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Twice in one night, a playoff career high!
Time to bust out the...
Champs capture thriller: Bowen's defense, Duncan's offense keep Spurs alive
Web Posted: 05/18/2006 01:16 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....1d51c9db.html
By the time Tony Parker arrived at the Spurs' practice facility Wednesday morning, Melvin Sanders was waiting for him. With a cake and a song.
Fulfilling his rookie duty, Sanders serenaded Parker with a sunny rendition of "Happy Birthday." Parker enjoyed the performance. But, in honor of his 24th birthday, he also had one more request for the rest of his teammates.
"I want them," Parker said, smiling, "to get me a win."
The Spurs obliged. After Bruce Bowen snuffed out a shot by Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry missed from the right corner just before the final buzzer, Parker and his teammates ran off the AT&T Center floor with a 98-97 victory, having survived to play another day.
With Tim Duncan scoring 36 points, Parker adding 27 and Manu Ginobili and Bowen providing some much-needed hustle and defense, the Spurs shortened Dallas' lead in the Western Conference semifinals to 3-2. Game 6 is Friday at American Airlines Center.
A series already filled with dramatic finishes added one more. After losing two games in Dallas they felt they should have won, the Spurs finally left the court smiling.
"It's good to give them a little adversity," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We'll get another night and another game to try to do it again."
If Friday's game is anything like the first five, it figures to be memorable. For the fourth time in five games, the losing team had a chance to win on the final possession of the fourth quarter.
The Spurs opened a 10-point lead late in the third quarter only to watch Devin Harris tie the game on a backdoor layup with 2:38 left. After Duncan missed inside, Ginobili stripped the ball from Nowitzki's hands and was fouled.
Ginobili missed his first free throw badly but made the second. Unable to stop the Mavericks for much of the series, the Spurs then made their one-point lead hold up over the final 1 minute, 59 seconds.
Ginobili made another dramatic steal, lunging at Terry before taking the ball from him, but the Spurs couldn't add to their advantage. With 15.4 seconds left — the same amount of time that remained in Game 4 after Michael Finley put the Spurs ahead with a 3-pointer — Dallas called a timeout to set up its play.
Nowitzki took the ball to the free-throw line and rose to fire only to have Bowen block the shot from the side.
"I didn't totally commit to contesting his shot," Bowen said. "He got me up a little bit, and when he put down the dribble, he didn't extend it as much, and I was able to recover."
Only two nights earlier, Bowen had been called for a foul on Nowitzki at nearly the same spot on the court. The resulting free throws allowed Dallas to send the game into overtime. This time, the officials called a jump ball with 6.3 seconds left.
After Ginobili and Terry both came up with the tip, they ended up at mid-court, for another jump ball. This time, Josh Howard secured the ball and called a timeout with 2.4 seconds left.
With Ginobili fronting him, Terry attempted a turnaround from the right corner that completely missed the rim. Nowitzki was in position for the rebound, but he didn't know how much time was left and unsuccessfully tried to bat the ball at the rim as time expired.
Nowitzki finished with 31 points, but it was the two he didn't score that the Spurs will remember. Despite not taking a single shot, Bowen made perhaps the game's biggest play.
"How in the world you guard Dirk, I don't know," Popovich said. "I stay up late at night seeing his face because you can't just stop the guy. Bruce just comes up with plays. And that one was unbelievable."
Duncan produced a few highlights of his own. He made his first 12 shots and didn't miss until 2:50 was left in the third quarter. His 28 points in the first half matched a playoff career high.
"Just knowing the importance of this game," Duncan said, "I didn't want to look back and say I didn't give that effort."
Parker felt the same. After straining his groin in Game 4, he spent much of the next two days undergoing massage and ultrasound treatment. Popovich admitted before the game he was concerned the injury had robbed Parker of some of his lateral quickness.
The drop in Parker's production was immediately evident. After scoring 16 points in the first quarter of Game 4, he had only 15 in Wednesday's first quarter.
"We didn't expect them to roll over," Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse said. "They're the world champs."
The Spurs have gone to unusual lengths to extend their reign. Since Popovich downsized his lineup in the fourth quarter of Game 3, the Spurs have almost exclusively played small. On Wednesday, he started Ginobili and moved Brent Barry back to the bench — his sixth change in nine games. The only player over 6-foot-7 starting was Duncan.
The Spurs shot 53.6 percent but also struggled to slow the Mavericks. Until, at least, they had to.
"It just boils down to one possession or a stop down the stretch," Popovich said. "Tonight, that went our way."
Twice in one night, a playoff career high!
Time to bust out the...
it was Parker's birthday. He was allowed to slack off a little.
Twice in one night, a playoff career high!
Time to bust out the...
"Just knowing the importance of this game," Duncan said, "I didn't want to look back and say I didn't give that effort."
I'm glad this guy is playing for us..True compe or.
^yeah...this reminds me of Vince Carter...lol
[QUOTE]"I stay up late at night seeing his face because you can't just stop the guy."[/QUOTE]
Dang, poor Pop! I'd take some kinda sleeping medicine if I was seeing that face all night.
By the time Tony Parker arrived at the Spurs' practice facility Wednesday morning, Melvin Sanders was waiting for him. With a cake and a song.Sanders singing? Now that's a video moment.
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