Spurs storm past Rockets
HOU :: 22 • 23 • 21 • 15 • 81
SAS :: 24 • 24 • 30 • 21 • 99
Preview :: Starting Lineups :: Recap :: HOU Boxscore :: SAS Boxscore ::
Tim Duncan had 25 points and 11 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an off-night by Manu Ginobili to beat the Houston Rockets 99-81 in the preseason opener for both teams. Tony Parker added 20 points and nine assists for the Spurs. Carl Landry had 22 points and Tracy McGrady scored 18 for Houston, who must play the whole season without center Yao Ming. In his "debut", Trevor Ariza scored eleven points on 3-for-7 shooting. The Spurs made 13 of their first 18 shots and never trailed again. Ginobili had only 6 points in 2-of-9 from the floor. “Well, you don't have to be a coach to appreciate Tracy on the court,” Ariza said. “Everybody enjoys watching him play. He's a great player and to have him back is wonderful for all of us.”
“I thought it was a good game for us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “If we're going to be successful, we have to have ball movement and player movement, as that is what this is all about.” Richard Jefferson had 15 points, and Antonio McDyess 9 and 10 rebounds as Popovich looked to the new players to step up. Landry made two free throws to cut Houston’s lead to 46-40, but the Spurs scored the next six possesions to take their biggest lead of the game, 68-50, on two free throws by Roger Mason. A 11-2 Houston spurt cut the lead to 70-61, but Jefferson and Mason made a 3-pointers each to put San Antonio ahead 76-61. The Spurs led 78-66 after three, then Houston scored the first five points on the fourth quarter to cut it to 78-71 when Ariza stole the ball from Parker for a layup with 10:26 to play. After a timeout, Ginobili sank a 20-footer, Duncan a jumper, and the Rockets never cut it to single digits again. After that, Mason sank another 3-pointer, then made an inside hook, and McDyess scored on a drive followed by a dunk on a three-point play, putting the Spurs ahead 91-71, scoring 13 straight points.
Prediction Game :: Who will score more points? (Ariza 11, Ginóbili 6)
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Allen shines, Celtics beat San Antonio
BOS :: 37 • 17 • 30 • 29 • 113
SAS :: 20 • 17 • 26 • 31 • 94
Preview :: Starting Lineups :: Recap :: BOS Boxscore :: SAS Boxscore ::
Thrust into the starting lineup due to the absence of Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace had his debut tonight for the Boston Celtics, going for 11 points and 6 rebounds on 5-of-13 shooting to lead Boston to a resounding 113-94 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. “I'm trying several lineups and I decided to give rest to KG. Rasheed had a chance to start tonight and he was really good with what he did,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “It just shows you how hard he has worked, and continues to work. You gotta give him tremendous credit.” But the real dynamite was guard Ray Allen, who exploded for 40 points in a 15-of-22 night, including 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. “I thought Ray was going to give us a solid game, but he exceeded everybody’s expectations with the game he had,” Rivers added. Allen and Wallace certainly weren't the only Celtics who stepped up, though.
Rajon Rondo flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists, and he even added 4 steals. “I'm proud of this team, I really am,” said Wallace. “You can't say enough about Ray's game, also Rondo played great, an unbelievable defense over Parker. It was really a team win. Tonight was the sort of effort we need going forward if we are going to be the team we want to become.” Tony Parker finished 5-of-14 from the floor for 13 points, with Rondo playing a stellar defense. The opening possession of the game saw Allen stepping in front of a pass from San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, picking it off, and going the length of the floor for a statement-sending dunk. The tone empathically established, Boston spent the rest of the quarter getting acquainted with the bottom of the net, shooting a scintillating 16-of-22 (72.7%) from the field while building a 37-20 lead going onto the second quarter. The second quarter was a continuation of the same theme – at least for the first eight minutes. While Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich was busy calling timeouts in a desperate attempt to get the game under control, Boston was running away from San Antonio, seizing a 49-32 advantage. The Spurs finally responded to Popovich’s pleas starting the third quarter, allowing them to make it to the last period down by eleven after going down by 20 but again in the fourth, the Celtics couldn't be stopped. Richard Jefferson led San Antonio with 24 points while Duncan added another double-double with 18 and 11 rebounds. Both teams shot over 50 percent but the Spurs bench outscored Boston's, 42-26.
