Spurs At Blazers Previews

[duncan228]

San Antonio (39-18) at Portland (36-22) Preview
Game info: 8:00 pm EST Sun Mar 1, 2009
TV: My35, CSNW
By Brett Huston

Tony Parker made sure the San Antonio Spurs didn’t miss Tim Duncan too much when they faced the Portland Trail Blazers last week.

They’d prefer if they didn’t have to try winning without Duncan again.

The Spurs have been without their biggest star for the past three games, but they’ll hope to get him back on the floor Sunday night when they look to beat the Trail Blazers for the 14th time in 15 games.

Duncan has been out since Tuesday, when his knee felt stiff before the Spurs (39-18) opened a three-game homestand, and on Wednesday he was diagnosed with a right quad injury.

Parker was brilliant in the first two games that Duncan was sidelined. He scored 37 points in a 93-76 victory over Dallas on Tuesday and had 39 against Portland (36-22) in a 99-84 win Wednesday.

“He was like a roadrunner blowing by us,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said.

San Antonio has won 13 of 14 and 20 of 22 against Portland.

Duncan showed no signs of pain while shooting jumpers at a morning workout Friday and was cleared by team doctors to return that night against Cleveland. But coach Gregg Popovich opted to leave Duncan on the bench for another game, saying that the two-time league MVP is “too important to us,” while speculating that the big man will return either Sunday in Portland or Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of caution,” Popovich said. “Tim doesn’t (sit) down much and when he said he couldn’t go on Tuesday, that says something to me. … Resting him makes me more comfortable.”

Parker couldn’t extend his scoring outburst to a third game. He went 3-of-16 from the field against the Cavaliers, finishing with 11 points as the Spurs fell behind by 21 after three quarters en route to a 97-86 loss.

Manu Ginobili is expected to miss at least another week with a right ankle injury, but Michael Finley has stepped up to give the Spurs another solid option besides Parker. He’s averaging 14.8 points and shooting 61.1 percent from 3-point range in his last four games.

The Blazers will be looking for their ninth straight win at the Rose Garden, and they’ll come home with a little momentum after losing at Houston and San Antonio to start a three-game road trip. Brandon Roy scored 19 points and Rudy Fernandez had 18 on Friday in a 102-82 victory over Minnesota.

“I’m very happy with our guys and the way they responded tonight,” McMillan said.

Roy, averaging a team-high 22.6 points, had 26 points and seven assists in a 100-99 win against San Antonio on Oct. 31—Portland’s first victory over the Spurs since Jan. 24, 2005. In Wednesday’s loss, though, he had 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting.

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge has averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds in his last five games, carrying a front line that’s still without center Greg Oden. The No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft has missed the Blazers’ last six games with a bone chip in his left knee and won’t play Sunday.

Oden has yet to suit up against Duncan - the top pick in the draft 10 years earlier - and the Spurs.

Notes

Spurs:

San Antonio again played without F Tim Duncan and G Manu Ginobili. Duncan missed his third straight game with right quadriceps tendinitis, while Ginobili will be out the next few weeks with an ankle injury. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he was being careful with Duncan, even though the perennial All-Star most likely could have played. "He thinks he's ready. The trainers think he's ready, but if I'm going to err, I'm going to err on the side of caution," the coach said. ... San Antonio had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Blazers:

Portland has held Minnesota under 100 points in eight consecutive meetings. ... The win over Minnesota gave Portland its fourth consecutive winning month (7-6). ... The Blazers are 22-6 against teams with sub-.500 records this season. ... G Rudy Fernandez has hit a 3-pointer in 55 of 57 games this season -- the second-highest percentage in the NBA only behind Orlando F Rashard Lewis. ... The Blazers have won four in a row in Minneapolis.

Team Stat Leaders

Points

Tim Duncan SA 20.7
Brandon Roy Por 22.6

Rebounds

Tim Duncan SA 10.7
Joel Przybilla Por 8.1

Assists

Tony Parker SA 6.7
Brandon Roy Por 5.2

Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10

San Antonio 39-18 1st Southwest / 2nd West 97.4 93.6 Road 19-10 Lost 1 6-4

Portland 36-22 2nd Northwest / 5th West 99.0 95.0 Home 23-5 Won 1 6-4

[duncan228]

Sunday: Spurs (39-18) at Trail Blazers (36-22)
Express-News

Time: 7 p.m.
TV: KMYS
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - TRAIL BLAZERS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 8th yr) - 2 Steve Blake (6-3, 6th yr)
Parker had 39 points, 9 assists in win over Blazers on Wednesday.

