Spurs at Magic Previews

[duncan228]

San Antonio (40-25) at Orlando (47-21)
Game info: 8:00 pm EDT Wed Mar 17, 2010
TV: ESPN, SUN
By Alan Ferguson

The Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs have been two of the NBA’s hottest teams over the past 2 1/2 weeks.

While Orlando has used that run to help clinch its fourth straight playoff berth, San Antonio could use a few more wins in its attempt to keep the NBA’s longest active streak of postseason appearances alive.

The Spurs will try to earn their ninth victory in 10 tries Wednesday night against the host Magic, who are trying to bounce back after their season-high eight-game win was snapped.

Orlando (47-21) clinched its spot in the postseason Tuesday night with Charlotte’s 99-94 loss in Indiana, but the Magic are still seeking their third straight Southeast Division le. They lead Atlanta by three, but the Hawks have two games in hand.

“This is the right time if you want to peak. Nobody wants to peak in the middle of the season. You want to do it at the end and start rolling into the playoffs,” the Magic’s Vince Carter told the team’s official Web site. “We’re playing better basketball, but we can also be a lot better.

“That’s why it’s important for us to finish out these games and fine-tune some of those little things.”

The Magic, though, missed an opportunity to pad that lead Sunday at home against the Bobcats. In a 96-89 loss, Orlando drew within a point early in the fourth quarter but didn’t have enough to take the lead.

“We weren’t very good at anything,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We didn’t rebound. We didn’t take care of the ball. We didn’t shoot well. We didn’t defend. We just weren’t very good at anything.”

With its surge, San Antonio (40-25) has climbed into a tie for sixth in the West as it searches for a 13th consecutive playoff berth. The Spurs, however, are just a game ahead of Portland in eighth and 5 1/2 up on ninth-place Memphis.

If San Antonio continues its recent impressive defensive efforts, it could make strides toward clinching a playoff spot. The Spurs have allowed an average of 88.5 points over the past eight games, including an 88-76 win in Miami on Tuesday, and have held seven of those opponents to less than 93 points.

That’s helped them overcome the loss of Tony Parker, who has a broken right finger but could be back if the Spurs reach the postseason. San Antonio is 4-1 since losing its All-Star guard as Manu Ginobili has averaged 21.6 points per game starting in Parker’s place.

The Spurs started quickly against the Heat by limiting them to 14 points in the first quarter while building an insurmountable 15-point lead. Miami could get no closer than six points midway through the final period before Ginobili hit a key 3-pointer as part of his team-leading 22 points.

“Obviously with Tony down, he’s got the ball in his hands a little more and he’s a playmaker,” forward Tim Duncan said. “You can see it in his eyes. He wants the ball. He wants to make the plays.”

The Spurs, though, are in position for their third five-game winning streak this season. However, they had a relatively healthy lineup last season against Orlando and suffered their first season sweep to the Magic, including a 90-78 defeat at Amway Arena.

In trying to win three straight over San Antonio for the first time, the Magic could get a boost with small forward Matt Barnes’ expected return from a sprained left toe.

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Tim Duncan SA 18.7
Dwight Howard Orl 18.7

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.4
Dwight Howard Orl 13.2

Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.7
Jameer Nelson Orl 5.4

[duncan228]

San Antonio Spurs looking to recapture their magic
By Brian Schmitz, Orlando Sentinel

If there was an NBA team that the Orlando Magic modeled themselves after, it would be tonight's guest, the San Antonio Spurs.

Magic General Manager Otis Smith, long an admirer of the four-time champions, can point to the Spurs' businesslike approach to the way they've surrounded a great big man ( Tim Duncan) with sharpshooters through the years.

While Orlando is also building on the back of Dwight Howard and reached the NBA Finals last season, San Antonio no longer looks like a challenger to the defending champion L.A. Lakers in the West.

We look at the 5 reasons why the Spurs have been struggling this season to avoid the No. 8 seed (and a first-round match against the Lakers):

Aura, era no more?

The Spurs don't come into Amway Arena with the same sort of swagger as before.

They took a 39-25 record into Tuesday night's game at Miami, good for a shaky hold on the No. 7 playoff spot in the West — and that's after having won eight of their last 10.