Prediction Game :: Who will pull down less rebounds? (Perkins 3, McDyess 5)
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Parker lifts San Antonio in overtime
SAS :: 31 • 18 • 27 • 27 • 10 • 113
MIA :: 22 • 21 • 35 • 25 • 8 • 99
Preview :: Starting Lineups :: Recap :: SAS Boxscore :: MIA Boxscore ::
The San Antonio Spurs squandered a 11-point lead against the Miami Heat, but they found a way to win. Five players scored in double figures, including 3 posting over 20 points, as the Spurs, thanks to Tony Parker's jumper with 0.9 left in the clock, held off the Heat 113-111. “It easily could have gotten away from us,” Tim Duncan said. Parker had 21 and 8 assists, Duncan had yet another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Richard Jefferson added 22 to lead San Antonio. The Spurs, who led by 14 early in the game, looked safe when Roger Mason Jr.'s 3-pointer with 2:28 left gave them a 98-87 lead. But Miami rallied, and with San Antonio leading 103-100 in the final seconds, Parker fouled Dwyane Wade on a 3-point attempt to put him on the line; Chalmers hit all three to tie the game as he finished with 25 points and 10 dimes. A shot by Jefferson just inside the arc was blocked by Udonis Haslem, to send the game into overtime. “It wasn't a foul, that was just ridiculous,” Parker said. “He kicked me, and you just can't make that call. You have to take a guy out and you can't have a guy flop like that. It all works out: we deserved the win and karma comes out on top.”
“We got behind so much in the beginning, and we had to use so much energy trying to get back into the game, being so short-handed, it was tough on us,” Michael Beasley said; he had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Miami. But the Heat nearly pulled it off. After Mason's 3-pointer, Wade and Beasley hit back-to-back 3s to pull to 98-93. Parker hit a free throw, and a Beasley's layup made it 99-95. Williams hit two free throws, and Smith hit another 3 to pull to 110-108 with 12.5 seconds left. Miami's rally nearly spoiled a night of redemption for the Spurs, as they bounced back from a hard loss against the Boston Celtics a couple of days ago. Tonight they scored the first 14 points of the game and led 22-5 only to see the Heat run again. “When you were up like us tonight, 22-5, you have so much time in the game left, that you know they are going to come back,” said Manu Ginóbili, who was everywhere, racking up numbers: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals. “Seemed like in the game against Boston we had energy at the second half, they killed us in the first 24 minutes, but tonight we seemed to have more energy at the end of the game and we won the game,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said.
Prediction Game :: Will both Parker and Chalmers get at least 6 assists? (Yes, No :: Parker 8, Chalmers 6)
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Spurs' rookie duo routs Clippers
LAC :: 19 • 25 • 17 • 11 • 72
SAS :: 29 • 29 • 16 • 22 • 96
Preview :: Starting Lineups :: Recap :: LAC Boxscore :: SAS Boxscore ::
San Antonio didn't register one single block, but the way the team was rolling offensively, it wasn't needed, anyway. The rookie duo of Thierry Tirieux and DeJuan Blair combined for 37 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists as the Spurs shot 62 percent from the field to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 96-72. Tirieux, native from France, scored a preseason-highs of 18 points, 9 assists and 4 steals, while Pittsburgh's Blair added 19 and 7 rebounds, both combining for a 16-of-20 shooting night (80%). Playing without both Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, given rest by coach Gregg Popovich, the rookies have shown they're capable of carrying the team in case of emergency, logging big minutes. “I feel great. My body is holding up. I've been able to post big minutes tonight. It is good to know that you work hard during the offseason, and without feeling any pain,” Blair said. Blair was selected 37th overall by the Spurs in the 2009 Draft, considered by many specialists the big steal of the night, and a “no-brainer” at that stage of the draft. Durability concerns after two reconstructive knee surgeries dropped Blair into the second round of the draft, and into the stunned arms of the Spurs, who liked the 6-foot-7 forward but thought he'd be long gone by the time they picked. “All the teams that didn't pick me, I'm with the Spurs now," Blair said. “I'm going to make them regret it. Watch out.”
Tirieux was signed by manager R.C. Buford in the offseason and handed a training camp invitation by the Texas team. He hopes to make the list of great NBA players who went undrafted, joining players like Ben Wallace, Jose Calderon, Raja Bell or Brad Miller. “This is great. They Spurs have always been good to me. Fortunately, they had room for me. I love this team and I have a lot of friends in France that are fans of it. I only have a month with the organization but I learned a lot during this short time around. Despite that, I must admit I can always play better defense, make better decisions... I'm taking care of the ball here. I'm averaging only two turnovers per contest. The main thing is getting more aggressive on defense. Maybe I have to focus on stopping my player instead of outscore him. And I think all that comes with growth, with your growth as a player,” Tirieux said, very cleverly. Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for San Antonio, while 1st overall pick Blake Griffin led Los Angeles with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Point guard Sebastian Telfair, who had 11 points and 8 assists, said that “they caught us on a night without our best players; no Baron Davis, no Marcus Camby... we'll win next time, no doubt.” Griffin looked at him with a distant face.
Prediction Game :: Will Blake Griffin get a double-double? (Yes, No :: 16 points, 5 rebounds)
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