McDonald: Balanced Spurs leave Nuggets under landslide

[duncan228]

Balanced Spurs leave Nuggets under landslide
Jeff McDonald

DENVER — Over the years, much ado has been made of the Spurs' annual rodeo road trip, and the magical power it seems to have in transforming a floundering season into a championship one.

Leave it to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to turn back the curtain on that myth.

It's wasn't the unfamiliar arenas and strange hotels that galvanized the Spurs into second-half monsters, he says. It was winning.

“Winning helps people believe and come together and feel that responsibility to each other,” Popovich said. “As much as film sessions, or me coaching, or somebody shooting well, winning some games is important.”

At long last Thursday night, the Spurs got a win they could believe in, closing the five-game western leg of the trip by pounding Denver 111-92 at the Pepsi Center.

Aggressors from the start against a Nuggets team that had been a terror of late, the Spurs (30-21) earned a resounding victory in a game that, on paper, looked to be the toughest on the itinerary. The Western Conference's second-place team, Denver had lost just four of 27 home games this season, and had beaten Dallas by 36 two nights earlier.

Seven Spurs players scored in double figures, led by 17 apiece from George Hill and DeJuan Blair, and the Spurs shook off a dogged 3-point shooting slump to head into the All-Star break on the wings of perhaps their most heartening triumph of the season.

The Nuggets (35-18) never saw what hit them.

The Spurs never trailed, and — in the final 20 minutes — were never threatened, handing Denver its most lopsided home defeat of the season. For the Spurs, it was their largest margin of victory since a 30-point win over Miami on New Year's Eve.

Suddenly, the Spurs are on track for a successful rodeo trip, an iffy proposition after they started 2-2 with losses to the Lakers without Kobe Bryant and Portland without Brandon Roy.

When the Spurs return from the break, they finish the rodeo trip with games against three sub-.500 Eastern Conference teams — Indiana, Philadelphia and Detroit.

“We think we have a great team,” said Hill, who started at point guard with Tony Parker sidelined with a left hip flexor strain. “We've been taking a lot of bumps in the road, but we stepped up and got a big win today.”

Denver played without forward Kenyon Martin, who had 27 points in a Jan. 31 win over the Spurs in San Antonio, but sat with a sore knee.

Hill filled in ably for Parker again, while Mason had 14 points and made four 3-pointers from Hill's old shooting guard spot. Richard Jefferson also chipped in 14 points, while Tim Duncan had 16 and only had to play 27 minutes.

Nenê had 20 points to lead Denver, which saw All-Stars Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony combine to shoot 10 of 33.

The Spurs were 9 of 19 from 3-point range, after hitting 30.7 percent over their previous 10 games.

Ahead 83-70 entering the fourth, the Spurs kept attacking. When Blair converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Jefferson converted an old-fashioned dunk with 8:46 to go, the Spurs were ahead 95-74.

“The West is really tight — from the second spot to the 10th, anybody can make it,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We have to take care of business when we have the opportunity.”

For the first time in what only seems like ages, the Spurs did that Thursday. In doing so, perhaps, they found a reason to believe.

[TD 21]

It all sounds great, but I'm not buying it. At this writing, I consider this nothing more than a signature win for a talented team that was long overdue to beat an elite team, particularly on the road and do so while shooting well. Hopefully, the Spurs prove me otherwise on this, but you'd have to be niave to think otherwise at this point. Too many disappointments to think "this is the real Spurs".

I hope the front office doesn't get sucked in either. The trade deadline is approaching and there's no reason this game should make them think twice about anything. This group had their chance and it (should be) a case of too little to late.

[HarlemHeat37]

Actually, I hope this W influences the FO to make a trade by giving them some hope..this team might still have a little hope when they have games like this where they're clicking..

[Bruno]

What an unexpected win, the west is just crazy this year. Pop was damn right when he said few days go:
"The Lakers haven't been playing as well as they can, but they are better. No one else is playing consistently enough. We're all up and down."

[Blackjack]

I'm not all that excited or feeling any more reason to brim with optimism because of this win.

I'm happy they got it, and I loved seeing them execute as well as they did on both ends of the court, but this reeked of Denver's immaturity rearing it's ugly head and not approaching the Spurs with the right amount of focus or appropriate fear.

Give the Spurs credit, for once they played the way a team of their talent should when given the opportunity to drop the hammer, but I think it'd be pretty foolish to think this is some harbinger of things to come; this doesn't have the feel of a road win over Detroit going into the break in '05 (IIRC).

Nice, gratifying win. . . nothing more, nothing less.

On another note, if I'm Nene's head coach, I'm fining his ass if he doesn't attempt at least 15 shots in a game. That guy could, and should, be ridiculous. . .

[Spursfanfromafar]

I liked the way we played today. The rotations were quite quick (even RJ was doing a lot better against Anthony), the shooting was good - folks were hitting their threes, the transition defense was *really* good, and best of all, I loved the way Manu, G-Hill attacked the paint. Props of course to Blair, Duncan and McDyess for sweet work on the boards. Even Bonner showed some hustle in the 10 minutes he played. This was a really good win. Only negatives were some mindless turnovers, but thats acceptable.

