carina_gino20
01-29-2007, 11:15 AM
Spurs win in OT despite anemic shooting
Web Posted: 01/29/2007 01:42 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
LOS ANGELES — Manu Ginobili pulled on his shirt in front of his locker, turned his head and smiled.
He had a large, deep bruise under his right eye and his face and nose were noticeably swollen. He extended his right arm to offer up a 6-inch gash across his bicep. His left wrist and arm also were nicked up.
"As you can see," Ginobili said, "it was quite a battle."
One that, for a change, the Spurs won. On a Sunday afternoon in which they couldn't shoot — in a season in which they have struggled to find any consistency — the Spurs found a way to win, erasing a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, then beating the Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 on Michael Finley's 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in overtime.
The sellout crowd of 18,997 filed out of the Staples Center in disbelief, and the Spurs couldn't blame them for being surprised. The Spurs shot a season-low 33.7 percent — 28.8 percent through the first three quarters — and were still down 75-66 with less than five minutes left in regulation.
But Ginobili scraped himself off the floor after absorbing a vicious elbow from Kobe Bryant at the end of the fourth quarter to finish with 21 points. Tony Parker had 13 of his 19 points after the third quarter and Tim Duncan, who finished one block shy of a triple-double in his previous game, came up just short again, totaling 21 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks.
And then there was Finley. Mired in a season-long shooting slump, he scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers, none more important than the last.
After Vladimir Radmanovic missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Spurs skipped off the court with a victory to lift their spirits as they opened their annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo trip.
"I was really proud of our team," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I thought we persevered. We didn't play great, but we hung in."
The Spurs' trip began rather inauspiciously when they arrived in town Saturday afternoon to discover it was raining. Then they were told their hotel didn't have power, forcing them to find other accommodations. They apparently decided to take their frustration out on the rims at the Staples Center.
Popovich started Brent Barry in place of Ginobili, hoping to give his bench a jolt of energy, then watched Barry miss all four of his shots. Ginobili also missed his first four, and Bruce Bowen his first five. Parker made a layup and then clanged his next eight attempts.
The Lakers weren't much better in the opening quarter, shooting 33.3 percent, but used consecutive 3-pointers by Smush Parker, Bryant and Lamar Odom to take a 44-36 lead into halftime.
"I told the guys during one timeout that both teams looked like they went out together last night," Popovich said.
The Lakers, however, settled into a rhythm more quickly than the Spurs.
Bryant, who finished with 31 points and seven assists, drew three fouls on Bowen on the first two possessions of the third quarter. The last one gave him a three-point play to push Los Angeles' lead to 11.
"I thought, wow, they looked dispirited as a team," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "But they found a way to get back in the ballgame."
Parker helped trigger the comeback after relocating his jump shot late in the fourth quarter. Ginobili made a pair of 3-pointers and Bowen drilled one of his own — the first shot he made all day — to put the Spurs ahead 79-77 with 54.1 seconds left in regulation.
But after a free throw by Ginobili, Radmanovic tied the score with a 3-pointer. Bryant had a chance to win on the final play of regulation, but Ginobili blocked his shot from behind — then paid a price for it.
Swinging his arm out in an attempt to draw contact, Bryant hit Ginobili flush in the face with his elbow. Ginobili crumbled to the floor and the Spurs had to begin overtime without him.
The Lakers used the opportunity to score on their first four possessions of overtime, but Parker kept the Spurs close with seven points of his own. Finally cleared to play, Ginobili returned and immediately barreled down the middle of the lane, drawing a foul and a pair of free throws that gave the Spurs a 91-90 lead with 1:13 left.
"The guy is ridiculous," Popovich said. "He looks like Rocky Balboa. :lol I was shocked.
"But the doctor looked at him and said his nose wasn't broken. Manu wanted to play and the trainer said it was OK, so I put him in very hesitatingly.
"I didn't think he would be able to do anything. ... He's just a stone stud, the best competitor you can imagine."
The same, of course, could be said of Bryant, who answered with a tough jump shot, then followed a layup by Duncan with another to leave the Lakers with a one-point lead with seven seconds left.
After a timeout, the Spurs inbounded to Duncan, who found Finley behind the 3-point line. Finley let the shot go, then raised his arms in triumph as the ball slid through the net.
"It was a post entry out of bounds," Duncan said. "Manu cut off me and went baseline. I took two dribbles to the middle and was going to go baseline, but for some wild reason, I figured Kobe was coming back. He kind of always comes back on that cut.
"Somebody was digging on me from the top and I threw it over his head to Mike and Mike stepped into it. It was just an incredible shot."
One that hasn't come too frequently of late for Finley.
"It's been a tough season, but I work hard in the offseason, hard during the year," Finley said. "So when things are going bad I just think of my workouts and I know that good things usually happen."
Having already lost to the Lakers twice and lacking a victory over a quality opponent for much of the past month, the Spurs were happy to fall into a little good fortune.
"We've been up and down and to be down 10 points and not shooting the ball well and find a way to win," Duncan said, "it's huge for us."
