San Antonio Spurs

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) Phoenix opened the game with an 11-0 run, led most of the way, perfectly executed an out of bounds play late in the game to score the go ahead layup--and still found a way to lose to their nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs. This time the dagger came in the form of a Roger Mason three pointer at the buzzer, delivering a 91-90 win for the Spurs. Tony Parker scored a game-high 27 points and tied Steve Nash for game-high honors with eight assists. Tim Duncan added 25 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Shaquille O'Neal powered his way to 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. O'Neal looked better than he has in quite some time; he opened the game with a spin move leading to a powerful dunk...   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) Fortunately, things picked up quite a bit in the second half, as Paul was credited with seven assists in the third quarter alone, while Parker was credited with three third quarter assists. Paul had three fourth quarter assists as the Hornets rallied from a nine point deficit to defeat the team that eliminated them in last year's playoffs. Parker had one fourth quarter assist. 1: Roger Mason jumper, 11:08 3rd q: Incorrect; Parker passed to Mason, who took two dribbles before making a contested shot. 2: Matt Bonner three pointer, 7:54 3rd q: Correct; catch and shoot play. 3: Manu Ginobili three pointer, 3:36 third q: Correct; catch and shoot play. 4: Bonner jumper, 5:04 4th q: Correct; catch and shoot play.   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) At full strength, the Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Jazz, Rockets, Blazers and Mavericks are better than the Nuggets. The Suns look a bit shaky but I expect them to pull things together eventually. Denver will not win too many games against those teams this year. The Nuggets may very well pad their record in their next three games (at Sacramento, followed by home games versus Minnesota and Golden State) but then they visit Dallas and Houston in a killer back to back before playing Cleveland in Denver, traveling to Phoenix and battling Portland in a home and home series. Let's just say that Denver will most likely not be in third place in the West after those nine games.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Chris Paul had 21 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and four steals as the New Orleans Hornets beat the Miami Heat 100-89, ending a two game losing streak. David West added 21 points and nine rebounds and Tyson Chandler contributed 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as New Orleans outrebounded Miami 45-37. Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 30 points in addition to posting 10 assists and six rebounds. Regardless of what Marion's role will turn out to be, the positives for Miami are that Wade looks like an elite player again, Beasley is a legit 18-20 ppg scorer, Chalmers is a tenacious defender and the Heat in general are playing with a lot of energy. They should certainly be able to contend for one of the last two playoff spots in the East.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) The Phoenix Suns successfully opened the Terry Porter era with a 103-98 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, their main nemesis for the past several seasons. Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points on 8-11 shooting and added eight rebounds, Leandro Barbosa added 18 points off of the bench and Shaquille O'Neal controlled the paint with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Steve Nash had 13 points and 13 assists. The Spurs--playing without injured starters Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto--were led by Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, each of whom scored 32 points. Roger Mason (12 points) was the only other Spur who scored in double figures.   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) The Indian Wells Tennis Garden hosted the NBA's second outdoor game ever, a 77-72 Denver victory over Phoenix. Denver All-Stars Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony sat out due to minor injuries, as did Phoenix All-Star Amare Stoudemire. J.R. Smith and Mateen Cleaves led the Nuggets with 12 po...

