The Spurs are now 32-9, their best record ever at the midpoint of a season

[ducks]

San Antonio 80, LA Clippers 79
Preview - Box Score - Recap

By T.A. BADGER, Associated Press Writer
January 19, 2005

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AP - Jan 19, 10:07 pm EST
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Tony Parker scored 25 points, including a game-winning driving layup in the final seconds, to lead San Antonio to an 80-79 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.

The Clippers took a 79-78 lead with 19 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Bobby Simmons. On the next possession, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili curled around the lane and passed to Parker in the left corner.

He faked a shot to get Simmons off his feet and then drove baseline, bumping bodies with 7-footer Chris Kaman as he banked in a layup high off the backboard with 7.8 seconds left.

The Clippers' final inbounds play went to Elton Brand, who backed Tim Duncan in a couple of steps before his turnaround jumper went off the right side of the rim. The ball bounced around before Ginobili grabbed the rebound as time expired.

Ginobili, who missed Monday's win over Washington with a thigh bruise, scored 13 points. Duncan had 12 points and 14 rebounds for San Antonio, which improved the NBA's best home record to 21-1.

Kaman scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Los Angeles, which lost its third straight game. Corey Maggette had 20 points for the Clippers, while Brand finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds.

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Parker scored 15 of his points in the third, including his team's final eight points of the quarter as the Spurs built a 65-55 lead going into the fourth. That lead grew to as many as 13 before the Clippers went on an 11-0 run led by Kaman and Maggette.

San Antonio made six of its first seven shots, three of them by Duncan inside, but then missed seven of its next eight. Los Angeles also started slowly.

Trailing by six late in the second quarter, the Clippers went on a 12-5 run to end the half.

Kaman tied the score at 37 on a dunk after he rebounded his own miss with about a minute left. Parker hit an 18-footer with nine seconds on the clock to put San Antonio ahead by one, but Simmons followed with a long jumper at the buzzer to make it 41-40 Clippers.

Notes

The Spurs are now 32-9, their best record ever at the midpoint of a season. ... Duncan is averaging 13.7 points in his past three games, about eight points under his season mark. ... Robert Horry left the game in the third quarter with a dislocated right kneecap. ... Kaman is averaging 14.2 points in the past six games, better than twice his season average. ... The Clippers play Thursday in Dallas. The game will end their third back-to-back series in nine days

[ducks]

duncan 13.7 points a game means after friday game he needs a few days off

[ShoogarBear]

Damn, I was just thinking "at last, a Subject line from ducks that I understand!"

Now I see it was a cut & paste.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Duncan is averaging 13.7 points in his past three games, about eight points under his season mark.

Going to him at the end of games right now sure sounds kinda dumb, doesn't it?

[boutons]

ok, you sports medicine aces, what's the prognosis for a dislocated kneecap. Bob's out for weeks, months? does it heal ?

[boutons]

Spurs On Top:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/standings?season=2005&group=conference&column=winPercent&order=false&seasontype=2

[T Park]

Going to him at the end of games right now sure sounds kinda dumb, doesn't it?


Keep toeing the Aggie line.

[Solid D]

I don't believe the injury was very severe. I remember when Barkley tore his quadricep muscle, the knee cap crawled up his leg several inches. That one looked pretty bad and it was.

Here is a description of Patellar Subluxation:
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/patelladisorders/a/kneecapdisloc.htm

What is patellar subluxation?
The kneecap slides up and down a groove on the end of the femur as the knee bends. This groove is called the patellofemoral articulation. The kneecap is designed to fit in the center of this groove, and slide evenly within the groove--this is called patellar tracking. In some patients, the kneecap is pulled towards the outside of the knee. As this happens, the kneecap does not track centrally within the groove.

Also called patellar subluxation, patients who experience an unstable kneecap have a patella that does not track evenly within its groove on the femur. Depending on the severity, this improper tracking may not cause the patient any problems, or it may lead to dislocation of the patella (where the kneecap fully dislocates out of joint). Most commonly, the tracking problem causes discomfort with activity, and pain over the edges of the kneecap. Patellar subluxation and dislocation are conditions that usually affects adolescents, and sometimes younger children.

What causes patellar subluxation?
There are several causes of patellar subluxation. This problem is usually attributed the quadriceps muscle, specifically the vastus medialis obliquus (or VMO). This muscle pulls the kneecap towards the middle of the knee joint, maintaining its position in the joint. If this muscle is not as well developed as other muscles around the knee, or if its muscle fibers are not adequately oriented to control the kneecap, then patellar subluxation may result.

[Rummpd]

& on their way to 63 wins and 1st seed exactly as I predicted.

MadDoc

[boutons]

"on their way to 63 wins and 1st seed exactly as I predicted."

I think the FT problem alone will keep the Spurs at 60 wins max.

Beating LAC by 1 while hitting 16/18 FTs is the happy exception that proves the unhappy rule.

Shooting team 72% FTs, Spurs would have, more normally, hit 13/18 FTs and lost. But Manu hit 4/4 FTs in crunch. A really great win.

[Rummpd]

Was a great silver lining.

Spurs only need to win now 31/41 left to get to 63. Very doable with their usual late surge.

Actually, any number that gives Spurs homecourt = ok.