3.7 Run of threes caps Spurs' comeback over Portland

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Run of threes caps Spurs' comeback over Portland

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA030707.01C.BKNspurs.blazers.gamer.3d75f9d.html

Web Posted: 03/07/2007 12:40 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers had already seen Manu Ginobili (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/manu_ginobili) pull off one remarkable comeback this season. On Tuesday night, he treated them to another.

With the Spurs' winning streak about to expire, Ginobili buried back-to-back 3-pointers to stir his teammates, who then watched Beno Udrih and Michael Finley make two more, completing an improbable 99-94 victory at the Rose Garden.

The Spurs' 3-point barrage — along with the 24 points and eight rebounds Tim Duncan (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/tim_duncan) provided — gave them their 10th victory in a row. They close out their four-game trip Thursday in Sacramento.

"Manu was incredible," Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) coach Gregg Popovich said. "He made big shots and really got us over the hump.

"He's just not awed by anything."

In the Spurs' Nov. 20 trip here, Ginobili scored 18 points in the final 10 minutes to beat Portland. Tuesday's sequel might have been even more heartbreaking for the Trail Blazers given that they led by as many as 12 points in the second half and were still up 92-85 after Brandon Roy buried a jump shot with 2:15 left.

Ginobili, who had earlier exited a timeout by throwing down a vicious dunk, followed with a 3-pointer. Then another.

After a turnover by the Trail Blazers, Udrih added another, giving the Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) a 94-92 advantage — their first since the opening quarter — with 1:07 left.

Portland forward Ime Udoka (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/ime_udoka) had his 3-point attempt drop through the rim, then pop out. Finley followed by drilling the Spurs' fourth 3-pointer in a row, bouncing on one leg as he watched the shot drop through the net.

A dunk by LaMarcus Aldridge made it a 97-94 game with 30 seconds left. But Ginobili put away the game by driving for a difficult layup.

Twelve of Ginobili's 23 points came in the fourth quarter. Finley also scored 10 of his 20 points in the final period.

Tony Parker (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/tony_parker) returned after missing the previous two games with a left hip flexor strain. Popovich decided to start Parker after he warmed up before the game without a problem, but he didn't have much of an impact after making his first shot, finishing with four points and three rebounds in 17 minutes.

Parker played only the first minute of the second half before Popovich sat him for the rest of the night, pairing Jacque Vaughn (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/jacque_vaughn) and Udrih together in the fourth quarter as the Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) played small.

While Parker said he didn't aggravate the injury, Popovich thought he should have held him out until Thursday's game in Sacramento.

"I made a mistake in playing Tony," Popovich said. "That was a bad coaching decision on my part.

"I thought in the first half he looked like he was playing not to get hurt."

The Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) also lost Brent Barry (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/brent_barry) midway through the third quarter when Aldridge caught him in the head with his left forearm while trying to cross through the lane. Barry crumbled to the floor and immediately clutched his head.

Barry remained on the court for a couple of minutes before being escorted to the locker room with a towel covering his head and face. He received stitches to close a cut near his right eyebrow but didn't suffer a concussion.

This was the second time this season Barry had to leave the court with a head injury. He needed 12 stitches to close a 2-inch gash above his left eye after a collision in Sacramento on Nov. 19.

"They were in there trying to stitch me up, and I kept telling them, 'Hold on, I want to see this play,'" Barry said. "It was a heck of a game."

The Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) had held four of their previous seven opponents to their season-low point total, but the Trail Blazers made it clear from the start that wasn't going to happen to them.

Portland scored on nine consecutive possessions in the opening quarter to take a 29-22 lead and put the Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) on their heels. Trail Blazers guard Freddy Jones then opened the second quarter by reverse dunking a lob pass.

The Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) looked like a team playing its fourth game in five nights. They lacked much zip (in their legs or their passes), and Portland took advantage.

The Trail Blazers outrebounded them 21-13 in the first half and collected seven offensive boards, which led to eight points.

"It looked like in parts of the game, we were just going to let it go," Ginobili said. "It's hard to find that kind of emotion and aggressiveness in a fourth game in five nights. We looked flat."

The Trail Blazers shot 68.4 percent in the first quarter and 55 percent for the half.