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Bryant was a landslide winner in the 2008 NBA MVP race because he led the Lakers to the best record in perhaps the toughest Western Conference playoff race ever and if that award needed "validation" then he provided it by carrying the Lakers to the NBA Finals, defeating the 2007 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs and the 2007 Western Conference Finalist Utah Jazz along the way. Bryant averaged 31.9 ppg on .509 field goal shooting in the Western Conference playoffs. James had a great 2008 NBA regular season, establishing himself as the second best player in the league behind Bryant, but his inconsistent outside shot enables elite defensive teams to sag off of him, resulting in low shooting percentages and high turnover rates: James averaged 22.0...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) 3) As long as the San Antonio Spurs have Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich they are going to be a formidable team. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are perfect complements to Duncan and the Spurs do an excellent job of finding veteran players who fit in perfectly to their system. Barring injuries or a marked decline by Duncan, the Spurs should be right back in the mix as a contender. 13) Houston put together an amazing winning streak but everyone understood that the Rockets could not go far in the West playoffs without Yao Ming. If Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming can both stay healthy for a full season, this would be a very formidable team. Rick Adelman has proven that he can take teams deep into the playoffs, though he has yet to win a title.   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) For the first five games of the NBA Finals, the heavyweight match between the Celtics' league best defense and the Lakers' high powered offense was a close bout but in game six the Celtics landed a stunning knockout punch, posting a 131-92 victory to claim the franchise's 17th championship. After a competitive first quarter, the Celtics completely dominated the Lakers in every conceivable way, finishing with a 48-29 rebounding advantage, outscoring the Lakers 16-2 in fast break points, demolishing the Lakers 44-29 in points in the paint and forcing 19 turnovers while only committing seven. The Celtics set a Finals single-game record with 18 steals and held the Lakers to a Finals record low two offensive rebounds, which is particula...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Scoring averages and field goal percentages tend to go down in the playoffs, even for the greatest players of all-time. Michael Jordan is a rare player who increased his scoring in the postseason but even he shot worse in playoff competition than he did in the regular season: Jordan averaged 30.1 ppg on .497 shooting in the regular season, 33.4 ppg on .487 shooting in the playoffs and 33.6 ppg on .481 shooting in the Finals; Jordan did not make the playoffs during his two year comeback with the Wizards and if you don't count those seasons he averaged 31.5 ppg on .505 shooting in regular season play. Larry Bird averaged 24.3 ppg on .496 shooting in the regular season, 23.8 ppg on .472 shooting in the playoffs and 23.1 ppg on .458 shooting in the Finals. Magic Johnso...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) The Lakers are already facing long odds in the NBA Finals and if they lose game three to the Celtics tonight the only question will be when--not if--a 17th NBA Championship banner will hang in Boston. Home court advantage has seemed to mean more in this year's playoffs than ever before but the Lakers cannot fall into the trap of believing that simply returning to L.A. will solve their problems; in order to beat the Celtics they will have to have a sound game plan and they will have to execute it well. They must play better half court defense, they must be tougher and more physical on the glass and their bench players must make some kind of impact offensively and defensively.   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) The Cavs could neither shoot effectively nor contain the Spurs in game one and things only got worse in game two: the Cavs could neither get their offense going (.407 field goal shooting) nor did they stop any of the Spurs' Big Three as Tony Parker (30 points on 13-20 shooting), Manu Ginobili (25 points on 5-11 shooting, including four three pointers) and Tim Duncan (23 points on 9-16 shooting) each played very well. 1991 NBA Finals: The Bulls routed the Lakers 107-86 as Jordan scored 33 points on 15-18 field goal shooting. Jackson made a key defensive switch, putting Pippen on Magic Johnson to disrupt the Lakers' offense. Three keys for a Lakers victory in game two: Three keys for a Celtics victory in game two:   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Bryant began the fourth quarter by making another three pointer and as he ran back on defense he gestured to the Lakers' bench as if to say, "Keep feeding me the ball." Jackson normally rests Bryant at the start of the fourth quarter but he did not do this in game five or in game one when the Lakers made their big comeback. Building trust in the bench players is fine but Jackson knows better than anyone that his team rides or dies with what Bryant does. Collins said, "Phil Jackson recognizes that this is a time to strike for his team." The Lakers repeatedly ran the Bryant-Gasol screen/roll play that was so effective throughout the series and Bryant hit a number of tough shots right in Duncan's face. Once when Bryant missed a jumper Gasol took advantage...