Spurs' Duncan shows free-throw touch

[themvp]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.38b5981.html

Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer

Lost in the disappointment of the Spurs' locker room after their 95-92 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center on Friday night was the most ironic moment of the season, perhaps of Tim Duncan's career.

Duncan, a 58.9 percent free-throw shooter heading into the game, was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds remaining, the Spurs trailing 93-89.

After draining the first two foul shots, Duncan took three long strides toward the Spurs bench and asked coach Gregg Popovich what he wanted next.

"Do you want me to make it?" Duncan said.

Popovich nodded yes, whereupon Duncan, who had made only six of his 12 previous free throws Friday, made the third as if he were one of the league's leaders in free-throw percentage.

Even Duncan saw the irony in the notion of his possibly being asked to miss a foul shot.

"After I said it," Duncan said, "I thought, 'He should have said, 'either way,' because I didn't know what was going to happen."

Duncan wishes teammate Michael Finley had gotten a chance to duplicate his free-throw trifecta with just tenths of a second remaining in the game.

After Dirk Nowitzki's two free throws gave the Mavericks a 95-92 lead with 10.7 seconds remaining, the Spurs had a final possession. Robert Horry's 3-point miss was tipped out to Tony Parker. Parker found Finley near the top of the 3-point arc, the same spot at which Duncan had been fouled moments before.

Nowitzki ran at Finley as he rose for his shot. He stumbled and crashed into Finley, both players ending up on the floor as Finley's shot attempt went badly awry.

No call was made, to the chagrin of Duncan, who questioned referee Joe Forte about the non-call before Popovich steered him toward the locker room.

"It was absolutely a foul, yes," Duncan said.

Finley also thought he had been fouled. But as much as he said he would have liked the chance to tie the game with three free throws, Finley downplayed the significance of the play.

"That's a tough situation for a referee," Finley said. "Still, they made a similar call on Tim earlier, and I thought I was fouled more than Tim was, for sure.


"But the game didn't come down to that last shot. There were some things we could have done earlier to keep us out of that last situation."

Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said he had not instructed his players to foul intentionally before a Spurs shooter could launch a potentially tying 3-pointer, and Finley did not believe Nowitzki was trying to wrap him up before he could fire.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Too bad he couldn't make them in the middle of the game.