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After Parker failed to get to Miller before he drilled a 3-pointer, Popovich screamed, "In case you didn't know, Tony, that's Reggie Miller!"
Spurs handle Pacers and O'Neal with extended effort.
Web Posted: 01/07/2005 12:00 AM CST
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....80ff0ecc.html
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
As the Spurs churned through their schedule the past four weeks, picking up one lopsided victory after another, Tim Duncan had ample opportunity to stretch his legs.
On most nights, Duncan got his work done early then spent the fourth quarter on the bench while the Spurs' reserves closed out the game.
Thursday, however, was not most nights. Duncan stayed on the floor for 38 minutes, long enough to score 27 points as the Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers 111-98 in front of 17,549 at the SBC Center.
It was the most points Duncan has scored since Dec. 11 and only the second time in eight games he had reached 20.
"It was an interesting thing hearing some of the TV commentators saying (Duncan) had been held to this many and that many," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I held him. Nobody else did.
"Tonight he played a full game, and he hasn't done that too often."
Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal scored 32 points but only four in the final quarter.
O'Neal agreed to donate $1,000 for every point he scored Thursday to UNICEF, which is using the money to help the victims of last month's tsunami disaster. For a while it looked like UNICEF might get a windfall.
O'Neal, coming off a 55-point performance against Milwaukee on Tuesday, peppered the Spurs with mid-range jump shots. He reached the 20-point mark early in the third quarter, so the Spurs started sending an occasional double-team at him when he put the ball on the floor.
"He finally missed a couple of shots," Popovich said. "But not because of anything we did."
The Spurs shot 72.2 percent in the opening quarter, thanks, in no small part, to Tony Parker, who apparently now counts "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria among his fans.
With Longoria watching from a baseline seat near the Spurs' bench, Parker dribbled through and around the Pacers, not unlike what he's done to most of the Spurs' opponents the past few weeks. He made seven of his first eight shots, scoring 17 of his 26 points in the first half, 13 of which came during a 5-minute, 48-second spurt that bridged the first two quarters.
Popovich paired Parker and his backup, Beno Udrih, together on three occasions.
"They're both good basketball players," Popovich said. "And sometimes it's best to have the guys playing the best basketball on the court and just figure it out from there. The times we've had them on the court together they've played very well and seemed to enjoy it."
Because Pacers point guard Jamaal Tinsley was able to use his 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame to successfully post up Parker, Popovich briefly had Parker chase Reggie Miller off screens. After Parker failed to get to Miller before he drilled a 3-pointer, Popovich screamed, "In case you didn't know, Tony, that's Reggie Miller!"
With the Spurs clinging to a six-point lead midway through the final quarter, Duncan faked as if he were going to drive then banked in a 15-footer over O'Neal. After O'Neal missed at the other end, Parker drove the length of the court for a layup.
Eighteen of Duncan's points came in the second half.
"It was one of those games where you get in a flow," Duncan said.
After Parker failed to get to Miller before he drilled a 3-pointer, Popovich screamed, "In case you didn't know, Tony, that's Reggie Miller!"
Popovich paired Parker and his backup, Beno Udrih, together on three occasions.
"They're both good basketball players," Popovich said. "And sometimes it's best to have the guys playing the best basketball on the court and just figure it out from there. The times we've had them on the court together they've played very well and seemed to enjoy it."
@ that quote. That's classic.
"where you get in a flow"
Pacers played a tough defense that forced the Spurs to only 15 AST, vs avg of 23. The flow was mostly individual flow, not team flow.
The big numerical discrepancies in FTs (Spurs 29/38 vs 19/27) and RBs.
Direct from the book of Nelson.And sometimes it's best to have the guys playing the best basketball on the court and just figure it out from there.
Yeah, they "forced" them into all of those first half, half court set, uncontested layups.Pacers played a tough defense that forced the Spurs to only 15 AST, vs avg of 23.
Most of Tony's layup terror was limited to the first quarter, after which they adjusted and Spurs layups were reduced and often fouled (good tactic, Spurs suck at FTs).
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