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in scoring (28 points) and rebounds (10) as they beat the San Antonio Spurs 93-91 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals. He scored eight points on 4-4 field goal shooting as the Lakers raced out to a 22-8 first quarter advantage and he contributed six of the Lakers' 16 fourth quarter points, helping them to build up a big enough margin to hold off a late comeback attempt by the defending champions. Lamar Odom bounced back nicely from a subpar game three to post 16 points and nine rebounds. Pau Gasol did not score much (10 points, eight of them coming in the first half) but he added 10 rebounds and six assists. Tim Duncan had game-high totals in points (29) and rebounds (17) but he shot just 10-26 from t...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) After a Parker shot again put the Spurs up 20, Bryant apparently decided that he had seen enough of the Gasol and Odom brickathon and he drilled three three pointers in a 1:12 stretch to put the Lakers in striking distance. He even had a four point play opportunity after Bowen fouled him but Bryant missed the free throw--his only free throw attempt of the game; the Spurs' mantra is to defend without fouling, which is a lot different from the hands-on approach taken by the Jazz in the previous round--or the fouling without defending approach that the Wizards tried against LeBron James in the first round. Bryant added one more trey to make the score 88-76 with 5:00 left but Duncan answered with five points in a :55 stretch to end the Lakers' comeba...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Magic Johnson told Bryant that he also had to wait a long time to win his first regular season MVP and he asked Bryant to describe how he felt about finally winning the award. Bryant responded that it means so much now because the standard that is being applied is making one's teammates better, something that Bryant had been accused of failing to do. Bryant also said that it is great that the Lakers are a close knit group with whom he can truly share this honor. An overlooked part of the Lakers' success this season is that the other players have followed Bryant's example in terms of preparation, work ethic and focus. A major reason that Bryant was at odds with Shaquille O'Neal is that O'Neal does not share Bryant's zeal for mental and physical prepar...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) The Spurs executed their offense almost flawlessly in the first quarter, outscoring the Hornets 36-24, shooting 15-21 from the field and committing just one turnover. Duncan, Ginobili and Parker combined to score 22 points on 10-14 field goal shooting. Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, who is a real master at finding and exploiting matchup advantages, inserted Fabricio Oberto into the starting lineup in place of Kurt Thomas. Popovich later explained that he wanted to have a group on the court that has played together for a while and would be better able to react to certain situations (Thomas joined the team in midseason and was put in the starting lineup during the Phoenix series to help match up with Shaquille O'Neal). Duncan and Oberto worke...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) After the Spurs lost the first two games in New Orleans, San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich made a couple strategic moves that paid off handsomely in games three and four: he moved Ginobili into the starting lineup and he switched defensive specialist Bruce Bowen from Paul to Peja Stojakovic. Ginobili is one Spur who the Hornets really do not match up well with, while the idea behind the defensive change is that Paul is going to get his points regardless of what the Spurs do so it is very important to minimize the production that the Hornets get from other players. Those adjustments still worked in game five--Ginobili played well and Stojakovic only had nine points on 3-8 field goal shooting--but West's performance throughout and Paul's str...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) In recent days it seems like everyone has come not to praise the San Antonio Spurs but to bury them but their 110-99 game three win over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday suggested that such funeral plans are very premature. Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich resorted to his tried and true tactic w...

