Knicks' tiny guard jams Spurs
Jeff McDonald
NEW YORK — Gregg Popovich didn’t just spend his All-Star vacation in a New York state of mind. He actually spent it in New York.
In need of some time to decompress, Popovich flew to the Big Apple directly from Toronto after the Spurs’ last game before the break and spent five days, in his words, “wandering the streets of New York.”
When Popovich finally got around to venturing into Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, however, tour time was over.
“I could have gone to Broadway again, could have eaten dinner someplace,” Popovich lamented before the Spurs faced the Knicks. “But I’ve got to go to a game.”
By the end of it, a surprising 112-107 overtime victory for the capsizing Knicks, Popovich probably wished he had taken in a show at The Met instead.
With jump shots clanking like falling subway tokens, and done in by a player not quite tall enough to ride the big-kid rides at Coney Island, the Spurs lost to a team that had yet to win a game in the month of February.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for New York (22-31). For the Spurs, it was an extension of their last game before the All-Star break, a 91-89 loss at similarly struggling Toronto.
This time, they were undone by a slam-dunk king.
Nate Robinson — all 5-foot-9 of him — encored his All-Star Weekend jam session by dumping 32 points on the Spurs. He didn’t log a single dunk, but scored every other way en route to his third-straight 30-point game.
Robinson had the first six points of overtime for the Knicks, who opened up a six-point lead with 1:31 to go and held on. He also notched 10 rebounds.
All in all, Popovich couldn’t have seen a more clever performance from a little man had he gone to a Broadway production of “Wicked.”
“He gets after it,” Popovich said. “He kind of does for them what (Manu) Ginobili does for us, in a way.”
The Spurs (35-17) would have no chance to see Ginobili’s Nate Robinson impression Tuesday. The guard was home in San Antonio, nursing a sore right ankle.
Tim Duncan picked up some of the slack, going for 26 points and 15 rebounds. Double-teamed at almost every touch, Duncan also coughed up seven turnovers — or half the Spurs’ total.
Roger Mason Jr. added 20 points and Kurt Thomas supplied an efficient 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench, but it was a rough offensive night for most every other player in silver and black.
It was close to a nightmare for the one wearing No. 9.
Tony Parker missed 15 of 20 field goals on his way to 14 points, including an 0-for-3 overtime.
“I was missing shots,” Parker said. “I was missing everything.”
Robinson, who was 13 of 23 from the field, was the anti-Parker.
“He was making all his shots,” Parker said. “He was the opposite of me.”
Despite it all, the Spurs had a chance to win in regulation, but Duncan’s turnaround bank shot skipped off the glass at the horn. To that point, Duncan was 6 for 6 in the fourth quarter after taking over the stretch run.
“I got a shot to go down and started making a few more of them,” Duncan said. “Wish the last one would have gone down, but such is life.”
Such is life for Popovich, too. He could have spent the evening taking a Handsome Carriage ride through Central Park. Instead, he was back on the job.
If there was ever a sign his All-Star break was over, it came four minutes in. Matt Bonner had blown a defensive assignment, giving up a basket to David Lee.
Popovich called timeout and proceeded to blast Bonner at full throat. By the end of his final night in the city, Popovich was even talking like a native New Yorker: TV cameras caught him responding to an official’s call with a curse word.
By the time of his postgame news conference, Popovich had softened a bit.
“Win or lose, you still get to eat,” he said, slapping a reporter on the back.
And with that, he was off to wander the streets of New York again. At least until it was time to head to Detroit.
So Parker supposedly was going to run circles around Nate?
Pathetic dumbasses
Western Conference
Western W L PCT GB CONF DIV HOME ROAD L 10 STREAK
L.A. Lakers1 43 10 0.811 0.0 26-4 9-1 25-4 18-6 8-2 W 1
Denver2 36 17 0.679 7.0 22-11 7-2 20-6 16-11 8-2 W 2
San Antonio3 35 17 0.673 7.5 23-8 7-3 18-7 17-10 6-4 L 2
Portland4 32 20 0.615 10.5 15-15 5-4 20-5 12-15 7-3 L 1
Houston5 33 21 0.611 10.5 21-10 4-5 20-6 13-15 6-4 W 2
New Orleans6 31 20 0.608 11.0 20-12 5-3 18-9 13-11 4-6 W 1
Dallas7 31 21 0.596 11.5 17-14 4-4 17-8 14-13 7-3 L 1
Utah8 31 23 0.574 12.5 22-11 7-3 22-6 9-17 6-4 W 2
Phoenix 29 23 0.558 13.5 17-13 6-3 15-10 14-13 5-5 W 1
Golden State 19 35 0.352 24.5 10-20 3-5 14-12 5-23 6-4 W 3
Minnesota 17 35 0.327 25.5 9-23 2-8 8-17 9-18 2-8 L 5
Memphis 15 38 0.283 28.0 9-25 4-9 12-18 3-20 4-6 L 2
L.A. Clippers 13 41 0.241 30.5 8-26 0-10 6-20 7-21 3-7 L 1
Oklahoma City 13 41 0.241 30.5 8-24 3-7 10-19 3-22 4-6 L 3
Sacramento 11 43 0.204 32.5 11-22 5-4 8-17 3-26 1-9 L 5
second best team?
Hahaha
no more!
^ i have to agree
says the person whos team is under the injured Jazz.
Hey are you that fan of a lottery team?
Pop is awesome. I'd like to shout that guy a meal some time, and I'm pretty damn sure we'd get along. We see life through a similar frame.
My problem with Parker is that he's not the type of player that has shown the ability to play his way out of a shooting slump in the same game. When his shot is off, it's usually off for the entire game. In those instances, Parker should look to adjust his game. Facilitate more, drive and kick, work to get easier shots. He needs to quit hoisting up those long jumpers that continuously clang off the rim and stop ignoring wide open shooters.
I've said this about Manu on occasions. Both of them are great players and as such, they should be able to have a positve affect on the game - even when they're not scoring.
they are not the second best team no more, they are the best team now. a lose isn't enough to dilute the brightness of the fours, while a small piece of cloud is very enough to fade the suns.
Thought it was weird reading this quote for a game winning missed shot from Timmy. With the news about Manu in mind perhaps?“I got a shot to go down and started making a few more of them,” Duncan said. “Wish the last one would have gone down, but such is life.”
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