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With the West as tight as it's been all year, I expect every single game to be this close unless one team decides not to show up. The team that emerges out of this conference will have earned it.
The San Antonio Spurs have a pulse. Down 0-2 against the New Orleans Hornets, the Spurs got a home win that they had to get. While the Spurs aren’t healthy quite yet, they took the first step toward recovery tonight.
The Spurs trailed 56-54 at halftime but came out in the third quarter and played very good basketball in the second half. Up two points with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Spurs went on an 11-0 run to put the game away. When all was said and done, the Spurs won 110-99 and now trail the Hornets 2-1 in this best of seven series.
The Hornets once again played very well. Chris Paul, although his theatrics were a bit overboard at times, was almost flawless. He had 35 points, nine assists and one turnover, while shooting 15-for-25 from the court. David West (23 points and 12 rebounds) was also very impressive. The Hornets got off to an 8-0 start to the game but seemed to run out of gas a bit in the fourth quarter. Despite the Spurs win, the Hornets showed that they’re very capable of putting up a good fight in San Antonio.
It was good to see the Spurs respond well to the adversity of a must-win situation – especially after they fell into an early hole. The team stayed together and kept chipping away at the rock until they figured it out. It was far from a perfect game by San Antonio, but they got the win.
Overall, things are looking a bit more positive. The Spurs made a lot of adjustments and virtually all of the adjustments ended up working out for the better. There are definitely positives to take out of this contest, however there’s still a long ways to go. Game 3 was about pride and survival. Now the hard part begins.
-Tim Duncan is slowly but surely getting better as this series progresses. In Game 3, he still wasn’t anywhere near dominant, but he seems to be figuring things out. He finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and four blocks, while shooting 6-for-13 from the field. Defensively, he did a better job of covering the basket. On the offensive end, Duncan knew the double-teams were coming and usually made the right decision. I’m not sure if Duncan is sick or maybe just fatigued but something looks to be wrong with him. He just doesn’t have his usual energy. Hopefully he can shake whatever ails him and start becoming a bigger factor in this series.
-Manu Ginobili, who was back in the starting lineup, had a classic Manu Ginobili game. He’s clearly hobbled with who knows what type of injury at the moment, but he fought through it and gave the Spurs everything he had. Ginobili finished with 31 points, six assists and four rebounds, while shooting 11-for-22 from the field. Offensively, he was gigantic for the Spurs. In the pick-and-rolls, he was shredding the Hornets defense. Ginobili also did a very good job of taking care of the ball. He had three quick turnovers to start the game but then never turned the ball over again. Defensively, he did a good job in the halfcourt sets, however his transition defense still needs a lot of work in this series. Overall, I’m very happy and encouraged with how Ginobili played. He cut down on his shaky decisions offensively and instead let the game come to him. Ginobili needs to remain in the starting lineup and keep bringing this type of all-out effort for the Spurs to have a chance at this series.
-Tony Parker played an impressive ballgame. He competed and stayed in attack mode throughout the contest. He finished with 31 points, 11 assists and four rebounds, while shooting 12-for-24 from the field. He had three turnovers but all were on traveling violations. A dead ball turnover against the Hornets doesn’t hurt you nearly as much as turnovers that lead directly to fast break points. Defensively, while Paul was able to have success against him, Parker made him work. On offense, Parker made a lot of good decisions and never backed down. I’d like to see him be a bit more patient offensively at times, but can’t complain too much with how he played.
-Bruce Bowen got his shot against Peja Stojakovic and didn’t disappoint. Stojakovic came into the game with 47 points in the first two games. In Game 3, Bowen held him to eight points. Taking Stojakovic out of this series is extremely vital for the Spurs – and that job falls squarely on Bowen’s shoulders. Offensively, Bowen was also key for San Antonio. He had 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-9 shooting on three-pointers. Bowen also had two assists, one rebound, one steal and one blocked shot. Bowen needs to keep defending and keep scoring for the Spurs to come out victorious.