Web Posted: 01/29/2007 01:42 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
LOS ANGELES — Manu Ginobili pulled on his shirt in front of his locker, turned his head and smiled.
He had a large, deep bruise under his right eye and his face and nose were noticeably swollen. He extended his right arm to offer up a 6-inch gash across his bicep. His left wrist and arm also were nicked up.
"As you can see," Ginobili said, "it was quite a battle."
One that, for a change, the Spurs won. On a Sunday afternoon in which they couldn't shoot — in a season in which they have struggled to find any consistency — the Spurs found a way to win, erasing a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, then beating the Los Angeles Lakers 96-94 on Michael Finley's 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in overtime.
The sellout crowd of 18,997 filed out of the Staples Center in disbelief, and the Spurs couldn't blame them for being surprised. The Spurs shot a season-low 33.7 percent — 28.8 percent through the first three quarters — and were still down 75-66 with less than five minutes left in regulation.
But Ginobili scraped himself off the floor after absorbing a vicious elbow from Kobe Bryant at the end of the fourth quarter to finish with 21 points. Tony Parker had 13 of his 19 points after the third quarter and Tim Duncan, who finished one block shy of a triple-double in his previous game, came up just short again, totaling 21 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks.
And then there was Finley. Mired in a season-long shooting slump, he scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers, none more important than the last.
After Vladimir Radmanovic missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Spurs skipped off the court with a victory to lift their spirits as they opened their annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo trip.
"I was really proud of our team," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I thought we persevered. We didn't play great, but we hung in."
The Spurs' trip began rather inauspiciously when they arrived in town Saturday afternoon to discover it was raining. Then they were told their hotel didn't have power, forcing them to find other accommodations. They apparently decided to take their frustration out on the rims at the Staples Center.
Popovich started Brent Barry in place of Ginobili, hoping to give his bench a jolt of energy, then watched Barry miss all four of his shots. Ginobili also missed his first four, and Bruce Bowen his first five. Parker made a layup and then clanged his next eight attempts.
The Lakers weren't much better in the opening quarter, shooting 33.3 percent, but used consecutive 3-pointers by Smush Parker, Bryant and Lamar Odom to take a 44-36 lead into halftime.
"I told the guys during one timeout that both teams looked like they went out together last night," Popovich said.
The Lakers, however, settled into a rhythm more quickly than the Spurs.
Bryant, who finished with 31 points and seven assists, drew three fouls on Bowen on the first two possessions of the third quarter. The last one gave him a three-point play to push Los Angeles' lead to 11.
"I thought, wow, they looked dispirited as a team," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "But they found a way to get back in the ballgame."
Parker helped trigger the comeback after relocating his jump shot late in the fourth quarter. Ginobili made a pair of 3-pointers and Bowen drilled one of his own — the first shot he made all day — to put the Spurs ahead 79-77 with 54.1 seconds left in regulation.
But after a free throw by Ginobili, Radmanovic tied the score with a 3-pointer. Bryant had a chance to win on the final play of regulation, but Ginobili blocked his shot from behind — then paid a price for it.
Swinging his arm out in an attempt to draw contact, Bryant hit Ginobili flush in the face with his elbow. Ginobili crumbled to the floor and the Spurs had to begin overtime without him.
The Lakers used the opportunity to score on their first four possessions of overtime, but Parker kept the Spurs close with seven points of his own. Finally cleared to play, Ginobili returned and immediately barreled down the middle of the lane, drawing a foul and a pair of free throws that gave the Spurs a 91-90 lead with 1:13 left.
"The guy is ridiculous," Popovich said. "He looks like Rocky Balboa. :lol I was shocked.
"But the doctor looked at him and said his nose wasn't broken. Manu wanted to play and the trainer said it was OK, so I put him in very hesitatingly.
"I didn't think he would be able to do anything. ... He's just a stone stud, the best competitor you can imagine."
The same, of course, could be said of Bryant, who answered with a tough jump shot, then followed a layup by Duncan with another to leave the Lakers with a one-point lead with seven seconds left.
After a timeout, the Spurs inbounded to Duncan, who found Finley behind the 3-point line. Finley let the shot go, then raised his arms in triumph as the ball slid through the net.
"It was a post entry out of bounds," Duncan said. "Manu cut off me and went baseline. I took two dribbles to the middle and was going to go baseline, but for some wild reason, I figured Kobe was coming back. He kind of always comes back on that cut.
"Somebody was digging on me from the top and I threw it over his head to Mike and Mike stepped into it. It was just an incredible shot."
One that hasn't come too frequently of late for Finley.
"It's been a tough season, but I work hard in the offseason, hard during the year," Finley said. "So when things are going bad I just think of my workouts and I know that good things usually happen."
Having already lost to the Lakers twice and lacking a victory over a quality opponent for much of the past month, the Spurs were happy to fall into a little good fortune.
"We've been up and down and to be down 10 points and not shooting the ball well and find a way to win," Duncan said, "it's huge for us."