Age and injuries have caught up to the Spurs to an extent. They aren't as stout defensively. They started the season a surprising 9-9 and could end it with point guard Tony Parker (broken hand) watching from the bench, although second-year player George Hill has played well as his stand-in.

"We're playing better than we have been," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "Our last month has been our best basketball. We're still not going to scare the Lakers or people like that, but we've playing better."

Wrong move?

When the Spurs made a deal to acquired Richard Jefferson last summer, Spurs fans hoped it might close the gap between San Antonio and L.A. The Spurs usually have added just the right pieces to fill the right roles, but they might have misfired.

They needed some scoring punch and traded longtime defensive stalwart Bruce Bowen, along with Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas, to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jefferson.

But before the Miami game, Jefferson was averaging just 11.9 points per game, his lowest since his rookie season. Popovich, searching for answers, took Jefferson out of the lineup in mid-February and has put him back in it. Not the way to challenge the Mavs, let alone the Lakers.

Ginobili's future?

Manu Ginobili wasn't his self early in the season, contributing to San Antonio's inconsistency. But he has turned it on since the all-star break, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds.

It is what the Spurs — and perhaps other teams around the league — have been waiting to see.

Ginobili has said he wants to reach a contract agreement with the Spurs before the regular season ends. If not, he will test the free-agent market in July.

San Antonio can't afford to lose Ginobili, who, in many ways, is the heart and soul of the club more so than Duncan and Parker.

Tough stretch ahead

Six of the Spurs' next seven games will be against teams who likely will make the playoffs.

The schedule features games against the Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Lakers.

(San Antonio Express-News writer Jeff McDonald called it "spring make-or-break" for the Spurs.)

It's the first meeting this season between Duncan and Howard. Orlando swept both games from San Antonio last season for the first time in club history.

"This is when the regular season is really going to get decided," Ginobili said. "We want to climb a little bit more in the standings."

Lakers' luck

The Spurs have enjoyed an amazing run under Popovich since he took over in 1996-97: Two 60-win seasons, nine 50-win seasons.

Over the last 13 seasons, no pro sports team has had a better record than the Spurs (708-308, .697 percent as of Tuesday).

But the Lakers won the le last season, and their stroke of good fortune — prying all-star Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008 — could secure more rings for Kobe Bryant.

With Duncan and Ginobili turning 33 before next season, the Spur-of-the-moment thought is this: L.A. just might have shut San Antonio's window of opportunity for any more le runs.

*********************

Game preview: San Antonio Spurs at Orlando Magic
By Brian Schmitz, Orlando Sentinel

MAGIC UPDATE: Orlando is coming off a loss Sunday to the Charlotte Bobcats, who snapped the Magic's eight-game winning streak. … This is the first meeting this season between the Magic and the Spurs. The teams finish the two-game series April 2 in San Antonio. … SF Matt Barnes is expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the game against the Bobcats with a sprained toe … Orlando swept San Antonio in both games last season, a franchise first. … The Magic face the Miami Heat in a back-to-back on Thursday in South Florida.

SPURS UPDATE: San Antonio faced the Heat on Tuesday night in Miami. … The Spurs, the four-time NBA champions, were 9-9 early in the season but are playing well again. They had won eight of their past 10 games before Tuesday and are in a tough stretch of their schedule, facing the Magic, Celtics, Cavs and Lakers, among others. … PG Tony Parker (broken hand) could miss the rest of the regular season. … SF Richard Jefferson, acquired in a trade from Milwaukee last summer, is averaging just 11.9 points (as of Tuesday).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Spurs are always dangerous as long as Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are on the floor. The Magic will have to step up their defensive intensity after bringing little energy in a loss to the Bobcats.

[SequSpur]

you still haven't learned a lesson have you?

[ducks]

this will be a bigger test without tp

[exstatic]

you still haven't learned a lesson have you?

No . Two articles in their entirety.

You do you that this is court enforced, D228, right? It's not just mysanantonio. You're just making take down work for LJ and Kori later when Yahoo eventually cites them.