-Kurt Thomas played another solid game. His defense against West was impressive, even though West still had success. On the night, Thomas had four points and ten rebounds, while hitting half of his four field goal attempts. His ten rebounds in 21 minutes were important and helped the Spurs outrebound the Hornets 43-41. Thomas seems to be figuring out the moves West likes to go to, which will hopefully help Thomas in forthcoming games.
-Fabricio Oberto picked a good time to have his best game of the playoffs. His stats are modest – two points, nine rebounds and two assists – but he was huge for the Spurs in the second half. His passing opened up the floor and created a number of easy looks. The chemistry he has offensively with the Big Three was especially evident tonight. Defensively, Oberto is still a work in progress but it was good to see him do a much better job rebounding the ball.
-Michael Finley came off the bench and hit a few vital shots for the Spurs. Finley, who usually struggles for a while when his role changes, came out firing and finished with 11 points, two rebounds and two assists. He hit 4-of-7 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line. With Ginobili in the starting lineup, the Spurs need Finley to be instant offense from the bench. In Game 3, he was just that.
-Brent Barry played only four minutes after playing well in Game 2. I expected Barry to play more in this game but he just needs to stay ready. There will come a game in this series where Barry knocks down big shots.
-Robert Horry got a few seconds early when the Spurs went to Hack-a-Tyson Chandler. Horry then played the final minute and hit a three-pointer. Joining Horry in garbage time were Ime Udoka and Jacque Vaughn.
-While I want to give Pop a lot of credit for making a number of adjustments in this game, part of me wonders why it took two losses for Pop to see the light. But whatever, I guess better late than never.
After Game 2, I wanted Bowen on Stojakovic. Parker on Paul. Ginobili in the starting lineup. No more Udoka. No more Horry. And more Barry. In Game 3, I got everything except more Barry. I’ll gladly accept five out of six. And truthfully, with the way Finley was playing, I can’t argue with Pop opting for Finley instead of Barry.
Bowen on Stojakovic has a chance to be the series altering adjustment. Although it was an obvious adjustment that a lot of Spurs fans were hoping to see, it was refreshing that Pop wasn’t too stubborn and actually made the switch. Basically, Bowen was born to defend Stojakovic. When Bowen gets his number raised to the rafters one day at the AT&T Center, his highlight-reel will contain footage of him pestering Stojakovic throughout the years. I remain fully confident that Bowen can do a masterful job against the Hornets’ sharpshooter.
And though Parker isn’t going to stop Paul, nobody is going to stop him right now. Parker forced Paul into tough shots and Paul hit those tough shots. That’s about all you can ask for against a player that hot. As far as Ginobili in the starting lineup, that was a no-brainer. Ginobili needs to play as much as possible right now for the Spurs to save their season.
In Game 4, I want to see more of the same from Pop. Keep Bowen on Stojakovic as much as possible. Force Paul to have to score 40 points to beat you. Offensively, Pop needs to ensure that Ginobili and Parker keep attacking and the shooters keep shooting with confidence. A large part of the victory for San Antonio was the fact that the team shot 11-for-25 from beyond the arc. Pop needs to keep the best shooters possible on the court to open up things for the Big Three.
The bottomline is the Spurs won the game they had to win. Game 4 is where the Spurs can make this a series again. It’s going to be a tough contest but this team can get it done.
Believe.
With the West as tight as it's been all year, I expect every single game to be this close unless one team decides not to show up. The team that emerges out of this conference will have earned it.
Great recap, I was glad also that the adjustments were made! The second half was classic Spurs game at times!
The next game is critical but I remain confident after this one!
where the is spurs dynasty who said parker was a fraud???
Great write up as always.
My additions:
I am as big a Finley hater as any but I was impressed with his game tonight. He held his own on defense against Bonzi and even frustrated him a little bit. He hit some huge 3 pointers and generally did all you could ask of him to do, and he accepted his role off the bench. So props to him.