"You could say they deserved to win," Popovich said. "But the one thing we did well was hang tough."

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三分雨下，马刺逆转开拓者

Run of threes caps Spurs' comeback over Portland

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA030707.01C.BKNspurs.blazers.gamer.3d75f9d.html

Web Posted: 03/07/2007 12:40 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News

波特兰开拓者本赛季已经有幸担任了一次 Manu Ginobili (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/manu_ginobili) 主导的逆转秀的配角。然而在今晚，他们再次踏进了同一条河流。

眼看马刺的连胜纪录就快终止了，Ginobili 用连续的2个三分球鼓舞起了全队的斗志，随后 Beno Udrih 和 Michael Finley 也添上2个三分，使得马刺完成了不可能完成的任务，在玫瑰花园球馆以99-94逆转战胜开拓者。

马刺的三分雨、以及 Tim Duncan (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/tim_duncan) 贡献的24分和8个篮板，帮助他们取得了连续第10场胜利。周四，球队将客场挑战国王，这也是他们本次连续4场客场比赛的最后一站。

“Manu 太不可思议了，”主帅 Gregg Popovich 说，“他投中了很多的关键球，并带领我们从逆境中奋起。”

“(不论是什么样的困难)他都毫无畏惧。”

当马刺上一次在11月20日造访波特兰的时候，Ginobili 在最后10分钟内砍下18分，率队取胜对手。而今天比赛的结局对于波特兰人来说或许更加难以接受，因为他们在下半场一度最多领先有12分，在 Brandon Roy 于终场前2分15秒跳投得手后，他们还以92-85领先。

此前，Ginobili 先完成了一个漂亮的扣篮。在暂停过后，他马上投中一个三分。接着又投中一个三分。

在开拓者失误之后，Udrih 也添上一记三分，使得马刺在终场前1分07秒以94-92反超了比分，这也是他们自第一节开场后首次取得领先。

开拓者的前锋 Ime Udoka (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/ime_udoka) 的三分投篮在篮筐上弹了一下后掉了出来。接着 Finley 命中了马刺的连续第四个三分球，他单腿跳着目睹了皮球掉入篮筐。

LaMarcus Aldridge 的扣篮将比分改写为97-94，此时比赛还有最后30秒。但 Ginobili 马上用一个高难度的上篮彻底锁定了胜果。

Ginobili 在第四节得到全场23分中的10分。Finley 本场得到了20分，他在第四节也攻下10分。

在因为左臀屈肌拉伤而连续缺席2场比赛之后，Tony Parker (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/tony_parker) 本场复出。在赛前热身中，Parker 感觉并无问题，因而 Popovich 决定让他先发出场，不过除了第一次跳投得手之外，Parker 并未有什么表现，17分钟内得到4分和3个篮板。

Parker 在下半场开场后只打了1分钟就被 Popovich 换下，此后再未出场。Popovich 在第四节让 Jacque Vaughn (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/jacque_vaughn) 和 Udrih 同时上场，马刺打起了小球战术。

尽管 Parker 表示他的伤势并没有加重，Popovich 还是觉得自己本应该等到周四对国王时才让他上场的。

“我让 Tony 上场了，这是个错误的决定，”Popovich 说，“作为教练，我的这个决定非常糟糕。”

“在上半场他明显还是受到了伤病的影响，打得放不开手脚。”

第三节中段，马刺还损失了 Brent Barry (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/brent_barry)。当时 Aldridge 试图突破禁区的时候左臂打到了他的头上。Barry 立刻倒地并捂住了自己的脑袋。

在场上躺了几分钟后，Barry 被送进了更衣室，头上盖上了毛巾。他的右眉下方开了一道口子，并缝了几针，不过并没有脑震荡。

这也是本赛季 Barry 第二次由于头部受伤而提前退场。11月19日在萨克拉门托，他的左眼下方被撞出了一道2英寸的口子，结果缝了12针。

“他们在那儿想帮我缝针，但我一直对他们说，‘等会儿，我想先看完比赛，’”Barry 说，“胜负还没分出呢。”

