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And that's why I love him. no
Another stubbed toe for Spurs
Jeff McDonald
CLEVELAND — Manu Ginobili rose from his chair, grabbed his bags and headed for the nearest exit.
This part of his night, at least, went better than the last time he departed Quicken Loans Arena. This time, he didn't limp.
Still, Ginobili left Cleveland with more regrets in the aftermath of the Spurs' 97-95 loss to the LeBron-less Cavaliers on Monday. For one, he regretted his left foot — the one across from the right distal fibula that betrayed him here a season earlier — was an inch too long.
“It sucks,” Ginobili said.
With Tony Parker missing the first game of what could be the rest of his season, Ginobili earned his second start and did everything he could to try and will the Spurs to what would have been their fifth consecutive victory.
Ginobili had 38 points — his most in more than two years — made 7 of 11 on 3-pointers, had seven rebounds and five assists and made almost every play the Spurs needed.
Except the biggest one, which Ginobili missed even as he made it.
When he didn't step back quite far enough on the 3-pointer that would have evened the score at 93 with 14.9 seconds left, did it symbolize the Spurs' season? Or simply make up for Jason Richardson's missed dunk?
Ginobili was celebrating the apparent game-tying shot, which came between two Cavs, until he looked at official Joey Crawford. What he saw stopped the celebration.
“I saw Joey saying it was a two,” Ginobili said, “and he looked pretty convinced.”
Replays later confirmed Ginobili's toe was on the line.
“A good call,” Ginobili said.
The Spurs left Cleveland convinced it never should have come to that.
With LeBron James, the NBA's leading scorer, sitting out for rest purposes, Shaquille O'Neal sidelined after thumb surgery, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas 14 days from being eligible to re-sign, the Cavaliers were shorthanded.
When Antawn Jamison left in the third quarter with knee tightness, and the Spurs were ahead by eight, the game was there for the taking.
Instead?
“We gave one away,” Tim Duncan said.
Perhaps the Spurs (36-25) should be used to this. They've also lost games to the Lakers without Kobe Bryant and Denver without Carmelo Anthony.
Jamison and Mo Williams each had 17 points for Cleveland, but it was role players such as Jawad Williams and Delonte West who helped the Cavs become the league's first 50-win team.
Starting for James, Williams had 13 points, including three straight jumpers in the third. West pumped in 16 points, 10 in the fourth. They helped Cleveland move to 1-7 without James in the past three seasons.
In the midst of a LeBron-like surge of his own, Ginobili couldn't get the same assistance.
George Hill, who slid from shooting guard to fill in for Parker, had 23 points. The rest of the Spurs combined for 34.
Roger Mason Jr. was 1 of 10 and missed all eight of his 3-pointers — including a wide-open one that could have tied it with 3.9 seconds left.
“A nightmare of a game,” Mason said.
Antonio McDyess was 2 for 8. Richard Jefferson, backsliding after his 18-point night at Memphis, was 1 for 3, his only field goal coming on a dunk. Duncan managed 13 points and threw away two crucial passes in the fourth quarter.
“We need to play better,” Mason said. “Manu's not going to be able to win games by himself.”
That didn't stop Ginobili from trying. Much of his night mirrored his 46-point performance against Cleveland on Feb. 13, 2008, the last time the Spurs defeated the Cavs. Until Monday, he'd topped 38 just once since, in a 44-point outburst at Minnesota eight days later.
“He's a compe or,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, shaking his head. “He's just ridiculous.”
This was vintage Manu, closer to the Cleveland moment he enjoyed two seasons ago than last season. By a toe, it wasn't enough.
And that's why I love him. no
because he knows he has teammates that will lose the game for him. It's like Manu was playing against two teams tonight.
I love Manu for his swagger. I wish some players on the team had that too.
I won't blame Manu for treating the remainder of this season as an audition for the teams that are going to throw money his way. He's certainly gone after the way Pop's ed up a roster that was loaded with talent and promise.
WE as in who?
Kind of makes me appreciate Richard's willingness to put the blame for his play on himself first (though he did eventually, and indirectly, share some with Pop).
BTW can anybody tell me (without just saying he has no balls) why Richard only took 3 FGAs? He had 9 boards which tells me there must have been some effort on his part.
Oh man, the stats say he didn't even attempt a FG until the 4th quarter! WTF??
Your game is a nightmare“A nightmare of a game,” Mason said.
You need to play better. Stop blaming others and play some“We need to play better,” Mason said.
Calling Bogans your 'centerpiece' and being unable to play him because he gets burned by Jawal Williams is ridiculous, Pop...
We lost because of Manu. He should've taken two steps back instead of one on that shot with 14s to go . . .
I hate bogans and how much pop uses him as much as the next guy...but bogans 6'4 and williams 6'9. He shouldn't have been guarding williams in the first place. Williams scored 6 straight pts and sparked the cavs' run. That I blame pop for
I like the way you think, smeagol.
No one noticed that Jason Richardson is mentioned earlier in the article as missing a dunk? When did JR join the cavs?
Author made "the JR-RJ" slip.
shame.
He's talking about the dunk Jason Richardson missed last time the Suns played the Spurs that would have tied the game.
Because Tony didn't pass him the ball... wait.
That "centerpiece" quote about Bogans is going to go down as one of the stupidest things to come out of Pop's mouth.
manu should have learned from kobe
does he not watch other teams play or is he to busy facebooking
I'm guessing Juwad became Juwal after playing against Bogans and realizing he didn't want a 'D', and what it is supposed to stand for, associated with his name . . .
LOL... I honestly already forgot his name... Now that I think about it... that sad indeed...
LOL at you trying to say Manu played good because he´s thinking on his wallet instead of playing good because he´s in good health and love the Spurs and have a lot of respect to its fans.
The beauty of Manu's game is that he always plays to win the game he is in. His is the passion of that guy on the court who refuses to lose cause he doesn't want to leave the court. I don't think that Manu's basketball DNA will allow him to showcase his talents for a bigger paycheck, because the guy on the court last night is the same guy from the last 7 years. injuries or not the effort from Manu is always beyond a 100%
good take, to add to that I would say that Manu's love for the game itself is what makes him so special.LOL at you trying to say Manu played good because he´s thinking on his wallet instead of playing good because he´s in good health and love the Spurs and have a lot of respect to its fans.
The FO would be fools not to move heaven and earth to re-sign this guy.
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