I really liked the Spurs improvement on defense in the 2nd half tonight. It looked much more like Spurs defense especially to close the game out. That is absolutely crucial going forward.
If the Spurs can hang in there and stay in this series the Hornet's will start to tighten up. They are playing off of pure confidence and adrenaline, if the Spurs can take that away we have a chance to win the series.
Last edited by DespЏrado; 05-09-2008 at 03:14 AM.
I haven't watched it yet and thus haven't read the write up, but I will.
As for thoughts, knowing the result all I can think is "THANK FOR THAT!"
GO SPURS GO!!!
you didn't blow them out....they were in it, so it's a faint pulse. and what is the Spurs record on Mothers day?
It's a blow out when a 34 year old team beats out a 27 year old team by eleven. Spurs don't have to have huge leads, they're just counting the seconds til it's over and they can talk about the good old days, and how they showed them young punks what's what.
I really don't see it as a blow out, considering that Hornets blew the Spurs out of the gym in games 1 and 2 and they barely won by 11 points.
So a 30 point turnaround isn't good enough for you? Oh well, you'd be in here finding something to about if the Spurs won by fifty.
Calm down OV, it's cool. He's a Pacers fan, he's been through enough already. Let's explain some other time how the Hornets converted 3 good games into two wins, whilst the Spurs are 1 for 1.
SpursDynasty21 is no longer at SpursTalk.where the is spurs dynasty who said parker was a fraud???
if the spurs won by that much I'd be impressed but no team will beat another by 50 though. but the Spurs didn't beat the Hornets by 25 points, the game was close throughout and they (Spurs) should be concerned when you didn't contain CP3, he still got his points, so much for shutting him down. the good thing about the Hornets is they have homecourt and all they have to do is simply win their games, much like Boston did with Atlanta.
Why should they be concerned at that? That's the Spurs game plan. They decide to let Paul get what he can get and defend everyone else. That's why they changed up the defensive matchups.
Just how much are we wielding the ban hammer?
Is this strictly based on the city smack (katrina) and racism?
Do you not read anything!?! That's Pops ING plan!!! We can't stop him, so who cares? We shut down everyone else, make him turn into a Stockton/Kobe hybrid. Since he can't do that, THEY ARE SCREWED? You want to know where 20pts went? Out the window cuz Bowen owns Peja like the Spurs own the Suns. And Parker cancelled out Paul all by his lonesome. And Tim cancelled out West, so who is going to cancel out Manu? Let me anwer that for you. No one. And the Spurs are still not in peak condition, imagine if TD didn't have a fever; he would dominate just like he did in the first series.
No, he was banned for other reasons. He has been on "probation" for a long time. The Katrina/racism bannings are 48 hour timeouts, not permanent.
NP I think you should consider giving the Hornet's fans a forum like some are requesting....It might be a good idea seeing as how they are probably going to be a very good team for a long time. And they obviously just found the internet.
suns and mavs fans have something to say about that.NP I think you should consider giving the Hornet's fans a forum like some are requesting....It might be a good idea seeing as how they are probably going to be a very good team for a long time. And they obviously just found the internet.
is it true that TD was playing sick the first 2 games?
I think someone mentioned in the Game Blog that he was still running a fever during Game 2. Not sure if there's anything official though.
I hope TP makes adjustments. 3 travelling turnovers is a big no, no, esp if the game is tight.
Nobody was trying to shut him down. He'd have needed nearly 50 to win tonight's game, and he was hitting everything. Tonight's game plan was handled perfectly, and the Spurs won going away even without playing particularly well. All they have to do is win their games at home and they have two chances to win in New Orleans. That's good enough for me.
3 turnovers to 11 assists I'll take every game of the postseason. , those were his ONLY turnovers, so he needs to work on when to pass, and when to make plays. That's the most I've seen him travel in awhile, though. Anyone know how much he travelled in the PS before this game?
No, but I know how many times he actually travelled in this game.
How is it possible that someone barely wins by double digits? Now we have a dumb Pacers fan.
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