SG - 8 Roger Mason Jr. (6-5, 5th yr) - 7 Brandon Roy (6-6, 3rd yr)
Roy leads Blazers in scoring, averaging 22.6 points per game.

SF - 4 Michael Finley (6-7, 14th yr) - 88 Nicolas Batum (6-8, 1st yr)
Finley led Spurs in rebounding in Friday night loss to Cleveland, with seven.

PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 12th yr) - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (6-10, 3rd yr)
Duncan has been cleared to play, but will be game-time decision.

C - 15 Matt Bonner (6-10, 5th yr) - 10 Joel Przybilla (7-1, 9th yr)
Though starting only 19 games, Przybilla is Blazers’ top rebounder, at 8.1 per game.

SPURS RESERVES

12 Bruce Bowen, 6-7, 13th yr
1 Malik Hairston, G, 6-6, 1st yr
3 George Hill, G, 6-2, 1st yr
7 Fabricio Oberto, C, 6-10, 4th yr
40 Kurt Thomas, C/F, 6-9, 14th yr
5 Ime Udoka, G/F, 6-5, 5th yr
11 Jacque Vaughn, G, 6-1, 12th yr
54 Pops Mensah-Bonsu, F, 6-8, 2nd yr

TRAIL BLAZERS RESERVES

4 Jerryd Bayless, G, 6-3, 1st yr
5 Rudy Fernandez, G/F, 6-6, 1st yr
44 Channing Frye, F, 6-11, 4th yr
25 Travis Outlaw, F, 6-9, 6th yr
42 Shavlik Randolph, F, 6-10, 4th yr
11 Sergio Rodriguez, G, 6-3, 3rd yr
51 Michael Ruffin, G/F, 6-8, 9th yr

COACHES

Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Trail Blazers: Nate McMillan

INJURIES

Spurs: Ian Mahinmi (right ankle surgery) and Manu Ginobili (stress reaction, right ankle) are out; Tim Duncan (right quadriceps tendonosis) is questionable.

Trail Blazers: Raef LaFrentz (right shoulder) and Martell Webster (left foot) are out; Greg Oden (left knee) is questionable

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS

Spurs: Mahinmi, Ginobili, Vaughn

Trail Blazers: LaFrentz, Webster

NOTABLE

Portland is 23-5 at home, just 13-17 on road. ... Teams have split two games, both winning on their home courts. ... Spurs had shot to win first meeting in Portland on Oct. 31, but Finley’s baseline jumper missed. ... Game is first of back-to-back set, and first of three straight road games, for Spurs. They are to play Clippers in Los Angeles on Monday night.

- Mike Monroe

[spurs girl21]

that sucks that they are injured but its good that the spurs still won 39 wins is better thatn most of the teams.

[duncan228]

Gameday Preview: San Antonio at Portland
by Jason Quick

About the Blazers: Portland plays six of its next seven at home, where it is 23-5 and winners of a season-high eight in a row. ... The Blazers finished February 7-5, their fourth month in a row with a winning record. They haven't accomplished that feat in seven seasons. ... Portland is 25-3 when it scores 100 or more points. ... Rudy Fernandez is on pace to make 162 three-pointers, which would be the third most in team history. He has 114, which is a Blazers rookie record. ... Joel Przybilla had three blocks Friday against Minnesota, giving him 510 in his four-plus seasons in Portland.

About the Spurs: San Antonio is coming off Friday's 97-86 home loss to Cleveland, when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich held out star Tim Duncan even though team doctors had deemed his right knee was healthy enough to play. Popovich said he would "relent" and let Duncan play either today or Monday at the Clippers. The loss ended a four-game winning streak. ... The key to the Spurs is their defense, and their magic number this season is 89: San Antonio is 19-2 this season when holding opponents to 89 or less points, including 10-1 on the road. ... Rookie Malik Hairston, the former Oregon standout, is coming off an 11-point game Friday against Cleveland.

Series history: The teams have split two games this season, with each team winning at home. San Antonio won the last matchup, 99-84 on Wednesday behind 39 points from Tony Parker.

