The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings 96-80 Friday night to remain unbeaten. The Spurs are 3-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season, when they finished with the best record in the league. The Kings have yet to win a game this season. The Kings never led, and most of the Spurs' starters sat out the entire fourth quarter.
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich had this to say about the game. “It was great to play a lot of guys and a lot of people off of the bench got to get some time tonight, especially new guys like Darius Washington, Ime Udoka and Ian Mahinmi. They got a chance to take a look at the system.” It’s good to see that the guys kept their focus and played well. The starters really supported the guys off of the bench and did a fine job.”
Spurs guard Bruce Bowen likes the way the team has started the season. “We have had a really good start to the season but in a game like tonight it’s the mental edge that plays a major factor. We need to focus on keeping the ball moving and stay healthy as a team.”
Udoka Popovich
Beno Udrih, who was traded on Monday from San Antonio to Minnesota, then signed with Sacramento after the Timberwolves waived him, did not dress while still recovering from a broken left index finger he got last month during Spurs training camp. Udrih won two rings with the Spurs, including last season, when he lost his spot as backup point guard to Tony Parker after Jacque Vaughn took over. Popovich gave Udrih his championship ring before tip-off Friday.
The reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs look to open a season with three consecutive wins for the first time in seven years Friday night when they host the Sacramento Kings. The Kings, meanwhile, are coming off a 104-90 loss in their opener at New Orleans on Wednesday as they played without Mike Bibby (thumb), Ron Artest (suspension) and first-round pick Spencer Hawes (knee).
"We have no depth," new Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "It is very frustrating to be short-handed. It's beyond frustrating, but we have no choice but to deal with it."
With Artest suspended for seven games after pleading no contest to a charge related to domestic violence, Theus started shooting guard Kevin Martin at forward and he responded with a team-high 26 points against the Hornets. With Bibby out at least eight weeks with his thumb injury, newcomer Orien Greene took his place in the lineup and had two points and an assist in 16 minutes. John Salmons picked up the slack with 22 points and nine assists.
Sacramento got some help at the point Thursday, signing former Spurs guard Beno Udrih. Udrih, who spent three seasons with San Antonio after being chosen 28th overall in the 2004 draft, will probably not play against his former team in this game. He appeared in 207 regular-season games with the Spurs last season, averaging 5.2 points and 1.8 assists.
However, Udrih will be in the building tonight. Udrih was traded to Minnesota on Monday and immediately released, before being signed by the Kings. He is likely to join the Kings when they visit the A####mp;T Center tonight, but is unlikely to be activated.
Maybe Eddie Griffin should leave the driving to his chauffeur. The comedian destroyed a rare million-dollar Enzo Ferrari on Monday when he crashed it into a barricade while promoting a movie. He was unhurt in the low-speed incident, at Irwindale Speedway, about 20 miles (32 km) east of Los Angeles.
Mark Blount scored 28 points, Kevin Garnett had 27 points and 17 rebounds, and Minnesota beat the San Antonio Spurs 103-101 in overtime Wednesday night.
Minnesota was indeed on from the get-go, starting with a combination of solid defensive rotation and excellent rebounding that held the Spurs scoreless for 4:30 in the middle of the first quarter. Blount and Trenton Hassell combined for 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the quarter to lead Minnesota to a 31-20 lead after one.
"We started very slowly and they were making every shot, so we had to put in a lot of effort to come back in the second half," the Spurs Manu Ginobili said.
Minnesota led by 13 early in the second, before the Spurs went on a 9-0 run capped by a Tony Parker drive. Blount and Garnett countered by each scoring four points in an 8-0 run for a 47-35 lead. Garnett had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the opening half. Minnesota increased its lead to 16 late in the quarter, but a 3-pointer by the Spurs Matt Bonner with 0.6 seconds left in the half made it 55-42.
"We spotted them a half and about 15 points, I guess," Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said. "We had to dig out of that hole, which always takes a lot of energy so that is disappointing. The Timberwolves' lead reached 17 early in the third quarter before the Spurs roused themselves. "But all in all I was impressed with our fire and aggressiveness and our ability to just stay in the game and keep grinding it out the rest of the way." The Spurs didn't beat themselves either, turning the ball over only five times on the evening. That's pretty darn good, but so were the Wolves.
