Cartar wrote:It would be quite funny if you would beat all 3 Texas teams to reach the Finals, it could actually happen. Good luck against the Spurs, especially as I kind of hate them. Chris Andersen's arm looks quite bizarre on the Game 6th pick.
It would be fantastic if I could do that. I'd prefer to play the mavs over the suns, coz I can't stop Steve Nash. The Spurs are actually my second favourite team, but for now, they are my enemies!
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Denver Vs San Antonio
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OVERVIEW: To pick a player from the Spurs in which I need to focus my defensive attention onto is an impossible task. You have the greatest power forward of all time in Tim Duncan, who you'd think would be the primary focus. However, they also have a finals MVP in Tony Parker, a man whose abilities (when fit) are downright freakish (Ginobili) and not to forget their two off season acquisitions in Antonio McDyess and Richard Jefferson. So to focus on one player could easily lead to an early exit for Denver. Now that's out of the way, here are the results from the first 4 games:
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Game 1: San Antonio belt Denver in first gameSan Antonio started the game off with a bang, going on a 14-4 run. If someone was to say this would be a flattering lead for Denver during the game, they might have copped some criticism, but they would have been right, as they were down by as many as 21 in the 3rd quarter. After beginning the quarter down by 18, they reduced the deficit to within 9 in the fourth. However this was not enough to disrupt an experience playoff team like the Spurs as they went on to win 91-78.
Tim Duncan picked up the Sprite Performer of the Game, with a dominant display ending with a double-double (29 points, 13 rebounds). Richard Jefferson supported him excellently, showing a soft shooting touch from outside with 27 points of his own. For Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 18 points, while three players (Billups, Smith and Andersen) all registered 14 points each.
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GAME 1: DEN @ SAN
SAN: 91 (Duncan 29, Jefferson 27, Ginobili 17)
DEN: 78 (Anthony 18, Billups 14, Smith 14, Andersen 14)
Sprite Performer of the Game: Tim Duncan 29 pts 13 rebs
Rebounds
Denver: Nene, Andersen 6
San Antonio: Duncan 13
Assists
Denver: Billups 7
San Antonio: Parker 6
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Game 2: Denver even the score in San AntonioAfter going down by 13 in game 1, Denver made the adjustment to win by 13 this time, winning 84-71. JR Smith came up as the top scorer in this game, with 23 points. He's been relatively inconsistent through the playoffs and his performance will be key for the rest of the series. Despite Smith's great performance, it was Nene whow as judged the best picking up a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) and 5 assists to go with that. If he had an omen that it was going to be his game, it was
this. Unfortunately for him and the Nuggets, he got the shot off after the buzzer.
For San Antonio, both Parker (22) and Duncan (20) had 20 plus games. They were close enough early, but Denver proved to be too good.
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DEN: 84 (Smith 23, Nene 16, Billups 13)
SAN: 71 (Parker 22, Duncan 20, Jefferson 17)
Sprite Performer of the Game: Nene 16 pts 10 rebs 5 asts
Rebounds
Denver: Andersen 12
San Antonio: McDyess 11
Assists
Denver: Nene, Anthony, Billups 5
San Antonio: Parker 7
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Game 3: San Antonio surge past DenverA game winning shot by Matt Bonner has given San Antonio the series lead, defeating Denver 65-63. Denver were up by 8 at the beginning of the quarter and were looking set for the series lead heading into their next home game. However a 10-0 run to finish the game had halted the momentum they had in the series.
With San Antonio having an unlikely hero in Matt Bonner at the end of the game, Denver also had one at the beginning. After JR Smith went on a cold streak, Louis Williams provided a spark off the bench with 14 points, which ended up being the game high for Denver.
Now 2-1 down, Denver will have to regroup in their next home game to avoid being down 3-1.
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GAME 3: SAN @ DEN
SAN: 65 (Duncan 16, Jefferson 15, Parker 10)
DEN: 63 (L Williams 14, Anthony 13, Andersen 12)
Sprite Performer of the Game: Chris Andersen 12 pts 12 rbs
Rebounds
Denver: Andersen 12
San Antonio: Duncan 9
Assists
Denver: Billups, Andersen 2
San Antonio: Parker 7
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Game 4: San Antonio embarrasses Denver at homeA combination of a hot shooting display from San Antonio (particularly Richard Jefferson) and elementary mistakes by Denver saw the Spurs go up 3-1 in the series. After his inspired effort off the bench, Louis Williams was promoted to the starting lineup in this clash. Unfortunately it yielded little result, with Denver getting thumped 92-75. 5 Spurs players hitting double figures, including bench player Matt Bonner. Denver had 4 double figure scoring players, but only Billups (20) and Anthony (17) got 15+ points.
But once again, the key factor of the game ended up being Tim Duncan, as he picked up the Sprite Performer of the Game with his impressive all round stat line. For Denver, the Birdman picked up a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds).
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GAME 4: SAN @ DEN
SAN: 92 (Jefferson 23, Parker 21, Ginobili 18)
DEN: 75 (Billups 20, Anthony 17, Smith 13)
Sprite Performer of the Game: Tim Duncan 14 pts 15 rebs 4 ast 3 blk
Rebounds
Denver: Nene 16
San Antonio: Duncan 15
Assists
Denver: Billups 4
San Antonio: Parker 9
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Denver now face an uphill battle to make it to the next stage of the finals. Can they take this one to 7 games as well? Results for the concluding game(s) will be up soon.