Spurs get three-fourths of a rout

[spursupporter]

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer


For one fleeting moment Tuesday night, the Atlanta Hawks looked up at the SBC Center's overhead scoreboard and envisioned the possibilities.

They had a 13-point lead over the defending NBA champion, leaving them three quarters removed from not only their first victory of the season but also a huge upset. Al Harrington, as stunningly, was on pace for 88 points.

And then, of course, reality intervened. Bruce Bowen held Harrington without a basket the rest of the evening, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 65 points and the Spurs cruised to a 103-79 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 18,797 that spent much of the opening quarter groaning.

"The first quarter was really bad," said Ginobili, who led the Spurs with 24 points and five steals. "Besides that, we had a great game."

The Spurs won as they usually do, with good defense, even if it didn't appear until the start of the second quarter. The Spurs outscored the Hawks 85-48 over the final three quarters and limited them to 27 points on 25 percent shooing in the second half.

After a record-tying 22-point first quarter, Harrington had only one free throw the rest of the way. As a result, Atlanta (0-7) and Toronto remained the league's only winless teams.

"There's a reason why they won, but nothing changed the second half," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "It's just that we didn't compete the second half, and that's disheartening. You can't play at this level and not compete."

The Spurs, meanwhile, saved their best for last — not that they could have looked much worse in the first quarter. In their first home game in almost two weeks, they had reason to believe they were still in Washington with Gilbert Arenas shooting over them.

With one difference. Harrington, by halftime, was on pace to surpass the 43 points Arenas hung on the Spurs on Saturday. He made 10 of 15 shots to match former Dallas guard Rolando Blackman (in 1983) for the most points the Spurs allowed in a first quarter.

Trailing Harrington 14-8 less than six minutes into the game, the Spurs burned their first timeout and coach Gregg Popovich emptied his bench. Out came Rasho Nesterovic, Bowen, Ginobili, Duncan and Parker. In went Sean Marks, Melvin Sanders, Nick Van Exel, Nazr Mohammed and Beno Udrih.

With the exception of Nesterovic, the Spurs' starters returned to the floor to begin the second quarter. Atlanta's fun ended not long after.

Less than eight minutes into the quarter, the Hawks' lead evaporated.

"We finally found some combinations that worked well for us," Popovich said. "The team kept its composure very well. They didn't try to get back in the game quickly. They did it as a team and methodically continued to improve as the game went along."

Popovich also made one key defensive switch after the first quarter, moving Bowen onto Harrington. Harrington attempted only seven shots in the final three quarters, missing all of them.

"Coach Pop said he wasn't going to let me get off any more," Harrington said. "They made a good adjustment, and it was hard for me to get any sort of one-on-one move after the first (quarter)."

Despite giving up close to 50 pounds to Harrington, Bowen did his best to front him while the Spurs brought help from behind.

"You don't want him to get anything easy," Bowen said. "If he's supposed to get the ball on the elbow, I'm going to push him out and fight him as much as I can so he's not catching it in his sweet spot where he has the advantage."

With the Spurs' best perimeter defender hounding Harrington, Robert Horry started the third quarter matched against Hawks small forward Josh Childress. Fabricio Oberto helped by contributing eight points and eight rebounds.

Parker, who provided 18 points and eight assists, also asked to help guard Atlanta guard Joe Johnson, who missed eight of his 12 shots.

Parker "is one of the few point guards in the league," Popovich said, "who enjoys the defensive end as much as he does the offensive."

Duncan and Ginobili took care of the offense. After missing 15 of 18 shots against the Wizards, Duncan found his stroke, going 11 for 14 to finish with 23 points. He helped seize control in the third quarter before the Spurs buried Atlanta by running off the first 10 points of the fourth.

One sequence in that stretch symbolized the Hawks' struggles: Harrington drove to the rim, where he was met by Oberto's hand. Josh Smith plucked the ball out of the air and threw down a vicious dunk — that found only the front of the rim.

Said Popovich: "It was all about the 'D' tonight."

[spursupporter]

Spurs notebook: Finley, Barry unlikely to see action Thursday


Michael Finley and Brent Barry missed their fourth consecutive game Tuesday.

There's a chance both players could practice today, though coach Gregg Popovich sounded uncertain as to when they might play in a game. Barry received a cortisone injection Monday to reduce the inflammation in his back and Finley also says he's feeling better.

"If they can get through practice, then they would be available Thursday," Popovich said. "But I'm not expecting that."

Smith sighting: Former Spurs guard Steve Smith is working as a TV analyst for the Atlanta Hawks after retiring this summer.

"I could have probably squeezed out another year or two, but it was just time," Smith said. "I was just happy with where I was in my life, happy with everything I accomplished in basketball.

