San Antonio at New York, Dec 21

[howard2]

Espn.com
Dec 21, 2005
Link: Espn (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=251221018)

San Antonio (19-6) at New York (6-17) 7:30 pm EST
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The San Antonio Spurs are looking to avoid a couple of dubious marks when they visit the sliding New York Knicks on Wednesday.

The Spurs will try to avert their first three-game losing streak of the season but to do so, they will have to end an 0-4 funk in the second of back-to-back games.

San Antonio is coming off a heartbreaking 109-107 overtime loss at Milwaukee when top overall pick Andrew Bogut connected on a catch-and-shoot at the buzzer.

Tim Duncan followed a season-low 11-point performance Sunday with a campaign-best 34 points against the Bucks. The reigning Finals MVP also hauled in 13 rebounds.

Coach Larry Brown's touch has not worked for the Knicks, who are trying to avoid a season-worst seven-game losing streak. New York has been idle since Saturday's 102-96 home loss against Indiana.

Stephon Marbury scored 25 points and Jamal Crawford added 15 points off the bench for the Knicks, who shot just 37 percent (32-of-86).

San Antonio and New York split their season series in 2004-05, with each team winning on its home floor.
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Today's Line
FAVORITE OPEN CUR UNDERDOG O/U
SAN ANTONIO 4 5 NEW YORK 184

[howard2]

CBS Sports Line
Dec 21, 2005
Link: CBS Sports Line (http://www.sportsline.com/nba/gamecenter/preview/NBA_20051221_SA@NY)

GAME: San Antonio Spurs (19-6) at New York Knicks (6-17).
The San Antonio Spurs hope to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season and salvage the finale of their three-game road trip as they visit the slumping New York Knicks.

The Spurs have come up empty on the first two legs, including a 109-107 overtime defeat Tuesday to the Milwaukee Bucks. Tim Duncan had a season-high 34 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, but fouled out with 22 seconds to play and watched as Bucks rookie Andrew Bogut tied the game with 14 seconds left before hitting a fadeaway jumper as time expired for the winning points.

Tony Parker added 22 points for San Antonio, which is 0-4 when playing the second game on back-to-back days. All four of those games have been on the road, with opponents averaging 99.0 points while shooting 49.1 percent from the field.

For the season, the Spurs have held opponents to 90.4 points per game and 42.2 percent shooting. They have not lost three consecutive games since losing at Detroit, New York and Indiana from March 20-23.

Duncan has averaged 23.4 points and 13.7 rebounds in 13 career games against the Knicks with 12 double-doubles. He also led the Spurs to their first NBA title with a five-game Finals victory over New York in 1999.

The Knicks have lost a season-high six in a row and eight of their last nine following Saturday's 102-96 home loss to the Indiana Pacers. Stephon Marbury scored 25 points but also had a key turnover with New York trailing by three in the final minute.

"I never accept losing. It's killing me," said first-year Knicks coach Larry Brown. "I feel bad for our fans, I feel bad for our team and ownership for the responsibility they gave me. I asked those guys to do the right thing and they did tonight without exception."

New York has been struggling to grasp Brown's defensive concepts, giving up 100 or more points in the last four games.The Knicks have allowed an average of 101.7 points on 48.3 percent shooting during their losing streak.

The Knicks, who also have lost four straight home games, are mired in their worst losing streak since dropping nine in a row from March 26-April 8. They have lost 11 of their last 15 home games dating to last season.

[howard2]

Newsday
BY Barbara Barker
Dec 21, 2005
Link: Newsday (http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition/ny-spknix214559605dec21,0,3312610.story?coll=ny-sports-print)

Larry again faces Spurs
Defending champs still on top, but Knicks a far cry from Pistons

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - So much has changed since the last time Larry Brown coached against Gregg Popovich in a game that counted.

Was it only six months ago that Brown had one of the best teams in basketball? Was it only six months ago that his Detroit Pistons team came so close to beating San Antonio in Game 7 and repeating as NBA champions? Was it only six months ago that Brown had a team that never caused him to worry about its effort, or readiness or talent level? So much has changed, except for one thing: Brown is still coaching a team that really needs a victory.

Brown's 6-17 Knicks carry a six-game losing streak into tonight's game against the Spurs at Madison Square Garden. Everyone seems to be screaming for some kind of change - for a major trade or shakeup or anything that can give fans a feeling that their team has a chance of actually going somewhere. Yet, to listen to the Knicks' upbeat talk at practice yesterday, you would have no idea that the situation was dire.

"I wish we could count wins and losses in practices because the last couple of days, we've had some really good practices with guys working hard," said Malik Rose, who was traded from the Spurs to the Knicks last February. "We've got a good rhythm. We got better these last couple of days in practice.

"If we could take half of what we put out here in practice onto the Garden floor [tonight], we'll be in a position to win the game."

Of course, as the Knicks know, being in position to win and winning are two distinct things. The Knicks were in a position to win against Indiana on Sunday, their most recent loss, before getting outscored 11-2 in the final three minutes. The Knicks have lost every which way recently: meltdowns, blowouts, and everything in between.

It's hard to imagine a bigger challenge than tonight's. Only Detroit, which is on pace to win 70 games, has a better record than San Antonio. The Spurs, with Tim Duncan, are an incredibly difficult matchup for the big-man challenged Knicks.

