San Antonio Spurs

[tackielarla]

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Cuban punching the Gatoraide Cooler was funny.

[tackielarla]

Game 2 Final Score: 105 - 84, Spurs.

Game 3 @ Dallas this Thursday night.

Go Spurs!

[tackielarla]

[tackielarla]

Spurs' Bonner finally finds an opening
Mike Finger

Out of sync and mostly uninvolved during the opener of the Spurs' playoff series against Dallas, Matt Bonner's timing for Game 2 didn't look much better.

When he arrived at the AT&T Center on Monday night, his pregame routine was already blown. Thanks to the late tipoff time, Bonner's unusually quick evening commute gave him far more time to kill at the arena than he was accustomed to.

The culprit?

“No traffic,” Bonner said.

Turns out, Bonner was much more prepared for open jumpers than he was for open roads. When he finally got an obstructed view of the basket — perhaps his first such look of the series with the ball in his hands — he at long last showed why Gregg Popovich hasn't ejected him from the starting lineup yet.

Bonner's two second-quarter 3-pointers helped the Spurs build a huge early lead, and he finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in a 104-85 victory over the Mavericks.

In Game 1 on Saturday, Bonner struggled on both ends of the floor, racking up four quick fouls against Dirk Nowitzki, failing to get a single 3-point attempt and missing the only shot he took.

On Monday, the early part of the game looked like more of the same. But when the Mavericks backed into a zone defense midway through the second quarter, Bonner — who ranked eighth in the NBA with his .440 3-point percentage in the regular season — was ready.

With just under eight minutes left in the first half, Roger Mason Jr. drove under the basket, had his path blocked by two defenders and then fired a pass out to Bonner on the right wing. Bonner hesitated for a split-second, then cocked his wrist behind his ear and swished his first 3-pointer of the series.

“It felt good just to get an open look,” Bonner said. “It didn't really happen last game.”

Three possessions later, Tony Parker set up for a jumper near the free-throw line, but when it appeared Mavs forward Brandon Bass might be able to block the shot, he dumped the ball back to Bonner on the perimeter. Bonner then threw in another 3-pointer — his second of three in the game — to put the Spurs ahead by 18.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who said he didn't consider pulling Bonner from the starting lineup despite his lack of production in Game 1, suggested it was no coincidence that the Spurs had a breakout offensive game on the same night Bonner started hitting outside shots.

“He spreads the court pretty well for us,” Popovich said. “That's the important part of what he does.”

Bonner said the Spurs spent much of Sunday studying game film and trying to find spots where he might have opportunities to get good shots. He said that studying paid off in Game 2, but as Popovich pointed out, Bonner doesn't need much help to get his chances.

“Matt's a hustle-type guy,” Popovich said. “He'll do his best to get open.”

[jasonrey]

go spurs go! game 3 napud at dallas. i hope we could sweep the series after losing the 1st game

[james_mustaine]

games without ginobili...

[fish]

congrats nindyo tanan diri... great win, without a very good player...

[tackielarla]

^ Thanks bro.

[dandavix08]

wait lang lakers ha! coming nami

[tackielarla]

Parker as Isiah: In this series, just a start
Buck Harvey

There’s a reason Tony Parker always wanted to be the guy.

Because he could be.

He never saw himself as the next John Stockton. He saw himself someday becoming another Isiah Thomas, a blur with a jump shot. And as he began by playing within Gregg Popovich’s system, and he started his career as a teenager passing to 7-footers, he waited for the time when he could display everything he had.

Monday, he did. The catch, now, is that he has to do this three more times in this series for the Spurs to win.

The Spurs had more than Parker on Monday. Matt Bonner found some openings, as did Drew Gooden. The Spurs can survive when they combine for 24 points.

The Spurs’ defense raised a few notches from Game 1, too, and the Dallas defense showed leaks. Rick Carlisle tried a zone in the second quarter, and that only added to the Mavericks’ problems.

But at least Carlisle tried. As Parker sped through the Mavericks, a zone made as much sense as anything.

Parker had it all. The mid-range jumper, the floater, the runner, the layup. He had 27 points at the half and could have had 50 for the game had he wanted 50. He instead ended with merely 38.

He had similar bursts through a regular season that should earn him an All-NBA second team berth. That’s not bad, considering Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade are the first-team locks at guard.

But maybe none of this would have happened if Manu Ginobili was in uniform for all 82 games. With him, Parker would have had to worry whether it was his turn. Instead, he’s free now, and he can probe the defense until he sees what he likes.

x Better yet, he does this with Popovich’s blessing. Just a few years ago, it wasn’t this way. Then, Parker went to Popovich, and he used a phrase he’d heard around the league.

“When do you want me to take over games?” he asked.

Popovich growled. “Never.”

That changed this season, especially in games when both Ginobili and Tim Duncan were out. And, at the time, Parker enjoyed himself.

“I love these opportunities,” Parker said then. “I’m not saying I want to play every game like that, but if it’s one or two games, you show what you can do.”

Now he has to play every game like that. It’s clear the 24 points he had in Game 1 isn’t enough.

Parker said he tried to stay aggressive, and the team reaction meant something, too.

“We didn’t panic,” he said. “We went and watched film and made adjustments.”

The key adjustment was for Parker to become what he’s always wanted to be. He began by missing a drive, and then he missed a 17-footer, and he gave no thought of stopping.

By the middle of the first quarter, he was getting whatever he wanted, and by the second he was, in a playoff moment, Isiah. He took off on a fastbreak, with three Mavericks in front of him, showing no signs he would slow down.

Parker readied to spring to the basket again, and that’s when Jason Terry turned a shoulder into him. Terry got the flagrant, and the moment defined frustration.

“We give up 23 (19) first-quarter points to Tony Parker,” Terry said afterward. “It’s unacceptable. We have to adjust our game plan and really hone in on him. He’s the head of the snake.”

Actually, he’s the whole snake. It’s his series to win, and he will need these kinds of nights for it to happen.

There’s a reason Parker wanted it to be this way.