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Duncan is ticked
I expect alot better games soon
NBA: Spurs let big one get out of reach against Lakers
Web Posted: 04/13/2008 09:50 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — The day began with some goods news. The Spurs have a timetable for Manu Ginobili to return from a strained groin.
"He'll definitely play the first game of the playoffs," coach Gregg Popovich said.
Also good news for the Spurs: No matter how ugly it got Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center — and it definitely got ugly in a 106-85 loss to the Lakers — they are still guaranteed to have a first game of the playoffs.
But that about does it for the Spurs' silver linings coming out of Southern California.
Kobe Bryant scored a fairly quiet 20 points, and got by with more than a little help from his friends, as the Lakers sent the Spurs to their third blowout defeat against a playoff-bound team in nine days.
Sunday's massacre joins losses by 26 points to Utah and 17 points to Phoenix on the Spurs' lowlight list, an unsettling trend as they approach the postseason.
"You don't want to have a game like this going into the playoffs," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. "If we lose playing our way, we deal with it. But when you don't bring it and you're not compe ive, it hurts."
The loss knocked the Spurs (54-26) from contention for the top spot in the Western Conference, turning the race into a three-way battle royal between the Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets.
Lamar Odom totaled 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers (56-25). Pau Gasol, facing the Spurs for the first time since joining the Lakers, added 14 points and 11 rebounds and generally made life difficult for Tim Duncan.
As often has been the case with the Spurs of late, it was their offense that failed them.
After matching the Lakers shot for shot in the first half and battling to a 53-53 tie at intermission, the Spurs could muster only 32 points in the second half. They were done in by a third-quarter scoring lull that saw them hit just 3 of 17 field goals, good for 11 points.
Derek Fisher had 10 of his 14 points during a 17-6 run that helped the Lakers begin to blow the game open. By the time the third quarter was over, punctuated by Bryant's buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Lakers were up 12 and counting.
"It's all about momentum," Bryant said. "We got some momentum in the second half and made timely baskets."
The Spurs could have used Ginobili, who leads them in scoring at 19.6 points per game.
Tony Parker did his best to pick up the scoring slack, and it worked early. He had 18 points, five assists and five rebounds in the first half, but found trouble squeezing off a shot, much less making one, after the break.
Parker finished with 20 points to pace the Spurs.
"Parker was just jamming the ball down our throat, and we couldn't seem to find a way to stop him," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I think we came out in the second half and made a good defensive stand."
Duncan felt the effect of that stand, too.
He ended with 16 points and — like more or less everyone else in silver and black — labored through an excruciating second half. Harassed all afternoon by the long arms of Gasol, Duncan finished 6 of 19 from the field, including 1 of 9 after half.
"We need to make some shots, namely myself," Duncan said. "I got a lot of looks at the basket and didn't put any in. It comes first to making baskets."
The Spurs suffered another scoring lull in the fourth quarter — this one a five-minute span without a point — giving the Lakers a window to put the finishing touches on the rout.
Duncan, for one, would prefer to forget his Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.
"They got the better of us, and we'll leave it at that," he said.
The Spurs have a game tonight at Sacramento before closing the regular season at home against Utah on Wednesday.
Regardless of what happens between now and then, the Spurs will be in the playoffs, and Ginobili will be back in time for them. The Spurs just don't plan on waiting around for him to come save the day.
"Trying to say, 'We're OK, we've got enough time' — that doesn't work," Bowen said. "We've got to get the job done now."
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Duncan is ticked
I expect alot better games soon
He's been like that fot the last 4 or 5 games...
Just die already!
We've heard this kind of talk before, after previous disasters late in this season.
Brave talk, but it's just talk, not any sign of bounce-back walk.
Spurs will be lucky to get another W this season.
B2B @SAC, who could get hot, smelling old men's blood in the water.
Jazz @att
.... easily 2Ls, dropping to 6th, and not reaching 55 W.
You forgot to add: FIRST ROUND EXIT !
That line by Bowen sounds like a lot of folks on this forum. Somehow the Spurs will "magically" find the answer and "flip the switch" once the playoffs start.
Really, no comments about Tony's second half? Surprising. You sure can slam Manu when he has a bad game. It's funny how impotent the team looks without Ginobili to bail them out in second halves.
Are you going to insert your lame comments about TP's second half in all threads ? That is really boring. Let it go. Without TP Spures would have been out of the game at halftime... Let it go.
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