By David Friedman Naturally, the media and fans will tend to focus on the masterful way that Paul choreographed the Hornets' offense but the job that New Orleans is doing on defense is at least as impressive: the Hornets held the Spurs to 31-73 field goal shooting (.425), containing each of the team's three stars without letting any of the role players get loose. Tim Duncan bounced back from his disastrous game one performance to put up solid numbers (18 points, eight rebounds) but he never controlled the action and he actually had the worst plus/minus number (-32) of anyone in the game, which has to be a pretty rare occurrence for him. Manu Ginobili scored 13 points on 4-10 field goal shooting and his seven assists were nearly offset by his game-high five turno...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman David West scored a playoff career-high 30 points on 13-23 field goal shooting as the New Orleans Hornets beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs 101-82. Chris Paul struggled with his shot for most of the game but he finished with 17 points on 7-16 shooting in addition to having 13 assists, four rebounds and four steals. Peja Stojakovic scored 22 points and a had a game-high +17 plus/minus rating. Tony Parker (23 points, five assists, five rebounds) and Manu Ginobili (19 points, seven assists, six rebounds) performed at their normal levels but Tim Duncan tied his playoff career-low with five points, shooting just 1-9 from the field and grabbing just three rebounds in 37 minutes. Duncan's performance reinforces a point that I made in...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 3) The "Hack a Shaq" strategy did not work in the 2000 playoffs when Portland and Indiana tried it, nor did it work when Dallas Coach Don Nelson tried it against the Chicago Bulls in 1997 and Dennis Rodman responded by shooting 9-12 from the free throw line. That is why the NBA has never legislated against this strategy other than not allowing it in the last two minutes; it does not work and it has been proven to not work so the league office is not worried that it will become widely used. Manu Ginobili is not an MVP-level player and he is not as good as Kobe Bryant The line for returning undeserved MVPs begins right behind David "Mr. 1995 MVP" Robinson   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Phoenix Suns raced out to a 34-13 first quarter lead and never looked back, beating the San Antonio Spurs 105-86 in game four of their first round playoff series. The Spurs still enjoy a 3-1 lead and can close out the Suns with a victory in San Antonio on Tuesday night. Despite the large margin of victory, history suggests that this was almost certainly too little, too late for the Suns: no NBA team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a best of seven series and, barring injury to a key player, the defending champion Spurs do not seem likely to be the first team to squander such a lead. The box score numbers from this game are more than a little peculiar: both teams shot worse than .430 from the field, Amare Stoudemire only scored seven points...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Kobe Bryant passed early (six first quarter assists) and scored late (11 third quarter points) as the L.A. Lakers dismantled the Denver Nuggets 102-84 to take a 3-0 series lead. Bryant finished with game-high totals in points (22), assists (eight) and plus/minus (+21, tied with Derek Fisher) while tying for the team lead in rebounds (seven). He shot 9-19 from the field. Even more significant than Bryant's impressive numbers is the way that he controlled the game--and has controlled the entire series so far--with his scoring and passing; the Nuggets have tried several different defensive schemes but nothing they have done has stopped him individually or slowed down the Lakers collectively. Bryant simply reads the situation, shoots whe...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman After the first 19 minutes or so no one would have guessed that the game was headed for extra sessions, let alone that the Spurs would eventually win; Phoenix built a 43-27 lead even though Shaquille O'Neal was stuck on the bench due to foul trouble and Duncan was well on his way to having a huge night. Duncan scored 20 points on 7-9 field goal shooting in the first half but the other Spurs shot just 7-28 from the field. In the second half and the two overtimes, Duncan continued to be effective and the two other key Spurs--Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker--asserted themselves as well. Parker finished with 26 points and five turnovers, while Ginobili added 24 points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals and the game winning drive to the hoop.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 3 Orlando (52-30) vs. #6 Toronto (41-41) Season series: Orlando, 2-1 4 Cleveland (45-37) vs. #5 Washington (43-39) 1 L.A Lakers (57-25) vs. #8 Denver (50-32) 2 New Orleans (56-26) vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks (51-31) Dallas will win because...the Mavericks are loaded with playoff veterans who keenly understand the difference between the regular season and the playoffs. 