[ducks]

I think kori and timvp can police their own board
want to be mods

[TD 21]

Duncan needs to go at Howard offensively (try to wear him out some and pick up fouls) because defensively, the Spurs will be hard pressed to guard him. It's not that he's a great offensive player, but Duncan weighs 240, doesn't have great mobility and will be playing the second game of a back to back, while Howard weighs 265, has great mobility and will be fresh. It's against a team like the Magic where the Spurs lack of a single true power center and lack of a second center (at least rotation-wise) hurts them. Blair and McDyess will also take a turn guarding Howard, but realistically if Howard is on his game and is patient, neither has a shot at adequately defending him. Still, if I were the Spurs, I wouldn't double. Stay home on the shooters and force Howard to score 30+ to beat them.

This is a game where Mason, if he were playing well, would come in handy. Hill and Ginobili in particular will probably be fatigued and need another guard to help lessen the ball handling/play making load (not that Mason is great in this regard, but he sure beats Bogans and Hairston).

[HarlemHeat37]

This one is going to be extremely tough..

I've watched almost every Magic game this season, so usually I would say the Spurs have a legit chance at winning this one without TP since the Magic often let their guards down, but they're coming off a bad loss to Charlotte, so they're going to come out firing..

Dwight's main weakness defensively continues to be picking up stupid fouls, which hurts him even more than usual since refs often target him..Duncan HAS to use his fakes tomorrow, that's the best chance he has at beating Howard..Howard has improved a lot, and he's a tough cover 1 on 1 nowadays..it's tough to pick what to do though..while I usually wouldn't advocate double-teaming and leaving shooters, Howard often turns the ball over with his weak passing skills, so it would be wise to occasionally send a double to pressure..

It'll be interesting to see how Pop decides to play Lewis..Rashard is in a huge slump right now, he can't make anything..I'm gonna guess he goes small to guard him, and he'll probably go with McDyess more once Bass comes in..Lewis abuses smaller players though, so I'd rather have Dice guard him, even though it means he'll have to play the 3-pointer..

Vince has been playing dominant basketball in February and March, so that's obviously a tough cover..we'll have to hope he's in one of his laid back moods tomorrow, even though I doubt he will be..the Magic are great at running the 1-2 pick and roll to get Carter in the post or Nelson against a slower 2 or 3, so hopefully the Spurs can counter that..

Orlando goes through huge slumps and they can blow any lead, but they score points faster than any team in the NBA..hopefully the Spurs will be ready..

[TD 21]

This one is going to be extremely tough..

I've watched almost every Magic game this season, so usually I would say the Spurs have a legit chance at winning this one without TP since the Magic often let their guards down, but they're coming off a bad loss to Charlotte, so they're going to come out firing..

Dwight's main weakness defensively continues to be picking up stupid fouls, which hurts him even more than usual since refs often target him..Duncan HAS to use his fakes tomorrow, that's the best chance he has at beating Howard..Howard has improved a lot, and he's a tough cover 1 on 1 nowadays..it's tough to pick what to do though..while I usually wouldn't advocate double-teaming and leaving shooters, Howard often turns the ball over with his weak passing skills, so it would be wise to occasionally send a double to pressure..

It'll be interesting to see how Pop decides to play Lewis..Rashard is in a huge slump right now, he can't make anything..I'm gonna guess he goes small to guard him, and he'll probably go with McDyess more once Bass comes in..Lewis abuses smaller players though, so I'd rather have Dice guard him, even though it means he'll have to play the 3-pointer..

Vince has been playing dominant basketball in February and March, so that's obviously a tough cover..we'll have to hope he's in one of his laid back moods tomorrow, even though I doubt he will be..the Magic are great at running the 1-2 pick and roll to get Carter in the post or Nelson against a slower 2 or 3, so hopefully the Spurs can counter that..

Orlando goes through huge slumps and they can blow any lead, but they score points faster than any team in the NBA..hopefully the Spurs will be ready..

I agree about Howard, but he's still not what I'd call a great offensive post player. When I think of great, I'm thinking Olajuwon, O'Neal, Duncan, etc. He's good and on the precipice of becoming very good, but he's not great. Duncan will need to dig deep into his repertoire tomorrow, something he's seemingly loathe to do nowadays (at least in the regular season).

The occasional double makes sense actually, but I'd never come from the top. With a weak passer such as Howard, it's best to come when he's on the move, or from his blindside on the opposite baseline, etc.

