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Brutal schedule for TOR: Spurs, Magic and Heat
Game is Wednesday, 7:30 CST.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2011011924Toronto (13-28) at San Antonio (35-6)
Tipoff: 8:30 pm EST Wed Jan 19, 2011
TV: SNET, FSSW
By Matt Beardmore
At the halfway point last season, the San Antonio Spurs were nine games above .500 and 2 1/2 behind Dallas for the Southwest Division lead. They’re enjoying a much better place in the standings this year.
The Western Conference-leading Spurs look to win 16 in a row at home for the first time in nearly six years and earn a seventh straight victory overall when they open the second half of their season Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors.
After opening 25-16 last season - their worst first half since Tim Duncan was drafted first overall in 1997 - the Spurs (35-6) are off to the best start in franchise history and hold an 8 1/2-game divisional lead over the Mavericks.
“Maybe we coached better (than last season). Maybe the players played better. Maybe we were lucky. Who knows,” coach Gregg Popovich said following Monday’s practice. “We’ll just try to keep doing what we’re doing.”
With the third-best first-half record in league history and best since Detroit went 36-5 in 2005-06, the Spurs will look to continue their strong play at home, where they are an NBA-best 22-2 following Sunday’s 110-97 victory over Denver.
San Antonio is undefeated at the AT&T Center since a 103-94 loss to Dallas on Nov. 26, and it last won 16 in a row at home Dec. 11, 2004-Feb. 23, 2005.
“We have to keep it going, can’t be satisfied,” point guard Tony Parker said after scoring 30 points and handing out seven assists against the Nuggets. “We just have to keep pushing.”
The Spurs continue their four-game homestand against a Toronto team ravaged by injuries.
With Leandro Barbosa (hamstring) and Jerryd Bayless (ankle) each missing their second straight game, and starting forward Linas Kleiza (knee) added to a growing list of injured Raptors, Toronto (13-28) blew a 12-point lead in the second half in dropping its fourth in a row Monday, 85-81 to New Orleans.
“It’s definitely frustrating. I wish we could have gotten that game,” said second-year guard DeMar DeRozan, who finished with a team-best 23 points. “That would have been a big game for us.”
So would a victory over San Antonio, which has won 20 of 29 all-time matchups with Toronto despite splitting the last three season series.
With Duncan and Parker sidelined with ankle injuries, Manu Ginobili scored 36 points off the bench to lift San Antonio to its eighth victory in nine home games in this matchup, 131-124 on Nov. 9, 2010.
Scoring 103.9 points per game and shooting 48.4 percent during their home winning streak, the Spurs could post more big numbers if the Raptors don’t improve their defensive rebounding. Toronto allowed 19 offensive boards in Monday’s defeat.
“They got second chances and you can only give up so many of those, even if you hold a team to 39 percent (shooting),” said coach Jay Triano, whose team finishes it five-game trip with matchups against Orlando and Miami. “I think we might have got a little bit tired.”
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Team Stat Leaders
Points
Andrea Bargnani Tor 21.7
Manu Ginobili SA 18.9
Rebounds
Reggie Evans Tor 12.1
Tim Duncan SA 9.5
Assists
Jose Calderon Tor 8.4
Tony Parker SA 6.9
Brutal schedule for TOR: Spurs, Magic and Heat
Welcome back D228.
raps should call it a season and give us bargnani......
Pau gasol type situation
+1
welcome back!!!!
Trap!!!!
Finally, game previews again !!
Welcome back
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/bas.../16940531.htmlRaps in tough against 'Masters of the Midway'
By Mike Ganter, Toronto Sun
SAN ANTONIO — David vs. Goliath doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Wednesday’s Raptors visit to San Antonio to take on the “Masters of the Midway” as the local San Antonio Express-News dubbed the Spurs in their mid-season report on the team, couldn’t be more stacked against the visitors.
At practice Tuesday, on the same floor on which they will attempt to hold their own, the Raptors were able to play a two-on two with four guards working together and four bigs doing the same.
On the sidelines, Linas Kleiza, Jose Calderon, and Andrea Bargnani adjusted ice bags on their battered bodies hoping to be ready to play.
As it has been for most of the season, all three will be game-time decisions.
It didn’t give one a whole lot of optimism for the Wednesday night showdown.
Here is what the Raptors will be up against.