"I didn't look forward to regular-season basketball the last two or three years. I only looked forward to playoff games, so I knew it was time."

Smith planned to work for the Hawks last season until Charlotte offered him a contract. The Bobcats later traded him to Miami to give him an opportunity to win his second championship.

Smith, who talked with former teammate Steve Kerr about making the transition to TV, hasn't decided whether he wants to someday go into coaching or management.

"This is the best job for me in basketball for right now," Smith said.

Parker's album: Tony Parker has yet to sign a contract to release his rap single "Top of the Game," but he hopes to have an album out this summer.

Parker said he has written 10 songs with plans to do 10 more.

"I try to keep it on the down low because I don't want it to be a distraction for the team," Parker said. "I want to show Pop basketball is still my main focus."

Briefly: Spurs suite holders donated more than 400 tickets to Tuesday's game for veterans, wounded soldiers and families of fallen soldiers as part of the franchise's Military Appreciation Night. ... The Spurs are holding two youth basketball clinics during the holidays for boys and girls ages 6-17. Cost is $55 with each participant receiving $25 credit for a ticket to an upcoming Spurs game. Bruce Bowen will lead the Nov. 27 clinic (4:30-7 p.m.) and Brent Barry will be at the Dec. 28 clinic (3-5:30 p.m.). Registration deadline for the first session is Friday. Call (210) 444-5706.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

Please tell me Tony is bein a smart ass?

[Solid D]

The Spurs are holding two youth basketball clinics during the holidays for boys and girls ages 6-17. Cost is $55 with each participant receiving $25 credit for a ticket to an upcoming Spurs game. Bruce Bowen will lead the Nov. 27 clinic (4:30-7 p.m.) and Brent Barry will be at the Dec. 28 clinic (3-5:30 p.m.). Registration deadline for the first session is Friday. Call (210) 444-5706.

The Spurs also held an adult basketball clinic in quarters 2, 3 and 4 of the Hawks game. Cost was an 0-7 start for the boys from ATL.

[Marcus Bryant]

Spurs better not come out with a 1st quarter effort like that on Thursday night.

[LilMissSPURfect]

The Spurs also held an adult basketball clinic in quarters 2, 3 and 4 of the Hawks game. Cost was an 0-7 start for the boys from ATL.

priceless

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Dear God, Tony is slowly turning into Ron Artest.

[leemajors]

he's not asking for time off to promote quite yet.

[howard2]

Atlanta Journal Cons ution
Nov 16, 2005
By Sekou Smith
Link: Atlanta Jornal Consi ution

SPURS 103, HAWKS 79: Burst in first becomes a bust

San Antonio --- Not even a jaw-dropping first quarter played in a parallel universe could help the Hawks snap out of their season-opening funk.

Al Harrington's whirlwind 22-point first quarter has to qualify as one of the NBA's most fascinating offensive stretches of this still-young season.

But the Hawks' monumental collapse that followed was just as unbelievable.

Ahead 31-18 after the first quarter with Harrington riding a wave that the San Antonio Spurs couldn't stop, the wheels came off for the Hawks shortly thereafter.

They were outscored 85-48 over the final three quarters and pasted by the world champions 103-79 before a SBC Center crowd of 18,797 Tuesday night.

The loss dropped the Hawks to 0-7.

Harrington, who scored just one more point the rest of the way, couldn't describe what transpired.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said it reminded him of the other late-game debacles that have plagued his team since last season.

"We came out with big-time energy, and we've been in this position all year," Woodson said. "Even though they had a great second quarter, it was tie ballgame at halftime. They turned up their defense in the second half, and we stopped playing. We stopped competing.

"We're like our own worst enemy. We don't share the ball; we don't defend."

During that awful three-quarter stretch, the Hawks turned the ball over 18 times. The Spurs manufactured 24 points off those miscues and ran a clinic for the last 20 minutes of the game, with precision passing and layup drills while the Hawks stood and watched.

"You can't tell me this was a 25-point game," Woodson said. "And I'm not taking anything away from them. They are the world champions. They play and play hard. They get after you. And we didn't do that in the second half."

The Hawks' early 15-point lead evaporated by halftime, when the score was deadlocked at 52-52. They took advantage of some size mismatches to take advantage of the Spurs early, forcing Gregg Popovich to go to his bench sooner than usual.

"We had some matchups that were not so good on our part [to start the game]," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "At the start of the second quarter we made some changes with our defense that worked well for us."

Harrington had his way with the Spurs early, though, scoring in every way and leaving his teammates stunned that he could put up that many points so fast.

His first-quarter points were one shy of the NBA season high for a quarter. The Kings' Peja Stojakovic put 23 on Phoenix last week.

"I've never seen anything like it," Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. "That was a great performance in the first quarter. Unfortunately we just didn't have what it took to pull [the game] out in the second half."