Oft-injured center Eddy Curry is expected to miss his eighth game of the season tonight - this time with a sprained left ankle. That means the Knicks will start Jerome James at center. Curry's absence was really felt defensively against Indiana as center Jermaine O'Neal scored 31 points.

"Obviously, without Eddy we don't have a post presence. We have to do it on the perimeter a bit," Brown said. "But you know we're trying to get to the rim . . . The whole thing in this league is that when you have a low-post presence, you can create double teams to open up outside shots. If you have a perimeter presence that can penetrate and kick, it's the same situation. It would be nice to have both."

Sure, and it would be nice to win a few games that no one expects you to. Like tonight's for instance. Rose, who is a good friend to Duncan, will help out some in the middle. And he's going to try to use whatever knowledge he can to slow down the three-time NBA Finals MVP winner.

"Unfortunately, they'll be keeping track of fouls now," Rose said. "I won't be able to do what I used to do in practice."

[ChumpDumper]

Malik hits a jumper, four seperate threads begin.

[Notorious H.O.P.]

"Obviously, without Eddy we don't have a post presence. We have to do it on the perimeter a bit," Brown said. "But you know we're trying to get to the rim . . . The whole thing in this league is that when you have a low-post presence, you can create double teams to open up outside shots. If you have a perimeter presence that can penetrate and kick, it's the same situation. It would be nice to have both."

I wonder what Jerome "Garbageman" James thinks about this comment. No wonder he showed up to training camp overweight and out-of-shape. He knew they were going to say bad things about him no matter how much effort he put in so he decided not put in any.

[howard2]

Espn.com
Dec 21, 2005
Link: Espn (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=251221018)

San Antonio shoots 56 percent; N.Y. loses 7 straight
NEW YORK (AP) -- Already a really good team, the Spurs came to New York as an angry one.

The Knicks never had a chance.

Michael Finley scored 19 points and San Antonio shot 56 percent Wednesday night in its 109-96 victory over New York, which has lost seven straight games.

The Spurs had lost two in a row and were coming off a 109-107 overtime loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday night on Andrew Bogut's basket at the buzzer.

"We responded well from a real tough loss last night," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's what a coach always looks for. It was great to come out angry enough to try to put last night out of their heads. We played well most of the night, but a lot of the fuel for that came from last night."

Tony Parker added 18 points and 10 assists as the Spurs' starting guards combined to make 15 of 22 shots against the Knicks' dismal perimeter defense. Finley was 8-of-12 in another start in place of Manu Ginobili, and Parker was 7-for-10.

The guards were so good that the Spurs didn't even need much from Tim Duncan, who played only 22 minutes and scored 13 points.

"We attack the game in many different ways," Duncan said. "Some nights it's interior, but a lot of it is our pick-and-roll and finding our shooters. If they're going to play the pick-and-roll a certain way or double team in the post, our shooters are going to have wide-open shots, and we have some of the best in the league."

San Antonio was shooting 63 percent after three quarters and was easily on its way to bettering its season high of 56.3 percent against Boston on Nov. 11 before its reserves were only 8-of-21 in the final 12 minutes.

The Spurs salvaged the final game of their three-game trip. They return home Friday to host Toronto before traveling to Detroit for their NBA Finals rematch with the Pistons on Christmas.

Larry Brown's old team will certainly provide more of a test than his current one.

The Knicks trailed by as many as 32 points, and the only reason they avoided their worst loss of the season was because the Spurs' starters were on the bench in the fourth quarter. New York trailed by 31 points after the third.

"I thought when we started the season with the schedule the way it was, even though we were losing games I thought we were making progress," Brown said. "Now it seems like we're not making any progress.

"It's hard to put a positive spin on it. You saw it."

Jamal Crawford scored 16 points for New York, and Channing Frye and Stephon Marbury each added 14.

Finley scored nine points in the first 4 minutes as the Spurs opened a 13-4 lead, and that was essentially it. The Spurs shot 63 percent in the first quarter in building a 29-16 lead.

The Knicks used a brief flurry to close within five points in the second period, but the Spurs scored the next 11 points and had a double-digit lead the rest of the way. They finished the half on a 23-7 run and went to halftime with a 56-35 cushion after Finley's 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go.

The Spurs shot 65 percent in the half and Finley scored 14 points.

"I think we played consistent the whole game and played unselfishly," Parker said. "The second half (we) came with the same energy. We had to be motivated because we just lost two games."

The only fight the Knicks put up came from Antonio Davis, who fouled Parker with 8:18 left in the third quarter. The Spurs thought the foul was too hard, and as players from both teams huddled to talk about it, Davis gave Duncan a little shove as he was walking away.

By then, San Antonio already led by 23 points. The lead grew to 86-54 when Brent Barry made a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the quarter. Barry finished with 13 points

Game notes
Ginobili missed his sixth consecutive game and eighth this season with a sprained foot. ... Knicks center Eddy Curry missed his third straight game after spraining his ankle last Thursday in practice. Rookie Nate Robinson was out with a stomach virus, the second in a row he was inactive. ... The Knicks' worst loss this season was by 20 points last week against Milwaukee. ... With New York in its second full day of a transit strike, the Knicks announced that a limited number of tickets for Friday's game against Utah will be discounted by more than 40 percent to fans presenting a MetroCard. The team said the offer continues even if the strike has been settled.