Could 2.7 be the difference?

[FromWayDowntown]

Thinking about Game 3, I'm convinced that while the margin doesn't reflect it, the key sequence of the game came at the end of the 2nd quarter. The Hornets had finally gotten offensive contributions from Stojakovic and Peterson, as each drained 3's to fuel another Hornets run and put them up 7.

Bowen hits a 3 with 2.7 seconds left.

Manu nearly makes a steal with 1.6 left.

Peterson commits an unforced turnover with .8 left.

Manu drains a 2 at the buzzer.

Instead of going in demoralized and down anywhere from 5-8 with the Hornets on still another run, the Spurs went in down 2 and feeling as though they were right there.

Did it change the game? I think so.

Did it seem like it instilled belief in a Spurs team that was on the ropes? I think so.

Will it turn the series? We'll see (I think it might have).

[freemeat]

That completely changed the game....

I take it that you just posted after watching the repeat on ESPN?

It looked like TP was going to dribble out the quarter, down 7 (shot-clock off), and maybe get some sort of score. Instead, they end the 2nd down 2. HUGE.

[honestfool84]

i hope the spurs win it, even if this wasn't the turning point. :lol

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

In a game of runs, gotta have some playoff magic on your side.



Basketball gods keep doing your thing! :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

Us Spurs fans will not take it for granted; we will try to remain humble!

[MI21]

Watching that on the live scores during a lecture (spurs are ruining my education) I let out a yes at that sequence. 56-49 after a couple of 3's and I was shitting bricks. Felt a whole lot better when I saw 56-54, and like you FWD, I feel like it was a huge moment in the grand scheme of this series. Closing quarters is so important.

[Obstructed_View]

Gotta be lucky, healthy and good. If the Spurs don't play well in the second half, that little bit of luck doesn't mean anything.

[m33p0]

spurs do the little things that win games. they know all too well that 2.7 secs is alot of time.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Anyone think Manu got that 0.8 shot in time, regardless if there was a 0.2 delay?? :lol

rE1TaFmymcE


I think the bounce pass made all the difference for whoever started/timed the clock.

[freemeat]

if .4 was good, .8 was great.

[PlayoffEx-static]

Thinking about Game 3, I'm convinced that while the margin doesn't reflect it, the key sequence of the game came at the end of the 2nd quarter. The Hornets had finally gotten offensive contributions from Stojakovic and Peterson, as each drained 3's to fuel another Hornets run and put them up 7.

Bowen hits a 3 with 2.7 seconds left.

Manu nearly makes a steal with 1.6 left.

Peterson commits an unforced turnover with .8 left.

Manu drains a 2 at the buzzer.

Instead of going in demoralized and down anywhere from 5-8 with the Hornets on still another run, the Spurs went in down 2 and feeling as though they were right there.

Did it change the game? I think so.

Did it seem like it instilled belief in a Spurs team that was on the ropes? I think so.

Will it turn the series? We'll see (I think it might have).

David West even mentioned it in his interview after the game. That's funny, because he allowed Manu to shoot the ball by actually rotating to the top of the circle while the pass was going to Manu, as if there was time to make a second pass to a 3 point shooter. :lol

[FromWayDowntown]

Gotta be lucky, healthy and good. If the Spurs don't play well in the second half, that little bit of luck doesn't mean anything.

True. But the difference that run made was initially subtle. When the Hornets made little pushes in the early parts of the 3rd Quarter, those pushes didn't bury the Spurs -- instead of going up by 9 or more, the Hornets were only up by 4 or so. Obviously, the Spurs had to make it stand by playing well, but I guess my point is that their mentality after that sequence seemed to change. Maybe it was change that would have happened anyway; I don't truly know. But I actually think that if the Spurs had gone in down by 7 or 8 points, they're in a very different situation mentally than going in down 2.

[urunobili]

series changing shot hopefully!

[bcbnola]

Although the end of the 2nd definetly hurt the Hornets, the key to the game was Tyson Chandler's 4th foul early in the 3rd quarter. Although the "nail in the coffin" 11-0 run came later in the 4th, the Hornets needed to pull away in the 3rd. This couldn't be done with Tyson on the pine. It didn't hurt that the Spurs were hitting the open to semi-open jumpers they were missing in Games 1/2.

[TampaDude]

Although the end of the 2nd definetly hurt the Hornets, the key to the game was Tyson Chandler's 4th foul early in the 3rd quarter. Although the "nail in the coffin" 11-0 run came later in the 4th, the Hornets needed to pull away in the 3rd. This couldn't be done with Tyson on the pine. It didn't hurt that the Spurs were hitting the open to semi-open jumpers they were missing in Games 1/2.

Yup...the Spurs started hitting their shots...when the J is falling, the Spurs are hard to beat...see Game 3 against the Suns...

[YoMamaIsCallin]

I watched the replay and it seemed to me the clock started right on time. The clock doesn't start until a player on the court touches the ball. I think people were mentally distracted by the fact that the ball bounced.

If there was a 0.1 or 0.2 second delay, well, that's well within the limit of human reaction time.

0.8 seconds is plenty of time to catch and shoot. Derek Fisher did it in 0.4 (which was probably really more like 0.7, since the timekeeper's view was screened).

Also people need to realize that the NBA brings in third party "neutral" people to run the clock for playoff games. There is no homer bias going on .

[Spurs Brazil]

That was huge.

Go to the half down 7 would be tough

Props to Pop to call the Time out and set a great play woth .8 to go

[duncan228]

Another point of view:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA050908.06D.BKNspurs.rail.e1707de1.html

Game 3: Key player, how the game was won, key stretch
San Antonio Express-News

KEY PLAYER: BRUCE BOWEN

-12: points
-4-9: 3PM-A
-1: steal
-1: block
-40: minutes

Hornets sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic scored 22 and 25 points in Games 1 and 2, but that was without the Spurs’ Bruce Bowen hounding him. With Bowen shadowing him Thursday, Stojakovic scored just eight points on 2 of 7 shooting from the field. But it wasn’t just on the defensive end that Bowen made his mark. Deadly as ever from the corners, he canned 4 of his 9 shots from 3-point range to finish with 12 points.

HOW THE GAME WAS WON

After being outscored by 12 and 18 points in the third period in the first two games, the Spurs came out ahead in this one by seven to lead by five entering the fourth. With Tony Parker scoring 11 points and Tim Duncan notching nine, the Spurs hit 56 percent of their shots from the field in the third while holding the Hornets to 39 percent. The Spurs also battled their way to a 12-8 rebounding edge in the period. Asked to explain why his team won the third period after slumping after halftime in the previous two games, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “Little more physical, little more aggressive.” Bottom line: A little meant a lot for the defending champs.

KEY STRETCH

In the midst of an 18-6 run midway through the final period, Tim Duncan came up with back-to-back plays in a span of 21 seconds that allowed the Spurs to lead 96-88 with 7:06 left. It all began with Duncan banking in an 8-foot jump shot to give the Spurs a six-point lead with 7:48 left. Hustling down to the other end, Duncan blocked David West’s 7-foot jumper. Two possessions later, Manu Ginobili raised the Spurs’ lead to eight points with a driving layup.

- Tom Orsborn

[MI21]

Bump.

This was an extremely important moment in the grand scheme of this series, in my opinion. The little things championship teams do to win a series.

[bdictjames]

I remember that game, Spurs were cheated on the third quarter with the most bogus of calls.