3 San Antonio (56-26) vs. #6 Phoenix (55-27) Season series: Phoenix, 3-1 San Antonio will win if...the Spurs get Shaquille O'Neal and/or Amare Stoudemire in foul trouble, thus weakening the Suns inside. Tim Duncan must have a huge series in the paint and not settle for jumpers. 4 Utah (54-28) vs. #5 Houston (55-27) Season series: Utah, 2-1   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Playing without the injured Manu Ginobili, the Spurs stayed competitive for the first half before the Lakers pulled away to claim a 106-85 win against the defending champions. If the Lakers win their last game of the season against the Kings and the Rockets lose one of their final three games then L.A. will earn the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The Rockets conclude their season with tough road games in Denver and Utah before they have a home contest against the Clippers. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers against the Spurs, finishing with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, shooting 6-14 from the field. Bryant received a lot of help from Lamar Odom (17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists), Pau Gasol (14 points...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The final Thursday of the 2007-08 regular season featured a role reversal for two teams who are very familiar with each other. The Golden State Warriors eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of last year's playoffs but the Warriors' loss to Denver last night helped the Mavericks clinch a berth in this year's playoffs while putting the Warriors' postseason hopes in serious jeopardy. Meanwhile, the Lakers took care of business versus the Clippers in an "away" game at Staples Center, setting the stage for a dramatic home game versus the West-leading New Orleans Hornets at Staples on Friday night. The Lakers finish the season with a three game homestand and are still very much in contention for the number one seed in the West.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 1) Phoenix Suns (8 points): Two MVP candidates--Steve Nash (2005 winner, 2006 winner, 2007 runner-up), Shaquille O'Neal (2005 runner-up); four All-Stars--Nash (2005-08), Amare Stoudemire (2005, 2007-08), O'Neal (2005-07), Grant Hill (2005). 2-4) San Antonio Spurs (5): One MVP candidate--Tim Duncan (fourth in 2005 and fourth in 2007); three All-Stars--Duncan (2005-08), Tony Parker (2006-07), Manu Ginobili (2005). Comment: Duncan won the regular season MVP in 2002 and 2003, plus he won the Finals MVP in 1999, 2003 and 2005. Parker won the Finals MVP in 2007 (Carlisle specifically mentioned Parker as an MVP caliber player due to this accomplishment). Michael Finley is a valuable reserve who made the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 7-Dwight Howard: There is a perception that his game his fallen off--and he did have a subpar game versus Cleveland on Saturday--but he averaged 19.6 ppg and 14.5 rpg as Orlando went 10-4 in March, securing the third seed in the East. 6-Kevin Garnett: His numbers are diminished because the Celtics win a lot of blowouts but he is a major reason that Boston has become a defensive juggernaut. 5-Tim Duncan: Often overlooked since his two MVP seasons, Duncan has the Spurs in contention for the best record in the West. 4-Amare Stoudemire: He has been getting a lot of mention as an MVP candidate since his scoring numbers took off but until his defense improves I can't place him ahead of Duncan and Garnett.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Sunday featured an NBA tripleheader: two ABC games with playoff implications for all four teams followed by an NBA TV nightcap between the Denver Nuggets and Seattle Supersonics. New Orleans moved one step closer to clinching the top seed in the West by beating Golden State, Dallas moved one step closer to securing a playoff berth by beating Phoenix and Denver moved one step closer to missing the playoffs altogether by losing to Seattle in a double overtime thriller. The Key Stat: After a Shaquille O'Neal basket gave Phoenix a 91-78 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks outscored the Suns 27-7 to close out the game. Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 of Dallas' points during that stretch. With the outcome hanging in the balance, Nowitzki sco...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman For most of this season, talk about the Western Conference has focused on Chris Paul and the surprising New Orleans Hornets, Houston's 22 game winning streak, the reemergence of the Lakers as a contender and the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal in Phoenix--but look who owns the league's best current winning streak (seven games) and has moved into a virtual tie with the Hornets for first place in the Western Conference: none other than the "old, boring" defending champion San Antonio Spurs, who blew out the Rockets 109-88 on Sunday. The Spurs' defense is in playoff mode after a brief midseason siesta; they held the Rockets to .402 field goal shooting, including a 5-22 effort from Tracy McGrady, who finished with just 13 points.