Lewis will probably break out tomorrow. Pop needs to resist the temptation to go small (he won't, we'll likely see Jefferson on Lewis, Bogans on Carter, Ginobili on Barnes/Pietrus, if it's close late) and stay big. Tomorrow will have to be won with defense and it isn't going to happen playing small. Big deal if Lewis beats McDyess/Bonner off the dribble a couple of times, I'd rather that than have him posting Jefferson and between he and Howard drawing doubles and the Magic burying the Spurs with a barrage of threes.

Jefferson and Bogans need to be physical with Carter, discourage him early and hope to turn him into a jump shooter for most of the game.

Faster than any team? I haven't exactly tracked that stat (I don't know if anyone has), but I would think that le belongs to the Nuggets.

[HarlemHeat37]

Lewis doesn't worry me at all off the dribble, I hope Pop feels the same way..he's been very poor at beating people off the dribble this year..most of his damage comes from posting up smaller guys and making baseline 3s..I just don't want to see Jefferson guarding him at any point, they'll definitely look to exploit that..

As for Howard, I agree he isn't a great offensive post player at all, I'm just saying he isn't even nearly as bad as so many people think he is, not even close(particularly Mavs fans in the NBA forum, for obvious reasons..Dirk argument)..he's had a lot of success against the Spurs in the past few seasons, especially when Orlando's guards have gotten in the paint, so the perimeter D better be sharp..

I was just saying they score faster, I didn't look up the stats or anything, just something I've noticed IMO..they chuck up a lot of shots, especially 3s, and they put up points in bunches once they get hot..

[Ditty]

im pretty jefferson knows how to play carter from the nets days so not worried about that matchup...I think if spurs can attack the rim and be agressive and try to get howard in foul trouble then they would be good shape... I wouldnt be suprised if pop starts bonner tommorow for mcdyess becuase of the lewis match up..bench needs to be big for spurs tommorow and ginobili needs to murder barnes and pietruis

[Stringer_Bell]

I look forward to watching the elite teams in the NBA play against the Spurs, but since it's a back to back and Timmy missed a chance at rest (meaning he played 30 minutes tonight), I can see Pop conceding this one if there's a 10 point deficit at ANY point in the game.

Then we can all make posts about how Pop didn't go all out against good teams because he doesn't want to show his whole hand of cards, and how we were going to lose this game anyway, and how we need TP back immediately, and how we'll make it up against Golden State the next game.

I'm not scared of the Magic though, they are one of those teams with too much talent to balance 100% of the time and hurt themselves more than the opposing team does. I just hope Barnes doesn't pick a fight with Hill.

[HarlemHeat37]

They do hurt themselves a lot due to having a lot of chuckers, but their talent isn't a problem..they have the deepest team in the NBA IMO, but SVG has had a set rotation for months now..he uses the same subs ution patters for every player in every game, and he dictates the matchups instead of trying to match the other team..that strategy is a flaw of his when they're under pressure though, he doesn't adjust well when the other team is on a run..he leaves their bench in for too long at times and he doesn't have control over the chucking a lot of the time..

I like how he utilizes their talent though, it's good to have a rotation already set and let them build chemistry..the only change they've had all year was putting Bass in the rotation instead of Anderson..

[TD 21]

Lewis doesn't worry me at all off the dribble, I hope Pop feels the same way..he's been very poor at beating people off the dribble this year..most of his damage comes from posting up smaller guys and making baseline 3s..I just don't want to see Jefferson guarding him at any point, they'll definitely look to exploit that..

As for Howard, I agree he isn't a great offensive post player at all, I'm just saying he isn't even nearly as bad as so many people think he is, not even close(particularly Mavs fans in the NBA forum, for obvious reasons..Dirk argument)..he's had a lot of success against the Spurs in the past few seasons, especially when Orlando's guards have gotten in the paint, so the perimeter D better be sharp..

I was just saying they score faster, I didn't look up the stats or anything, just something I've noticed IMO..they chuck up a lot of shots, especially 3s, and they put up points in bunches once they get hot..

I presume Lewis, like any player of his ilk in the league, will take into account the fact that McDyess and Bonner are the Spurs power forwards and proceed to attack off the dribble more than he usually does. If he does this, even with his mediocre handle, I suspect he'll be successful at least a couple of times due to the lack of lateral quickness that McDyess and Bonner possess. That's what I was getting at, it's not that I'm under the impression that Lewis is Odom's equal off the dribble.