San Antonio's Michael Finley eclipsed 15,000 career points when he made a 3-pointer in the third quarter and Tim Duncan began to establish himself on the low block with eight points. Bonner hit a 3-pointer and Finley followed with two more to reduce the deficit. However, Blount continued his excellent play, hitting two deep jumpers at the end of the quarter to keep the Wolves lead at double digits (81-71) after three. The Wolves dominated the first three periods against a Spurs team that seemed content to keep things close enough to make a fourth-quarter run.
It wasn't until the fourth quarter that the game became highly competitive. Duncan and Ginobili said the Spurs picked up the defensive intensity on the fourth quarter to get back in the game. "Sometimes when you do that late you consume too much energy and the team gets too confident, so that was our mistake,'' Ginobili said. Make a run they did, hitting some tough shots and playing great defense like the NBA's best road team (11-4 at tipoff) should.
In the fourth quarter, the Spurs showed why they're so good on the road and in general, while Duncan and Garnett showed why they have gone to 17 total All-Star games. The two stars filled up the stat sheet until Duncan answered a KG free throw with two consecutive buckets to make the score 88-86 with around five minutes to play. Ginobili took over from there, scoring 12 points in the quarter. After Ginobili pulled the Spurs within one with a 3-pointer San Antonio finally claimed its first lead of the second half when Duncan drove through a double team against Garnett and Blount, to lay the ball in with 50.4 seconds remaining. 91-90, Spurs.
And if KG didn't have an answer, a screaming Target Center crowd must have closed their eyes. The Big Ticket sure found a dramatic way to reach 18,000 points. After taking a hand off from teamate Randy Foye, Garnett drove the lane, double pumped and finished a reverse layup with his right hand putting it in with 34 seconds to play for his 18,000th career point. A subsequent free throw made it 93-91.
Of course, the Spurs weren't quite ready to go down. Ginobili barreled through the Timberwolves one more time, arching in a shot as he absorbed a bump from Blount, but not a foul to tie the contest at 93. Foye rimmed out with 16 seconds left on the clock and the Spurs had an opportunity to win the game. The Spurs killed the clock toward the buzzer. Parker isolated above the key and ran a pick-and-roll with Duncan. When the Timberwolves helped, Duncan found an unlikely subject, Bonner, who got a wide-open look from the top of the key alone behind the 3-point line. Bonner's 3-pointer glanced off the front of the rim just before the buzzer.
Overtime.
"That's a shot I normally make, so it's tough to miss that," Bonner said. "But I'm sure I'll get another opportunity before my career is over and I'll be ready."
Blount hit the first shot in OT with 3:20 to play. On the ensuing Spurs possession, Hassell made a tremendous defensive play on Manu, stuffing his shot and recovering the loose ball in the process. Subsequently, Foye went and got all nasty on Parker, serving him with a fierce cross over before pulling up for a deep jumper to put Minnesota up four with 2:00 to play. Foye drove and dished to Blount for two free throws with one minute left to make it 101-97 Wolves before Ginobili drew a foul and converted his first free throw. However, after missing the second, the Spurs Robert Horry pushed KG from behind, and Ticket converted both free throws to claim a 103-98 lead for Minnesota with 59 seconds remaining.
Parker then found himself at the line on consecutive possessions, converting 3-of-4 to bring the Spurs within two points with 34.2 seconds left. It wouldn't be a bucket that killed the Spurs, but instead Finley appeared to lose his footing and the ball went over him before skirting into the hands of Trenton Hassell who grabbed his eighth and most important rebound of the game. Popovich yelled at Duncan to foul, but he reacted too late, and Minnesota passed the ball around dribbling out the clock for the final nine seconds as time expired.
"Well, you know it was a big rebound," said Casey. "Trenton did a good job of moving the basketball, not holding it where they could get to him. The guys did a good job of finding the open man without getting fouled, and they couldn't get to us to stop the clock."
Minnesota finished 28-for-29 from the line; San Antonio 21-for-25.
"We showed a lot of resiliency in the fact that we lost the lead but the guys didn't fold up the tent,'' Coach Dwayne Casey said.
