harrington without a basket the rest of the evening, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 65 points and the Spurs cruised to a 103-79 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 18,797 that spent much of the opening quarter groaning.
"The first quarter was really bad," said Ginobili, who led the Spurs with 24 points and five steals. "Besides that, we had a great game."
The Spurs won as they usually do, with good defense, even if it didn't appear until the start of the second quarter. The Spurs outscored the Hawks 85-48 over the final three quarters and limited them to 27 points on 25 percent shooing in the second half.
After a record-tying 22-point first quarter, Harrington had only one free throw the rest of the way. As a result, Atlanta (0-7) and Toronto remained the league's only winless teams.
"There's a reason why they won, but nothing changed the second half," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "It's just that we didn't compete the second half, and that's disheartening. You can't play at this level and not compete."
The Spurs, meanwhile, saved their best for last — not that they could have looked much worse in the first quarter. In their first home game in almost two weeks, they had reason to believe they were still in Washington with Gilbert Arenas shooting over them.
With one difference. Harrington, by halftime, was on pace to surpass the 43 points Arenas hung on the Spurs on Saturday. He made 10 of 15 shots to match former Dallas guard Rolando Blackman (in 1983) for the most points the Spurs allowed in a first quarter.
Trailing Harrington 14-8 less than six minutes into the game, the Spurs burned their first timeout and coach Gregg Popovich emptied his bench. Out came Rasho Nesterovic, Bowen, Ginobili, Duncan and Parker. In went Sean Marks, Melvin Sanders, Nick Van Exel, Nazr Mohammed and Beno Udrih.
With the exception of Nesterovic, the Spurs' starters returned to the floor to begin the second quarter. Atlanta's fun ended not long after.
Less than eight minutes into the quarter, the Hawks' lead evaporated.
"We finally found some combinations that worked well for us," Popovich said. "The team kept its composure very well. They didn't try to get back in the game quickly. They did it as a team and methodically continued to improve as the game went along."
Popovich also made one key defensive switch after the first quarter, moving Bowen onto Harrington. Harrington attempted only seven shots in the final three quarters, missing all of them.
"Coach Pop said he wasn't going to let me get off any more," Harrington said. "They made a good adjustment, and it was hard for me to get any sort of one-on-one move after the first (quarter)."
Despite giving up close to 50 pounds to Harrington, Bowen did his best to front him while the Spurs brought help from behind.
"You don't want him to get anything easy," Bowen said. "If he's supposed to get the ball on the elbow, I'm going to push him out and fight him as much as I can so he's not catching it in his sweet spot where he has the advantage."
With the Spurs' best perimeter defender hounding Harrington, Robert Horry started the third quarter matched against Hawks small forward Josh Childress. Fabricio Oberto helped by contributing eight points and eight rebounds.
Parker, who provided 18 points and eight assists, also asked to help guard Atlanta guard Joe Johnson, who missed eight of his 12 shots.
Parker "is one of the few point guards in the league," Popovich said, "who enjoys the defensive end as much as he does the offensive."
Duncan and Ginobili took care of the offense. After missing 15 of 18 shots against the Wizards, Duncan found his stroke, going 11 for 14 to finish with 23 points. He helped seize control in the third quarter before the Spurs buried Atlanta by running off the first 10 points of the fourth.
One sequence in that stretch symbolized the Hawks' struggles: Harrington drove to the rim, where he was met by Oberto's hand. Josh Smith plucked the ball out of the air and threw down a vicious dunk — that found only the front of the rim.
Said Popovich: "It was all about the 'D' tonight."