Injuries: Spurs forward Tim Duncan (right quadriceps) is a game-time decision, and guard Manu Ginobili (right leg) and center Ian Mahinmi (right ankle) are out. Blazers center Greg Oden (left knee) and forward Martell Webster (left foot) are out.

[raspsa]

Expect a better-prepared Portland team. No one wants to be embarassed on their homecourt, specially if the opponent is undermanned. Can Parker repeat his heroics. Will Duncan play. Can the other Spurs elevate their game once again? I expect a tight game. Aldridge, Roy, Fernandez and company struggled in San Antonio.. no doubt the tight Spurs defense was partly to blame but the Blazers actually missed a lot of shots they normally make. This game will be a closer affair.

[Spursmania]

Thx for the read. Spurs goal=keep Portland below 89. This most definitely will be a much closer game.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Sun. Mar. 1
San Antonio @ Portland: S. Javie, M. Davis, M. Lindsay

[Spursmania]

You know what pisses me off. Spurs always get the infamous jackass Joey Crawford when the games count, i.e. playoff games!!

Why don't they schedule the jackass to ref now when the games aren't so important. I guess we know why Stern does that (another jackass).

[tlongII]

Referee Assignments
Sun. Mar. 1
San Antonio @ Portland: S. Javie, M. Davis, M. Lindsay

Javie. .

[Spursmania]

Javie. .

Home teams don't like Javie.

[duncan228]

San Antonio Spurs (39-18) at Portland Trail Blazers (36-22)

(Sports Network) - The Portland Trail Blazers return to the Rose Garden Sunday for the first of a two-game homestand when they host the Southwest Division- leading San Antonio Spurs.

The Blazers, who are 2 1/2 games behind the Denver Nuggets in the Northwest Division, salvaged the finale of a three-game road trip in Minneapolis on Friday when Brandon Roy scored 19 points and Rudy Fernandez provided a spark off the bench with 18 points as Portland downed a slumping Timberwolves squad, 102-82.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Travis Outlaw each added 15 points while the former snagged a game-high 10 boards.

Portland snapped a troubling five-game slide as the visitor and won the final contest in the trip after losses to a pair of the West's best in Houston and San Antonio.

The Blazers, who are a stellar 23-5 at home, will finish their current residency by hosting Indiana on March 4.

The short-handed Spurs, meanwhile, fell to Cleveland in the Alamo City on Friday when LeBron James poured in 30 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to power the Cavs to a 97-86 win over San Antonio.

Michael Finley had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs, who were without the services of Tim Duncan.

The All-Star sat out his third consecutive game due to a right quad injury and will be a game-time decision tonight. Manu Ginobili remains sidelined with an ankle injury.

Tony Parker, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Malik Hairston each scored 11 against the Cavs, while Roger Mason had 10 for San Antonio, which had a four-game win streak halted.

San Antonio, which is 19-10 as the visitor, will finish a three-game road swing with visits to the LA Clippers and Dallas.

The Spurs have dominated Portland recently, topping the Blazers in 13 of the past 14 contests between the two clubs, including a 99-84 win in San Antonio last week. Portland did, however, snap a 12-game skid to the Spurs with a 100-99 triumph at the Rose Garden earlier this season.

[Beaverfuzz]

Javie hates Portland, although the hate is not so high now. He loathed Clyde and Buck Williams.

[tlongII]

Javie hates Portland, although the hate is not so high now. He loathed Clyde and Buck Williams.

Nah. That was Jake O'Donnell.

[tlongII]

Javie did throw out our radio color commentator once though...

[Spursmania]

Sounds good for Da Spurs! And if Duncan is playing, bye, bye Blazers...

[manu_maniac]

If Duncan does play tonight, I won't be satisfied without seeing Timmy & Pops on the floor together for at least 5-10 minutes.

[iilluzioN]

thanks for this great thread.

I think we should try to limit parker's min tonight.... I think hes really tired...

I would be

[Agloco]

Javie. .

Do I see an excuse already?

[Spursmania]

Do I see an excuse already?

That's definitely an excuse already...

[Agloco]

I hope we get a 20 point lead in the 4th so we can see some more Pops.

Would be dissappointing to see him only if it's a 20 point game......either way.