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BAd article..He didn't even try
Other Spurs beat the Heat: Duncan's teammates take over battle of the big men
Web Posted: 11/08/2007 12:22 AM CST
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
There was a time when any game between the Spurs and Miami Heat would have boiled down to a made-for-TV battle of marquee big men.
The Diesel vs. The Big Fundamental. Shaquille O'Neal vs. Tim Duncan.
This was not one of those times.
With Duncan and O'Neal relegated to the role of bit players Wednesday night, this Spurs-Heat showdown became a battle royal of each team's Other Guys.
What the Spurs' 88-78 victory at the AT&T Center proved — their Other Guys are better than Miami's.
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker — two of the NBA's best at being Other Guys — combined for 48 points and 15 assists to help the Spurs bounce back from their first loss of the season.
A night earlier, the Spurs had dropped an 89-81 decision at Houston, a game in which Duncan also struggled.
"I think everybody else understood we had to pick it up," Parker said. "Everybody had to play well."
Ginobili scored 25 points to lead the Spurs in scoring to go with seven rebounds and seven assists. Parker had 23 points and eight assists.
Together, they aided the Spurs (4-1) in beating the Heat on a night when neither team's former league MVP looked quite like himself.
Duncan finished with 12 points, O'Neal with 17.
The difference? While Duncan had his two most trusted sidekicks to lean on, O'Neal had none.
Miami played its fourth-straight game without Dwyane Wade, their leading scorer last season. He is recovering from offseason surgeries on his knee and shoulder.
It should come as no surprise that the Heat haven't been very good without him.
At 0-4 this season and 0-7 in the preseason, Miami hasn't won a game — postseason, exhibition or otherwise — since beating Indiana on April 13. Unofficially, the Heat are on a 17-game losing streak.
Wade has been medically cleared to return to the court, but the date for his debut remains tentative.
"Hopefully, things get better when Wade comes back," O'Neal said. "He's a great player, and he's going to make everyone else better."
In the meantime?
"We need everyone else to step up their game and play harder," O'Neal said.
Ricky Davis (14 points) and Udonis Haslem (10) answered O'Neal's plea to an extent, but it wasn't enough to help Miami avoid its 20th loss in 21 trips to San Antonio.
For the Spurs, the unsung hero was backup center Francisco Elson, who came off the bench to supply his best all-around game of the season.
Elson had 12 points and 14 rebounds, sparking the Spurs' recovery from a minus-27 beating they took on the boards at Houston. He also spent much of his night assigned to guard Miami's only remaining All-Star.
Not only did Elson defend O'Neal, he actually outplayed him.
"He worked very hard on Shaq and that's a tough job to give to anybody," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Doing that and then still concentrating on the boards was really great on his part."
With the top scoring option in Miami's offense floundering, the Heat remained flummoxed.
The 78 points they scored Wednesday brought down their league-worst scoring average to 82.8.
"Unfortunately, our second option is on the bench," Miami coach Pat Riley said, in reference to Wade.
Like O'Neal, Duncan struggled, too — and arguably worse.
He hit just 2 of 7 shots for six points in the first half, bounced back to make his only two shot attempts in the third quarter, and then sat for an entire fourth quarter in which the Heat seldom threatened.
But Duncan had something that Shaq did not.
He had help. Thankfully for the Spurs, he had Other Guys.
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LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...r.3479f7d.html
BAd article..He didn't even try
This Mcdonald really really sucks.. muahahaha
Why arguably? Just worse. Fact is a fact.Like O'Neal, Duncan struggled, too — and arguably worse.
True, Duncan looked bad last night. But he's just carrying on the Spurs Tradition: start the season slow, pick it up later. Fortunatley Manu didn't get the memo. He was a beast last night.
Yeah, I've tried to give the guy the benefit of the doubt...but the context forced upon this article is pretty lame. O.O
I can't stand the way he reports the points. I always ignore crap like (10) or (12). just tell me he scored 12 points. JB, take his job asap.
But Duncan had something that Shaq did not.
He had help. Thankfully for the Spurs, he had Other Guys.
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