"The hardest job in basketball has got to be trying to guard Tony Parker. He's the fastest guy in the world with the basketball. Trenton Hassell did a great job of guarding him,'' Timberwolves Coach Dwayne Casey said. "One of our goals tonight was to keep him out of the paint, and we did that.''
Garnett talked about what a great defensive job Hassell did on Parker, "Hassell makes it easier not just on myself, but the other guys," KG continued. "For the most part, he kept Tony in front of him, contested him and made him hit tough shots." Paramount to the Wolves coaches before the game was keeping Parker out of the lane, and thanks to Hassell they were able to. "I think it shows the character of this team," said Garnett. "We will fight for 48 minutes, and we lay it down on the line every night. That's all that you can ask from a group of five."
Ginobli led San Antonio with a season-high 26 points and Duncan had 24. "We gave ourselves a chance, made some great plays, but obviously, they made a couple more,'' said Duncan.
Blount shot an insane 12-of-14 from the floor. He's barely missed a shot in two weeks.
Popovich was standing outside the visitors' locker room at the Target Center late Wednesday, finishing his postgame session with reporters when Blount cut through the hallway. "Good game, Coach," Blount said with a wave. "Thanks," Popovich shouted back. "But you need to learn to shoot better." Blount chuckled at the gallows' humor.
Blount peppered the Spurs from 17 feet whenever they drifted from him to help on Garnett. He threw in two one-dribble pull-ups for good measure in the third quarter, put the Timberwolves ahead in overtime with another mid-range shot and extended their lead with two free throws. "He's just knocking down shots in every way from every angle," Foye said. "That's Mark."
"It was a great win for them," Popovich said. "A tough loss for us."
"We gave ourselves a chance, made some great plays," Duncan said. "Obviously, they made a couple more."
Popovich said his team's health is fine after Duncan and at least five of his teammates were affected by the stomach flu recently.
The Spurs look to avoid a second straight loss overall and make it six wins in a row over the Timberwolves when the teams meet at the Target Center on Wednesday. Losing back-to-back games is a rare occurrence for the San Antonio Spurs. They will try to avoid dropping two straight overall for only the second time in 2006-07. The Spurs maintain the league's best road record at 11-4.
Losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves is something else they haven't done very often lately. The Spurs look to make it six wins in a row over the Timberwolves. San Antonio held Minnesota to 26 second-half points in a 95-82 home victory on Dec. 13. The Spurs have been very good defensively during their five-game win streak against the Wolves, limiting them to 85 points per game.
Minnesota (14-15) will try to get back to .500 with its third straight home win and fifth in seven games overall. Minnesotacould be without swingman Marko Jaric for a while. Jaric sat out Monday after aggravating a sprained right thumb Saturday at New Jersey.
Catching Up with Tony:
NBA TV anchor Andre Aldridge, a California boy who enjoys a good laugh just as much as a good backdoor cut, recently caught up with San Antonio's point guard Tony Parker. He asked Tony what it was like to be one of the most popular sports figures. The response he got from Tony will not only help he and the Spurs tonight and serve him well in life but is also something we could all learn from as well.
"My life goes so fast, sometimes it’s hard to realize. Sometimes you go to bed, look in the stars, and say, man it’s a good life. At the same time, you can’t be satisfied because there is always more competition to come. You can’t rest. You have to keep improving and try to get better every year."
Historically Speaking:
Former Spur David Robinson holds the record for most points in Target Center history when he dropped 50 points on the Timberwolves on 2/21/94. He was also the Timberwolves first opponent to record a triple-double - with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks- on 2/23/90.
Roundabout:
How does a former NBA All-Star know his career is in its last gasp? He presents himself to former Spurs coach John Lucas to help him rehabilitate body, mind and spirit. Knicks guard Steve Francis is the latest to report to Lucas at Houston's West Side Tennis Club, where he will begin this week trying to get his legs stronger, his shot on track and his spirit renewed. It is his spirit that most needs mending now, every bit as much as his knees. "You know I always can do that," Lucas said, punctuating the assertion with his raspy laugh.
Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 and six other occasions. Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
Udoka 
