Spurs-Pistons Preview

[duncan228]

Better late than never...

http://www.nba.com/games/20080314/SA...scoreboardhome

Spurs-Pistons Preview
By BRETT HUSTON, STATS Writer

The San Antonio Spurs just suffered their worst loss of the season, while the Detroit Pistons lost a tight game that came down to the final shot.

Pistons coach Flip Saunders, however, seems a lot more angry about his team's latest performance than Spurs coach Gregg Popovich does about his club's blowout defeat.

Two of the NBA's best square off Friday when San Antonio (44-20) continues a three-game road trip in Detroit (46-18), with both teams hoping to prove their last games were nothing more than an aberration.

The Pistons began their five-game homestand with a 116-109 win over Chicago on Sunday, shooting 50.6 percent outrebounding the Bulls 42-28.

On Wednesday, though, Detroit was outrebounded 39-32 and committed an unusually high 15 turnovers, losing 83-82 to Philadelphia when Chauncey Billups' jumper bounced off the rim as time expired.

"We were terrible,'' Saunders said. "The score isn't reflective of the way we played - we shouldn't have only lost this game by one point.''

Detroit has the NBA's second-best record, but it's struggled lately against top teams. The Pistons are 4-3 in their last seven contests, the four wins coming against teams that would currently qualify for the draft lottery and the three losses to teams that are in playoff position.

The Pistons' uninspired play hasn't been the fault of Billups or Tayshaun Prince. Billups is averaging 21.4 points and 6.8 assists in his last 10 games, while Prince is scoring 19.2 per game in his last six.

Another pair of Detroit starters hasn't been performing nearly as well. Guard Richard Hamilton (17.7 ppg) is averaging 14.2 points and shooting 38.8 percent in his last five games, while forward Antonio McDyess is scoring only 5.6 points per game over his last seven.

One positive in the Pistons' win Wednesday night was the return of forward Rasheed Wallace, who scored 17 points after missing two games with an ankle sprain.

Wallace has been excellent in his last four games against the Spurs, averaging 21.0 points and 9.8 rebounds. He had 23 points and 15 rebounds in the teams' first meeting this season, a 90-80 Detroit victory in San Antonio on Jan. 10.

That win prompted Wallace to do a little speculating.

"This is a good team. I think, in my opinion, this is one of the teams we'll see in the finals," he said of the club that defeated the Pistons in seven games for the le in 2005. "So, it's always a good game with us and San Antonio."

The Spurs, however, didn't look much like a team bound for the finals Wednesday, losing 100-75 at Southwest rival New Orleans. It was their worst defeat since a 104-68 loss at Dallas on April 7, 2005.

Popovich, though, was content to give the Hornets credit and move on.

"They just played better than we did," Popovich said. "They shot the ball well. They were aggressive. Any way you want to slice it, they did a great job."

The loss was the Spurs' third straight on the road, and they've been outscored by an average of 15.0 points in those games. San Antonio has lost three of four since winning a season-high 11 in a row.

The Spurs will be without forward Bruce Bowen for this contest because he was suspended one game by the NBA on Friday for kicking Hornets guard Chris Paul, ending his consecutive games streak at 500.

Tim Duncan has played well despite the team's recent struggles, averaging 21.8 points and 12.0 rebounds in his last four games. He hasn't produced at that level against the Pistons, however, averaging 16.4 points in his last nine meetings with them.

Manu Ginobili has had a pair of poor shooting performances in his last two games against Detroit, going 5-for-18 combined and averaging 9.5 points.

The Spurs won in their last visit to The Palace, 90-81 on Feb. 14, 2007, but have lost four of six overall in the series.

[duncan228]

http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/080314.html

Probable Starters:

Parker
Guard
18.4 PPG
Ginobili
Guard
20.4 PPG
Finley
Guard
9.8 PPG
Duncan
Forward
19.8 PPG
Thomas
Center
7.1 PPG

Spur in the Spotlight
Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan piled up yet another double-double on Wednesday night with 24 points and 11 rebounds

Did You Know...
San Antonio captured its third NBA Championship with a win over Detroit in 2005 in a thrilling seven-game series … Tim Duncan captured his third career NBA Finals MVP, making him just the second player – Michael Jordan was the other - to earn MVP honors in their first three trips to the Finals … Pistons forward Walter Herrmann teamed with Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto to win the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal as a member of the Argentinean National Team … David Robinson became just the fourth player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double on 2/17/94 vs. Detroit when he scored 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked 10 shots and handed out 10 assists … the Spurs held the Pistons to 64 points on .259 (21-81) shooting on 2/21/99 … that is a Spurs franchise-record for lowest field goal percentage by an opponent … Pistons assistant Terry Porter spent three seasons with the Silver and Black where he averaged 7.3 points in 220 games.