They are taking on the runaway leader in the NBA that heads into the second half with a 35-6 record. They are taking on a team that is currently on six-game winning streak and a 15-game winning streak at home. That six-game overall streak, by the way, is just the third best of the Spurs fine season thus far. Previously they have enjoyed streaks of 12 straight wins and another of 10.
To put the Spurs’ current record in perspective, if they win just one more game than they lose the rest of the season (21-20), they will finish with 56 wins. The Raptors could go 41-0 in the second half and still finish behind that with 54 wins.
And while the Raptors locker room has resembled a MASH unit since mid-December, the Spurs have been able to count on six of its top eight shooters for all 41 games so far this season.
So far this trip the Raptors are 0-2 having played two very tight games.
Making it three close ones would appear to be a huge challenge given the status of the two teams.
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http://www.torontosun.com/sports/bas.../16939086.htmlInjuries create a challenge for Triano
By Mike Ganter, Toronto Sun
SAN ANTONIO — By rights, Jay Triano and his staff should be in overdrive right now trying to come up with a way to piece together a lineup that can hold this San Antonio Spurs juggernaut in check Wednesday night.
It has to be at least a little more daunting than normal to know that not only is the opposition in almost full health compared to your own broken parts status, but is in the midst of potentially taking a run at the best regular-season record in NBA history (’95-’96 Bulls, 72 wins).
In fact, Triano has processed all that and more already, but to describe the mode he’s in right now as overdrive would be to lessen what he and his staff have been doing for weeks now because overdrive has been their constant mode.
Whether it has been figuring out a way to slow down John Wall or containing Chris Paul, or just limiting the damage Joe Johnson can do (or even in Monday’s case trying to figure out how to get through a game without any backup swing men) Triano and his coaching staff have tweaked and re-shuffled and done whatever possible with a host of changing parts just to stay close.
It’s all about weathering this injury storm that has had them patching holes for weeks now.
So with Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan on tap not to mention Richard Jefferson, George Hill and Gary Neal and the league-leading 35 wins they possess, Triano and his staff are merely doing what they’ve been doing.
“When we find out who we are going to have and who is going to be available to us, we start looking for a way to pull off the upset,” Triano said of his personal Groundhog Day since this rash of injuries hit. “What can we do as coaches? This has been great for our staff. It’s a real challenge. Every day we have to come up with something.”
In essence it’s a new game plan every night, a necessity when you’re starting five changes as much as the Raptors has.
So far this season, they have had 15 different starting lineups. The most games any quintet has been together is eight and that’s not going to get any higher because Jarrett Jack is no longer a Raptor.
It’s like starting a new season every game you play. The only difference is Triano and company are doing it with significantly fewer healthy bodies to pick from.
Triano says he actually finds the nightly challenge fun.
Keep Reading...
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...-living-dream/Neal hopes not to wake up from living dream
Mike Monroe
...“I couldn’t have written a script that would have been better than this is right now,” Neal said. “As far as the team goes, we’ve got the best record in the NBA, and as far as me playing, I’m playing more, and better, than I thought I could play.”
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http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...at-spurs-35-6/Wednesday: Raptors (13-28) at Spurs (35-6)
Jeff McDonald
...After completing best first half in franchise history, Spurs open second half against Toronto squad 2-7 so far in January. …Spurs and Raptors have split season series each of past three seasons...
I'll only consider this one a success if Blair, Owens, Splitter, Neal and Quinn play the entire fourth quarter and none of the top six players (with the possible exception of McDyess, if Bonner doesn't play) have to approach their season average in minutes.
There's no excuse for the end result to be anything other than that. The Spurs are well rested, at home, playing one of the worst teams in the league and not only that, but the Raptors are decimated with injuries. They could be playing with just nine players, only five of which are sure-fire NBA players.
No more resting Duncan and putting him in the middle of the 3rd quarter
This could be a trap, please take care of them early.
the Spurs need to take care of this early... no messing around.
Yep, pulverize them early, so it would be a breeze in the 4th quarter.
Just get a Win ...
Go Spurs Go
http://www.nba.com/news/referee.html
Referee Assignments
Wed. Jan. 19
Toronto @ San Antonio: Bill Kennedy; Bennie Adams; Leroy Richardson
Advanced Scouting: Toronto Raptors at San Antonio Spurs
by Scott Sereday
48 Minutes of
http://www.48minutesof .com/spurs...oronto-raptors
No turnovers
Beware of Amir on the break
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