SequSpur
01-11-2006, 09:06 AM
Spurs stop Nets, but late woes upset Popovich
The Spurs ended New Jersey's 10-game winning streak Tuesday night, but that's not what Gregg Popovich wanted to talk about.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan shoots over the Nets' Nenad Krstic (left) and Jason Collins during the Spurs' victory Tuesday at the SBC Center. Duncan made 13 of 15 from the free-throw line and finished with 27 points.
Mike Monroe: Carter taking game, New Jersey to higher level
Nor did he wish to discuss how Tim Duncan scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half. Or how the Spurs held Vince Carter to five points during a 31-minute stretch of the game. Or even how they somehow made a franchise-record 20 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Popovich chose to focus only on the final 39 seconds of the Spurs' 96-91 victory. Or, more specifically, the 14 points the Nets scored during that time.
"I thought we showed total lack of concentration, lack of effort, lack of cohesiveness and lack of leadership — both on the court and from me, the head coach," Popovich said. "It was disgusting." (Tim Duncan)
And on that note the Spurs go rolling into Thursday night's NBA Finals rematch with the Detroit Pistons.
"Even if our (27-8) record says we're having a good season, it's a season we shouldn't be having," Robert Horry said. "Our record should be even better. We've lost to some .500 ball clubs. That's the thing that's been killing us.
"It was good to have somebody step up and take over and lead us." (Tim Duncan)
Horry was referring to Popovich, whose postgame address to the team was delivered in the same short, matter-of-fact tone as his later comments to the media.
The Spurs built an 83-67 lead by holding the Nets to only two points for nearly the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. New Jersey, which had rallied from an eight-point deficit with two minutes remaining to beat Toronto on Sunday, came close to pulling off another memorable comeback. (Vince Carter, Manny is God)
Vince Carter scored 11 of his game-high 34 points in the final 1:22, nine in the last 36.8 seconds. He started the flurry with a 3-pointer over Bruce Bowen. His final six points came at the free-throw line after Bowen fouled him on two other 3-point attempts, the second of which appeared to be a questionable call. (Great Defense Bowen, you deserve the DPOY)
The only thing that saved the Spurs — surprise, surprise — was their own foul shooting. (WOW) Ranked 29th among the league's 30 teams in free-throw shooting, they went 20 of 23 from the line in the fourth quarter.
With New Jersey intentionally fouling the Spurs every time down the floor, the game's final 32 seconds took 15 minutes to play. The Spurs would have made it easier on themselves had they been able to stop the Nets on the other end of the floor.
Said Tony Parker: "We played like rookies." (Typical excuse, how about learning a pick and roll)
Duncan overcame his own sluggish performance in the first half to finish with 27 points and 12 rebounds. He missed only two of his 15 free throws and provided strong help defense on Carter in the third quarter. (Because Carter was taking Bowen and Finley to school, thanks to Duncan, Carter would've dropped at least 50 in a win.
"With them, it isn't the first line of defense that you have to worry about," Carter said. "It's the second line that makes it tough." (Tim Duncan)
The Spurs were able to focus more on Carter because the Nets' second-leading scorer, forward Richard Jefferson, missed the game with a back injury. That further muted any celebrating the Spurs thought about doing after ending the NBA's longest winning streak of the season.
Carter scored 14 points in the first quarter but had only five more until heating up in the game's final six minutes. He missed 18 of 29 shots.
"They helped us out there in that they were undermanned," said Popovich, who didn't take any questions from the media. "I thought they played more aggressively than we did. I thought they executed better and were sharper than we were." (Manny, Tpark???)
That showed in the 20 turnovers the Spurs committed. As well as how they played in the final 39 seconds. (Vince Carter effect)
"We laid a fat egg during that time," Bowen said. "It wiped out everything we had accomplished."
The Spurs ended New Jersey's 10-game winning streak Tuesday night, but that's not what Gregg Popovich wanted to talk about.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan shoots over the Nets' Nenad Krstic (left) and Jason Collins during the Spurs' victory Tuesday at the SBC Center. Duncan made 13 of 15 from the free-throw line and finished with 27 points.
Mike Monroe: Carter taking game, New Jersey to higher level
Nor did he wish to discuss how Tim Duncan scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half. Or how the Spurs held Vince Carter to five points during a 31-minute stretch of the game. Or even how they somehow made a franchise-record 20 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Popovich chose to focus only on the final 39 seconds of the Spurs' 96-91 victory. Or, more specifically, the 14 points the Nets scored during that time.
"I thought we showed total lack of concentration, lack of effort, lack of cohesiveness and lack of leadership — both on the court and from me, the head coach," Popovich said. "It was disgusting." (Tim Duncan)
And on that note the Spurs go rolling into Thursday night's NBA Finals rematch with the Detroit Pistons.
"Even if our (27-8) record says we're having a good season, it's a season we shouldn't be having," Robert Horry said. "Our record should be even better. We've lost to some .500 ball clubs. That's the thing that's been killing us.
"It was good to have somebody step up and take over and lead us." (Tim Duncan)
Horry was referring to Popovich, whose postgame address to the team was delivered in the same short, matter-of-fact tone as his later comments to the media.
The Spurs built an 83-67 lead by holding the Nets to only two points for nearly the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. New Jersey, which had rallied from an eight-point deficit with two minutes remaining to beat Toronto on Sunday, came close to pulling off another memorable comeback. (Vince Carter, Manny is God)
Vince Carter scored 11 of his game-high 34 points in the final 1:22, nine in the last 36.8 seconds. He started the flurry with a 3-pointer over Bruce Bowen. His final six points came at the free-throw line after Bowen fouled him on two other 3-point attempts, the second of which appeared to be a questionable call. (Great Defense Bowen, you deserve the DPOY)
The only thing that saved the Spurs — surprise, surprise — was their own foul shooting. (WOW) Ranked 29th among the league's 30 teams in free-throw shooting, they went 20 of 23 from the line in the fourth quarter.
With New Jersey intentionally fouling the Spurs every time down the floor, the game's final 32 seconds took 15 minutes to play. The Spurs would have made it easier on themselves had they been able to stop the Nets on the other end of the floor.
Said Tony Parker: "We played like rookies." (Typical excuse, how about learning a pick and roll)
Duncan overcame his own sluggish performance in the first half to finish with 27 points and 12 rebounds. He missed only two of his 15 free throws and provided strong help defense on Carter in the third quarter. (Because Carter was taking Bowen and Finley to school, thanks to Duncan, Carter would've dropped at least 50 in a win.
"With them, it isn't the first line of defense that you have to worry about," Carter said. "It's the second line that makes it tough." (Tim Duncan)
The Spurs were able to focus more on Carter because the Nets' second-leading scorer, forward Richard Jefferson, missed the game with a back injury. That further muted any celebrating the Spurs thought about doing after ending the NBA's longest winning streak of the season.
Carter scored 14 points in the first quarter but had only five more until heating up in the game's final six minutes. He missed 18 of 29 shots.
"They helped us out there in that they were undermanned," said Popovich, who didn't take any questions from the media. "I thought they played more aggressively than we did. I thought they executed better and were sharper than we were." (Manny, Tpark???)
That showed in the 20 turnovers the Spurs committed. As well as how they played in the final 39 seconds. (Vince Carter effect)
"We laid a fat egg during that time," Bowen said. "It wiped out everything we had accomplished."