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 6-Kevin Garnett: His individual statistics are not eye-popping but he has helped to completely change the team culture of the Celtics. 5-Tim Duncan: The Spurs hit a couple bumps in the road but Duncan is still the key to everything they do offensively and defensively. 4-Tracy McGrady: His scoring, passing and ability to draw double teams helped Houston put together a historic winning streak. When he is healthy, he does those three things nearly as well as Kobe and LeBron do but he has not been as healthy or productive as they have throughout the entire season. 2-Dirk Nowitzki: His numbers are solid but something seems to be missing in Dallas.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Dallas Mavericks' season may have ended with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter of their 88-81 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. That is when Dirk Nowitzki landed awkwardly after blocking a shot, his left leg crumpling at a grotesque angle under his body. Nowitzki had to be helped off of the court and he was unable to put any weight on the injured leg. Early word out of Dallas is that he will miss at least two weeks but a more detailed announcement is expected from the team later today. The Dallas Mavericks were hardly tearing up the Western Conference even with the 2007 NBA MVP playing at a high level and losing Nowitzki for the bulk of the remaining regular season games could very well make the Mavericks the odd team out in the nine team rac...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Rasheed Wallace led Detroit with 16 points but he shot just 6-17 from the field. ESPN's Mike Breen and Jon Barry repeatedly talked about how Wallace gets up for road games and big games but does not play with that intensity on a nightly basis. Well, this was a big road game against the team that eliminated the Pistons in the playoffs and Rasheed really did not deliver all that much, amassing the worst plus/minus total (-20) of any player in the game. Frankly, considering his bountiful talents, the amount of money that he makes and how vital he is to his team's success, it is not an endearing trait that he does not summon up a high degree of effort and production on a consistent basis. Barry compared him to Derrick Coleman but even Coleman had three str...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman No, it does not make up for years of playoff defeats and yes, it was just one game, but the Suns' 94-87 victory over the Spurs demonstrated why it is premature to dismiss Phoenix' chances in the playoffs. The missing ingredients for the Suns in recent seasons were defense, rebounding and paint presence. Shaquille O'Neal provided all of those things in abundance versus the Spurs, finishing with 14 points, a game-high 16 rebounds and two blocked shots. He shot 6-11 from the field and tied Steve Nash for game-high plus/minus honors (+21). Nash led the Suns in scoring with 19 points and he had a game-high 14 assists. Grant Hill added 18 points and six rebounds as the top six players in the Suns' rotation all scored at least 10 points. Manu Ginobili led t...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman While it is heartening that people are belatedly figuring out that Kobe Bryant is not only the best player in the NBA but also in fact the MVP, it is amusing to hear how Bryant has supposedly changed or evolved this season. Bryant is not playing differently this year than he has for the past several years. The difference is that he has better teammates, players who catch his passes and then finish plays. It is so laughable to suggest that Bryant has suddenly learned how to share the ball. Do people really not remember that he was the leading playmaker on three championship teams? The funniest thing about the "Kobe Bryant has transformed" stories is that they are evergreen: the media plows this same ground every year whenever there is a portion of t...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Manu Ginobili has been playing really well for the past month or so and whenever that happens it is inevitable that certain people will pipe up to suggest that Ginobili is nearly as valuable as Kobe Bryant. There are a number of problems with that theory, not the least of which is that the season lasts for 82 games, not one month; those who wonder why Ginobili was "snubbed" in this year's All-Star voting may want to look at what his numbers were when those votes were cast and when the coaches selected the reserves. In any case, as Popovich said, Duncan is the hub of the Spurs; Tony Parker does not win the 2007 Finals MVP without Duncan attracting a lot of defensive attention (and shutting down the Cavs' offense in the paint, sparking numerous fast b...