Johnny Ludden: Deep in reserve, Suns near sweep of Spurs

[carina_gino20]

SAN ANTONIO – Goran Dragic spun the San Antonio Spurs in every direction, taking them to the rim for layups, throwing in one 3-pointer after another, and he wasn’t done yet. Dragic drove hard into the lane once more, jabbed a couple feints at the Spurs and flipped in yet another remarkable shot. His own coach tossed up his hands in disbelief.

“Jesus Christ!” Alvin Gentry shouted.

Yes, the night belonged to Goran Almighty. His stunning 23 points in the final quarter lifted the Phoenix Suns to a 110-96 victory and gave them a 3-0 stranglehold on the series, and no one could say they saw this coming.

“We only expected 21 in the fourth quarter when we drafted him,” deadpanned Suns general manager Steve Kerr.

In truth, the Suns saw enough in Dragic two years ago, and this speaks to the razor-thin line between winning and losing, between good teams and great ones. The Spurs know this as well as anyone. They built the foundation for their past three championships by gambling late draft picks on a couple of foreign kids. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker grew into NBA All-Stars.

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No scene summed up the Spurs’ disbelief more than the sight of Duncan sitting on the floor in the hallway late Friday, just outside the trainers’ room, head down, back against the wall. His coach, Gregg Popovich, stood over him, the two of them trying to figure out what had gone so, so wrong.

“The way they are beating us,” Ginobili said, ” … it was demoralizing.”

[Pero]

It was a prearranged trade, so the Spurs didn’t know whom the Suns were taking. Once they learned it was Dragic, some San Antonio officials winced. They, too, had seen Dragic’s potential but had already taken another young guard, George Hill(notes), in the first round. When Hill labored in his summer-league debut a few weeks later and Dragic shined, the groans spread to the Spurs’ coaching staff.

Interesting. Still, they made a good trade.