马刺在之前的7场比赛中，有4场都送给对手赛季最低的单场得分，然而今天开场后，开拓者很快就用自己的实际行动证明，他们不会成为马刺防守的又一个牺牲品。

开拓者在开场后的前9次进攻中全部投篮得手，以29-22领先结束第一节。后卫 Freddy Jones 在第二节开始后又完成了一次空中接力，反手扣篮中的。

马刺的表现看起来很符合一个5天内打第4场比赛的球队。他们的精神面貌(跑动和传球都不够积极)不如人意，开拓者也很快抓住了这一点。

开拓者上半场在篮板球上以21-13超出，其中包括7个前场篮板，并借此得到8分。

“看起来，在比赛的某些时候，我们有一点失去了对它的控制，”Ginobili 说，“要在5天内连续打4场保持相同的热情和侵略性是很不容易的。我们确实有些疲倦了。”

开拓者在第一节投篮命中率高达68.4%，半场过后依然有55%。
“你可以说胜利理应属于他们，”Popovich 说，“但最重要的是，我们坚持到了最后。”

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Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) notebook: Udrih gains by Parker's absence

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA030707.03C.BKNspurs.udrih.3d764c8.html

Web Posted: 03/07/2007 02:04 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) gave Tony Parker (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/tony_parker) the previous two games off to rest his sore left hip, though it was hard to tell who benefited more from his layoff: Parker? Or Beno Udrih?

With Parker watching from the bench Tuesday, Udrih helped rescue the Spurs, making two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead one with 1:07 remaining.

Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) coach Gregg Popovich sat Parker for all but the first minute of the second half of the team's 99-94 victory, instead using Jacque Vaughn (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/jacque_vaughn) and Udrih down the stretch.

Udrih scored 12 and 14 points in the two games Parker missed, averaging three assists and three rebounds. He totaled 49 minutes, one more than in the previous 10 games combined.

"The first two, three minutes I was out there, I was trying to get my wind," he said of the previous two games. "But I felt pretty good. I wasn't worrying about making turnovers or anything. I just tried to stay aggressive."

Since Jacque Vaughn (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/jacque_vaughn) took over the backup point guard job in late January, Udrih had played more than 12 minutes just twice, and almost all of those came long after the game was decided.

Although the Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) looked into trading Udrih before the Feb. 22 deadline, Popovich also had called him a "great insurance policy" that still could help the team.

Udrih did just that during Parker's absence, teaming with Vaughn (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/jacque_vaughn) as the Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) beat Houston and the Los Angeles Clippers. He made 9 of 14 shots in the two games, including four of his five 3-point attempts.

Before that, Udrih hadn't made a single 3-pointer since Jan. 19. He was shooting a career-worst 25 percent from beyond the 3-point line before the two games and admitted his confidence had dropped.

Udrih, however, didn't have trouble with his rhythm against the Rockets and Clippers.

Portland's Patterson resigns: Portland president and general manager Steve Patterson resigned last week after Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen declined to extend his contract.

Portland officials have said they plan to make separate hires for the president and general manager positions. Former Spurs (http://www.chinaspurs.com) scout Kevin Pritchard, who is the Trail Blazers' director of player personnel, reportedly is the leading candidate for the general manager's job.

Portland coach Nate McMillan also could have greater influence in personnel decisions.

"We plan to talk about that in the next couple of weeks," McMillan said. "The GM is going to be the GM, and the president is going to be the president. Their job is to bring in talent and evaluate and do all that.

"Talking to my agent about this before I came (to Portland), unless you have that title, most coaches are coaches. They don't have a lot of say or involvement in the decisions that GMs or presidents make. They talk to you sometimes or sometimes they don't."

McMillan, however, would like to have some input.

"Are you going to make the final decision? No," he said. "I think that is the GM's decision and the president's. But I think a voice is what you want to have as far as building a team."

Briefly: Popovich, who is trying to rest Robert Horry (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/robert_horry) on the second night of back-to-back games, put him on the inactive list to make room for Parker. ... Melvin Ely was in uniform for the third consecutive game. ... McMillan was an assistant coach for the U.S. team last summer when Bruce Bowen (http://www.chinaspurs.com/players/bruce_bowen) was cut from the roster just before the World Championships. "We really considered keeping him on board at his age, and that's because he does great things," McMillan said.