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The addition of Kevin Garnett is obviously the biggest single offseason move that the Boston Celtics made but their league-leading record is not solely based on his production. An abdominal strain has caused him to miss seven games but after Sunday's 98-90 victory over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs the Celtics improved to 5-2 without Garnett. Paul Pierce opened the game by quickly scoring 14 points on 5-5 shooting and he finished with a game-high 35 points while shooting 11-18 from the field. The Spurs tried various defenders on him, including Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili, but no one was able to contain him. Ray Allen (19 points) and Eddie House (10 points) were the only other double figure scorers for the Celtics, although roo...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The second game of the TNT doubleheader, San Antonio at Phoenix, also featured a pair of former All-Stars who did not make the team this year: Manu Ginobili and Shawn Marion. Spurs point guard Tony Parker, the 2007 NBA Finals MVP, did not play due to bone spurs in his foot and three point specialist Brent Barry also sat out due to injury. Suns' fans constantly offer a million excuses about why their team has failed to beat San Antonio in a playoff series during the Steve Nash era but if any game set up in the Suns' favor it was this one: the Spurs have been floundering recently, the Suns are at full strength and have been playing well at home and the absence of Parker meant that Nash could essentially rest on defense. When the Spurs have Parker, they are...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Anthony, Legler, Rose and the rest of the basketball fans in America could all agree on one thing: the Miami Heat have authored the worst performance. Anthony minced no words on this subject, calling the Heat "the most embarrassing team in professional sports in America." That about sums it up. The only thing that I can add is that we need about a five year moratorium on anyone trying to even suggest that Dwyane Wade is as good as Kobe Bryant. I understand that Wade is battling some injuries but so is Bryant and every other top player in the league; Wade is healthy enough to play over 38 mpg and score 25 ppg, so his physical condition is not the primary problem in Miami. Last year, some people questioned the significance of Kobe Bryant's string of 40 an...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Despite the sluggish start to the third quarter, the Lakers regained the lead when Fisher's three pointer at the 3:33 mark made the score 64-61. What killed the Lakers is how the quarter ended. After Fisher's trey, the Spurs went on a 9-0 run that was broken by a Bryant drive that made the score 70-66 Spurs. Brent Barry then hit a three pointer with six seconds left, stole Odom's careless inbounds pass and made another three pointer to put the Spurs up 10. The Lakers almost played the Spurs to a draw in the final period but could not overcome that ghastly sequence that gave San Antonio a nice working margin.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Many commentators wrote off the Cleveland Cavaliers before the season began but I have consistently maintained that Cleveland will be a tough out come playoff time. We are starting to see signs of that already: the Cavs beat the Spurs 90-88 on Thursday night in the first game between the teams since San Antonio swept Cleveland in the 2007 NBA Finals. The Cavaliers have won three straight games and nine of their last 11 to move within two games of Orlando for the third best record in the Eastern Conference. LeBron James had 27 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a couple blocked shots against Tony Parker to nullify layups by the speedy guard who won last year's Finals MVP. James shot just 9-24 from the field, including 2-8 in the fourth quart...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Rasheed Wallace had 23 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots to lead the Detroit Pistons to an impressive 90-80 road win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Amazingly, this is the first time that Wallace has put up at least 23 points and 15 rebounds in a game since February 10, 2005. Wallace is a marvelously skilled player and it was his arrival in Detroit that put the Pistons over the top and enabled them to win the 2004 championship. Yet he is averaging just 13.1 ppg and 7.4 rpg this season, numbers that are roughly in line with his career marks (15.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg). Those are decent stats for a small forward, not a multifaceted power forward/center. Wallace, who clearly has the rare ability to be a 20-10 guy co...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 10-Kobe Bryant: Widely acknowledged as the "best" player in the NBA, supposedly the only reason that he has not won the MVP the past two years is his team's record. The Lakers have beaten Phoenix twice and are on pace for more than 50 wins, so if the Lakers keep this up then that excuse will no longer be valid. 6-Tim Duncan: Like Garnett, he is putting up lower numbers than usual but the Spurs were just 2-2 during the four games that he missed due to injury. His performance has been up and down since returning to action. 3-Dirk Nowitzki: Mavericks have won six of eight as Nowitzki's numbers move toward their '07 levels. 2-Amare Stoudemire: 24.1 ppg, .629 field goal percentage in December.   [read the full post]