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Spurs hold off Pistons: Ginobili's late surge downs best in East
Web Posted: 03/24/2007 12:20 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
Manu Ginobili drilled a 3-pointer, split the lane for a finger roll, and just when it looked like the Spurs had finally separated from Detroit late Friday, he sailed a 12-foot pass over Tony Parker's head and into a fan's lap.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sighed, shook his head then did what he normally does in such situations. He put the ball back in Ginobili's hands.
And when Ginobili made all four of his free throws in the final 16.4 seconds? The Spurs closed out a gritty 90-89 victory over the Pistons at the AT&T Center.
After taking only three shots — all of which he missed — Ginobili scored nine of his 10 points in the final 3:46.
"Vintage Manu," Popovich said. "All aspects — the good and the bad.
"It's all out of compe iveness. None of it is out of lack of effort."
The Spurs needed Ginobili's heroics, along with Parker's 22 points and seven assists, to hold off Detroit. Tim Duncan also provided 17 points and 14 rebounds, Brent Barry made four 3-pointers and Francisco Elson delivered his second strong performance (nine points and 10 rebounds) against the Pistons.
After fattening their record on a steady diet of struggling opponents, the Spurs were more than happy to beat the Eastern Conference's top-ranked team. No matter how hard they had to work to do it.
"It was kind of a playoff atmosphere," Popovich said. "Both teams were getting after it, and we were fortunate enough to come out on the winning side."
Ginobili deserved more than a little of the credit for that. Having missed 20 of his past 25 shots dating to last week's loss in Milwaukee — including the only three previous looks he received Friday — he drilled a 3-pointer to stake the Spurs to a 82-74 lead with 3:46 left.
"It felt very good," Ginobili said, "especially after the kind of night I was having."
Ginobili's evening took another adventurous turn when he airmailed a pass into the stands with 58.9 seconds left. Chauncey Billups, whose strained groin had loosened up, followed by drilling a 22-foot shot to bring Detroit within 85-82.
"At the beginning, I thought it was Tony's fault; that he didn't jump," Ginobili said. "But everybody told me I wasn't right, so I could see it was just a bad pass."
After Antonio McDyess blocked Parker's layup attempt, Billups heard Popovich tell Parker to foul him, so he quickly hoisted a 3-pointer that fell short. As McDyess turned the rebound into a layup, Billups argued that Parker had hit him on the right elbow. TV replays supported his complaint.
"I felt there were some bad calls tonight," Billups said. "However, it is what it is."
With the Pistons forced to foul him, Ginobili made both free throws. Richard Hamilton went to the line with a chance to again make it a one-point game, but missed both attempts.
Duncan added another free throw before Billups' runner brought Detroit within 88-86. Ginobili made both his foul shots with 3.8 seconds left, rendering Tayshaun Prince's 3-pointer at the buzzer meaningless.
With the Pistons having lost the previous night in Houston, the Spurs looked ready to put them away early, running out to a 27-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Rasheed Wallace found motivation from his 18th technical of the season — which likely will result in his second one-game suspension — and scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half to put Detroit back in front.
"I think that fired him up," Robert Horry said.
The Spurs also wasted most of a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter when the Pistons went to a zone defense.
"I've never seen worse execution against a defense than our zone offense for the period we were in it," Popovich said. "It was all I could do to keep from going out on the court and grabbing a couple of guys."
Popovich calmed down soon enough. Ginobili buried his 3-pointer, made his finger roll. And when he threw away the pass?
Popovich called his number again.
"I was very glad that Pop really trusted me," Ginobili said. "That shows the kind of respect he really has for me."
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Manu's probably gonna be inserted back in the starting line up soon.
Plus, why has he taken less than 10 shots each game in the last week or so? He only took 6 shots today. That's not good for a rhythm, streak scorer.
Must have been cuz Barry was hot though.
"I've never seen worse execution against a defense than our zone offense for the period we were in it," Popovich said. "It was all I could do to keep from going out on the court and grabbing a couple of guys."
HAHA
Manu has never been a volume shooter and he is shooting less lately because he is cold (7/33 FG and 3/18 3pt on the last 4 games).
Ginobili deserved more than a little of the credit for that. Having missed 20 of his past 25 shots dating to last week's loss in Milwaukee — including the only three previous looks he received Friday — he drilled a 3-pointer to stake the Spurs to a 82-74 lead with 3:46 left.
"It felt very good," Ginobili said, "especially after the kind of night I was having."
Ginobili's evening took another adventurous turn when he airmailed a pass into the stands with 58.9 seconds left. Chauncey Billups, whose strained groin had loosened up, followed by drilling a 22-foot shot to bring Detroit within 85-82.
"At the beginning, I thought it was Tony's fault; that he didn't jump," Ginobili said. "But everybody told me I wasn't right, so I could see it was just a bad pass."
missing 20-25 shots made him not want to shoot
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