[duncan228]

Pistons.com

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/SASD...4_preview.html

Pistons vs. Spurs Gameday
by Ryan Pretzer

Last Meeting: Detroit won 90-80 (January 10, 2008)

The skinny: The Pistons lost at home to a team with 16 fewer wins. The Spurs scored 75 points and suffered their worst defeat of the season. Not usually how we enter a Pistons-Spurs matchup, is it? That’s the scenario following Wednesday night’s events, an 83-82 Philadelphia victory at The Palace and a 100-75 rout by the Hornets in New Orleans, the combined effects of which should hone the players’ focus for Friday night.

“I think both teams are going to be ready to play,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said Thursday. “We lost last night, which we’re not happy about; they got beat bad by New Orleans. I’m sure they’re not happy about (it).”

Tayshaun Prince said every meeting with the reigning champs “presents a good game, especially on the defensive end” regardless of the timing. But with both teams coming off exasperating losses, “it should be an even better one.”

“We know what to expect from them, obviously,” he said. “There’s nothing new between the two teams.”

Not quite. Both sides have tinkered with their rosters in similar ways, each adding a veteran scoring punch to their backcourt (Juan Dixon in Detroit, Damon Stoudamire in San Antonio) and a veteran big man (6-foot-10 Theo Ratliff, 6-foot-9 Kurt Thomas) since these teams met Jan. 10.

Surely both teams want to rebound from their last outing, but it’s hard to argue that San Antonio doesn’t have more to gain from a W. They certainly have more to lose. The Pistons are settled firmly into the East’s No. 2 spot, but the Spurs (44-20) are one game out of first place in the conference and home-court advantage through the West bracket… They also are tied within the division with the scorching Houston Rockets and could slip to No. 4 or farther if they stray from the win column too long.

The Spurs’ Southwest Division has more teams with at least 42 wins - four - than the entire Eastern Conference, which has three (Boston, Detroit and Orlando). “In that situation there (in the West) you can go from being first to seventh in two games so the one thing we have going that our guys have to understand is unlike in the East, where things are pretty much settled … we’re playing teams right now over the next three games that are, to them, almost in must-win type situations,” Saunders said. “And so [the Spurs] really have a sense of urgency and so we have to match that sense of urgency.”

What to watch: Spurs swingman Manu Ginobili has been instrumental to San Antonio’s success the past five years, but his contributions have jumped to another level in his sixth NBA season: a team-high 20.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

The Pistons will try to slow Ginobili down by running several different defenders at him, giving him different looks and matchups to deal with. Chuancey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Prince are sure to each take their turns. “I think when most guys are (hot) like that […] you put different people on them,” Saunders said. “You get so much into a comfort level when you have just one person just guarding [you].”

Detroit’s defense was effective on Jan. 10, when Ginobili scored nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, including 0-for-3 beyond the arc. The Spurs were outscored by 20 when Ginobili was on the court, and Detroit won in San Antonio, 90-80.

As hot as Ginobili has been lately, he’s been even better on the road, scoring four more points per game and shooting about 4 percent better from the floor. At home, he’s averaging 18.4 points on 43.3 percent from the field and 38.4 from 3-point range. His numbers are 22.2 points, 47.8 FG% and 42.9 3FG% on the road.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich won’t have 6-foot-5 forward Ime Udoka available due to an inflamed right ankle, so the 6-foot-6 Ginobili might be asked to play even more minutes Friday.

Probable Starters:

Prince
McDyess
Wallace
Hamilton
Billups

[ancestron]

Everyone needs to show up tonight. This is an important game.

[JamStone]

Good luck, Spurs. Neither team is playing its best ball, but I'm hoping that the match-up will raise the level of play. I haven't been very excited for regular season games for a while now. Maybe this will be a non-playoff game where I can actually enjoy watching... but probably not. Pistons been lacking effort lately. Spurs need the win more because of the West standings. I expect the Spurs to outplay the Pistons tonight.

Good luck again. I expect both teams to play hard...

[TampaDude]

Good luck, Spurs. Neither team is playing its best ball, but I'm hoping that the match-up will raise the level of play. I haven't been very excited for regular season games for a while now. Maybe this will be a non-playoff game where I can actually enjoy watching... but probably not. Pistons been lacking effort lately. Spurs need the win more because of the West standings. I expect the Spurs to outplay the Pistons tonight.

Good luck again. I expect both teams to play hard...