Warriors' Ellis sizzles for three quarters
Mike Monroe
On Monday night, the Spurs had to match up with the hottest rookie in the NBA, Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings, who entered the game as the No. 8 scorer in the league, at 25.2 points per game.
In Wednesday's game at the AT&T Center, they faced another red-hot point guard, Golden State's Monta Ellis, who entered the game having totaled 71 in the Warriors' impressive victories over the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks.
The Spurs held Jennings to 12 points on 21 shots on Monday.
Ellis was another story. He made 12 of 15 shots in the first half, scoring 28 points. He added 10 more points in the third, causing Spurs historians to scramble for information on the last player to score 50 against the Spurs in anticipation of a fourth period as productive as the first three.
In the fourth quarter, though, the Spurs held Ellis without a basket. He made four free throws and finished with 42 points, the most for any Spurs opponent this season.
George Hill, the second-year point guard who has emerged as the defender of choice against point guards such as Jennings and Ellis, said he could see Ellis wearing down late in the third period.
“If you play 48 minutes one game, and the next night you're almost playing another 48, you're going to get tired,” Hill said. “It's life. He did a great job tonight. We just got the best end of it on the scoreboard.”
Thus, New York's Bernard King remains the last player to score 50 against the Spurs, in 1984.
Remembering Pollin: Roger Mason Jr., who grew up in Washington, D.C., and played two seasons for the Wizards, has fond memories of Abe Pollin, the Wizards owner who died on Tuesday.
Mostly, Mason recalls what Pollin did for the revitalization of a blighted neighborhood near downtown by building the Verizon Center there, sparking an urban renewal.
“That neighborhood used to be very different,” Mason said. “Being a college major in urban planning and downtown revitalization, seeing what he did by bringing the Verizon Center, and what that did for the city, was amazing.
“The fact he put his own money into it and did that for the city is his legacy for me, more so than even when I played for the Wizards, and he was in our locker room after our wins.”
Finally dressed: Spurs forward Marcus Haislip suited up for the first time this season and logged his first playing time in silver and black. In 3 minutes, 41 seconds of the fourth quarter, Haislip made his only shot, scoring two points.
Monta Ellis was ridiculous today. Not only he was making every jumper, he was also driving and doing all sorts of body twists and flips in mid air while scoring inside. Now that I know the final score, I can tell you he was a joy to watch. I think he ran out of legs evetually. I didn't think we really had an answer for him all night. What a player.
good stuff
That might have been the first opposing player's performance that I've actually enjoyed while watching the Spurs. Like you said, some of those drives were just ridiculous. Straight from the Playstation, even; the fact that they were on the second half of a back-to-back under brutal cir stances gave me the belief that they'd eventually fade in the championship rounds, so to speak. Thus, I was able to enjoy it.
Having said that, they had more left in the tank then I could have ever imagined; their fans have to feel pretty proud of that effort.
Monta's just a freak, though..
I can't remember who I was discussing Hill with a while back, maybe even as early as his first SL, but they took exception to my belief that Ellis was just on another level athletically compared to Hill. It wasn't a knock on the type of athlete Hill was but an acknowledgement of what I believed then and still believe now: There's never been a more explosive athlete at Ellis' size. The guy's unreal..
I think hill is just as good an athlete as ellis, just ellis is so polished in his offensive game, he gets to where he needs to get on the court and has a great shot. I think hills wingspan gives him an edge physically, but that is only half the story, but i really like hill, really suprised me how polished his shot is and play making ability.
I remember it well. I was a Yankee living in Upstate NY and was a huge Knicks fan. (Moved to Austin in 1987 and pretty quickly got into the Spurs.) I watched this game on cable, then watched the next night as Bernard lit up Dallas for 50. Bernard King was a spectacular player.Thus, New York's Bernard King remains the last player to score 50 against the Spurs, in 1984.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_King
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