[ElNono]

I think one of the biggest pluses was that Manu was actually getting calls... That hasn't happened in a while

[timvp]

Actually, I hope this W influences the FO to make a trade by giving them some hope..this team might still have a little hope when they have games like this where they're clicking..

Good point. The Spurs might have needed a win to avoid the ownership from demanding a fire sale.

[Obstructed_View]

This was, without a doubt, a desperation game for the Spurs in every way. If they can capitalize on the effort and finish off the RRT without stubbing their toe on one of the bad teams then it becomes the most important game of the season for them as well, as it is a springboard for their season and a sign of an early SPAM.

[HarlemHeat37]

Well there are 3 ty teams coming up..if we can win all 3, it should be a good boost of confidence for the Spurs..

They could just as easily lose though, so I'm not going to get my hopes up..it was great to see some defensive rotations and aggressiveness though..it was nice to see Jefferson trying to play D and rebound too, he needs to bring that effort consistently..

[Blackjack]

Seeing them play this well, in Denver, had me going in the way-back machine all the way to last year's (for all intents and purposes) high-water mark. . .

I'm hoping this becomes some sort of flashpoint or springboard, but color me skeptical.

[SenorSpur]

It all sounds great, but I'm not buying it. At this writing, I consider this nothing more than a signature win for a talented team that was long overdue to beat an elite team, particularly on the road and do so while shooting well. Hopefully, the Spurs prove me otherwise on this, but you'd have to be niave to think otherwise at this point. Too many disappointments to think "this is the real Spurs".

I hope the front office doesn't get sucked in either. The trade deadline is approaching and there's no reason this game should make them think twice about anything. This group had their chance and it (should be) a case of too little to late.

+1.

Fool's gold of a win.

[EricB]

ah good so I guess on the advice of Senor Spur and TD 21 I shouldn't buy playoff tickets then.

[spurs10]

If they play like they played tonight, they are very likely to win the last 3 games of the RRT.

[ShoogarBear]

Maybe the Spurs just need to start fouling more.

The uptick in aggressiveness was accompanied by a lot more fouls than normal for the Spurs. This year, and even at their defensive peak, they are usually at the bottom of the league in fouls committed. The synergy wasn't really there but they made up for it last night by being way more aggressive than usual. With the depth they have, foul trouble outside of Tim is not such a big deal. In the short term, hustle can make up for lack of chemistry and hopefully, eventually be a means of establishing it.

[Seventyniner]

Good point. The Spurs might have needed a win to avoid the ownership from demanding a fire sale.

If that was the only motivation, though, it's bad news going forward.

[SpurNation]

Maybe the Spurs just need to start fouling more.

The uptick in aggressiveness was accompanied by a lot more fouls than normal for the Spurs. This year, and even at their defensive peak, they are usually at the bottom of the league in fouls committed. The synergy wasn't really there but they made up for it last night by being way more aggressive than usual. With the depth they have, foul trouble outside of Tim is not such a big deal. In the short term, hustle can make up for lack of chemistry and hopefully, eventually be a means of establishing it.

Great point. Let's hope that hustle can be sustained for the rest of the season. The team as a whole played with a fire I haven't seen in some time.

[Danny.Zhu]

No reason for me to believe.

[urunobili]

Denver was with their mind on vacations otherwise they would have pounded us heavily... non factor win... having said that, it may really boost their confidence though...

[SenorSpur]

ah good so I guess on the advice of Senor Spur and TD 21 I shouldn't buy playoff tickets then.

...and while you're in the spending mode, I have some prime oceanfront property in Kansas to show you.

[ulosturedge]

That's all true but I find it hard to believe if something does go down it will be Ginobili. He is showing some serious leadership on the floor and with the change of at ude he seems to be playing better and better. That would leave Parker and I don't think the FO is ready to hand over the reigns to Hill just yet. I dunno I just find it hard to believe they will make a big move before the trade deadline. The most I could see is them packaging expiring contracts and maybe RJ for something in return.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I think this was more of Denver being ready for the break and the Spurs being in desperation mode.

Just hope it doesn't make the front office settle for the status quo....

[YoMamaIsCallin]

They looked to me like they finally got the defense message. Even Jefferson got a steal or two and hustled for loose balls and moved his feet on defense and worked on the boards. Bonner's defense was also good for the most part.

But.... as always.... the 3-point shooting is the key, usually, to Spurs wins. When they hit their 3s they win more often than not. When they don't, they usually lose.

Also I'd like to point out there was a similar game to this a couple of weeks ago vs. the Hawks. They played great and ran away from a very good team. Unfortunately, this was after a 3-game losing streak, and was followed by a 3 win (grizz, sacto, the lowly Clips)/3 loss (Denver/Portland/Lakers) 6-game history, up to this Denver game. So, there's been a history of 2 quality wins and 5 total wins in the last 10 games. Not good enough. Not consistent enough.