Perimeter defense should be fine. Nelson is having a down year, Carter, while playing better the past two months, still isn't the Carter of not just old, but even last season and the rest of the Magic's perimeter players are spot up shooters (though Williams can still handle and create some, he's not exactly Nash) who can only get going if they're left wide open from three.

Yeah, they do, but if I had to guess I'm going Nuggets on this one.

[Manu-of-steel]

My opinion is that blair could be effective in guarding howard. Blair has to be physical on howard, maybe to irritate him and make him commit some silly fouls. Just like how the celtics' big baby and perkins do to howard.

[timvp]

you still haven't learned a lesson have you?

I've given duncan228 permission to keep posting non-Express-News articles as usual. We are working on a solution but in the meantime we'll keep it status quo.

[raspsa]

Actually Lewis has become more aggressive in putting the ball on the floor with good results.. sort of like what Bonner has been doing.

[Express-News]

I've given duncan228 permission to keep posting non-Express-News articles as usual. We are working on a solution but in the meantime we'll keep it status quo.

[anakha]

you still haven't learned a lesson have you?

No . Two articles in their entirety.

You do you that this is court enforced, D228, right? It's not just mysanantonio. You're just making take down work for LJ and Kori later when Yahoo eventually cites them.

I've given duncan228 permission to keep posting non-Express-News articles as usual. We are working on a solution but in the meantime we'll keep it status quo.

We need a forum police smiley for situations like this.

[benefactor]

It's time to see where this Spurs team's mind is.

Initially, I think they play Howard straight up and cut off the shooters. After that they can send the occasional trap to see if they can force some turnovers. It's really going to come down to focus on both ends. This is definitely a winnable game, but lapses like we saw last night can't happen.

[GatorKid117]

This one is going to be extremely tough..

I've watched almost every Magic game this season, so usually I would say the Spurs have a legit chance at winning this one without TP since the Magic often let their guards down, but they're coming off a bad loss to Charlotte, so they're going to come out firing..

Dwight's main weakness defensively continues to be picking up stupid fouls, which hurts him even more than usual since refs often target him..Duncan HAS to use his fakes tomorrow, that's the best chance he has at beating Howard..Howard has improved a lot, and he's a tough cover 1 on 1 nowadays..it's tough to pick what to do though..while I usually wouldn't advocate double-teaming and leaving shooters, Howard often turns the ball over with his weak passing skills, so it would be wise to occasionally send a double to pressure..

It'll be interesting to see how Pop decides to play Lewis..Rashard is in a huge slump right now, he can't make anything..I'm gonna guess he goes small to guard him, and he'll probably go with McDyess more once Bass comes in..Lewis abuses smaller players though, so I'd rather have Dice guard him, even though it means he'll have to play the 3-pointer..

Vince has been playing dominant basketball in February and March, so that's obviously a tough cover..we'll have to hope he's in one of his laid back moods tomorrow, even though I doubt he will be..the Magic are great at running the 1-2 pick and roll to get Carter in the post or Nelson against a slower 2 or 3, so hopefully the Spurs can counter that..

Orlando goes through huge slumps and they can blow any lead, but they score points faster than any team in the NBA..hopefully the Spurs will be ready..

Pretty much spot on analysis

Jameer and Carter have both picked up their game considerably since the all-star break while like you said, Lewis has been in a slump. He usually performs well against the "elite" teams of the NBA so I think he'll be alright.

How has Bogans worked out for you guys? I never really cared much for the guy personally. His offensive game revolved around the 3 and he couldn't really do much else. I felt his D was above average but meh, I wasn't sad to see him leave. He any better here?

And good luck to ya guys.

[Cane]

I'm not going to expect much from SA since its a back to back but this would be one of a statement win.

[Brazil]

this troll is funny

[boutons_deux]

A win tonight would cause a huge jump in my evidence-based believing.

Even a close loss showing real compe iveness from Spurs would help my spirits enormously.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Wed. Mar 17
San Antonio @ Orlando: Bob Delaney; Mark Lindsay; Rodney Mott