It's a ####' conspiracy. That's like scheduling my Falcons to play against the Saints in the refurbished Superdome in the first game in New Orleans since the Katrina tragedy. Oh ####! That happened too didn't it. Nevermind!
Celtics Snap 18-Game Losing Streak to Spurs
By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer
Paul Pierce gave the Boston Celtics an unexpected victory in the most unlikely of places. The Celtics ended a 17-year drought in San Antonio - fittingly on St. Patrick's Day. Pierce led Boston with 30 points as the Celtics beat the Spurs 91-85 on Saturday night. The Celtics last beat the Spurs in San Antonio on Feb. 14, 1990. The Spurs had won 18 straight against the Celtics and 15 straight at home.
"It feels good,'' Pierce said. "Regardless of who was supposed to be the favorite coming in. Especially the way it went down - us having the big lead and them coming back and then us keeping our composure.'' "You go on the road to play San Antonio and you tell me it's a two-point game with two minutes left, I'll take that,'' Pierce said.
Delonte West had 23 points, Al Jefferson added 20 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo grabbed 14 rebounds. "It was a game of momentum. We had it going then all of a sudden in the fourth, we couldn't really do anything,'' Michael Olowokandi said. "Coach just told us to be solid on the defensive end. That's what we did and it worked out.''
"We had one quarter tonight where we really locked it down and did a good job defending,'' said Michael Olowokandi. "But other than that we gave up too many (shots) percentage-wise and too many points in the paint.''
"We had one quarter tonight where we really locked it down and did a good job defending,'' said Tim Duncan. "But other than that we gave up too many (shots) percentage-wise and too many points in the paint.''
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 30 points. Duncan added 20 points and 16 rebounds and Michael Finley had 10 points. They shot just 37 percent from the field. "We tried to make a comeback but it's tough to do that,'' Parker said.
"We played terrible for three quarters,'' said Manu Ginobili. "We made a great effort down the stretch to come back. We were even ahead but then they made a couple of great shots and we stopped. Down the stretch we couldn't get anything done so that means a lot in games like this.''
The Spurs were coming off a 101-90 loss in Milwaukee on Thursday that snapped their season-high 13-game winning streak. The Celtics, who have the league's second-worst record, lost Friday to the Dallas Mavericks 106-101.
Less than four minutes into Saturday's game against Boston, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had seen enough. Celtics guard Delonte West just beat the Spurs down the floor for a layup, so Popovich looked at his bench and told Manu Ginobili to go to the scorer's table. After Boston scored eight unanswered points, Popovich signaled for a timeout. Out went Brent Barry, in came Ginobili. Ginobili barely had time to take his seat for the second half when his coach called on him again.
Was Popovich's quick trigger a sign he's considering returning Ginobili to the starting lineup? Not necessarily. "Some nights, I might want to get Manu in a little earlier for whatever reason it might be," Popovich said after practice Tuesday, "so it's not really indicative of anything."
Ginobili has come off the bench for the past 21 games and is expected to do so again when the Spurs host Indiana tonight at the A####mp;T Center. Popovich can't say how long the lineup will remain the same, but he does like the flexibility Ginobili has afforded him. "I still think he'd rather start if he was pressed and asked," Popovich said, "but I think he's become comfortable in (a reserve) role, and our team has become a little more consistent in a rotation-sense. "It makes substitutions a whole lot easier that way. We have our top three players on the floor more often. I don't mean all at the same time, but at least one of them is on the floor, and that's important to us."
Ginobili typically replaces Barry with about six minutes left in the first quarter. With Tony Parker and Tim Duncan usually headed to the bench a couple of minutes later, Ginobili becomes the team's primary scorer on the floor. When he was starting, Ginobili said, "sometimes I went back to the bench with nothing done." "Probably it helps my confidence," Ginobili said, "but I think I can do it starting, too." At times, like Saturday's loss to Boston, it seems like Ginobili might as well be starting.
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