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 2006-05-08 12:19  #1
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06季后赛第二轮轮招工专帖

Weary Spurs topple Dallas: Duncan, Bowen pave the way for Game 1 win


Web Posted: 04/30/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer


Gregg Popovich told the Spurs they deserved to be mad. That the NBA had (slighted) them once again. That 36 hours between playoff series wasn't enough.

That being forced to fly 1,500 miles through two time zones had left them with just enough time to duck in for a film session. That making them show up at noon for the start of the Western Conference semifinals was no way to treat the defending champions.

Popovich also told the Spurs something else before they stepped onto the court to face the Dallas Maverick Sunday: They still had to play.

So the Spurs shrugged off their fatigue, turned their frustration into fuel and leaned on their defense. After Jerry Stackhouse flung one last desperation shot short of the rim, they walked off the AT&T Center floor with an 87-85 victory, listening to the roar of 18,797 fans, free, at last, to sleep.

"Everybody knew we didn't have enough rest," Manu Ginobili said. "But there's nothing we could do about it."

Tim Duncan hardly looked tired, scoring 31 points and taking 13 rebounds in one of his finest performances of the season. Nor did Bruce Bowen, who, in addition to helping hound Dirk Nowitzki into missing 12 of 20 shots, made the winning 3-pointer with 2:14 left.

While the Spurs didn't finish their six-game series against Sacramento until late Friday, the Mavericks had been off for almost a week after sweeping Memphis. Dallas coach Avery Johnson thought the long break may have contributed to some "rustiness."

The Spurs' defense didn't help, either, limiting the Mavericks to 33 points on 34.3-percent shooting in the second half. Dallas didn't make a shot in the final 4 minutes, 7 seconds, but still had a chance to win on the final possession.

With Bowen crowding him, Nowitzki stumbled as he drove from the right wing. He tried to fire a pass to Stackhouse, but Ginobili — who had just missed three shots because he was so tired he "couldn't jump" — batted the ball into the air, then bounced up to tap it again.

Stackhouse corralled the deflection but was immediately pinned in the left corner. He flung up a 3-pointer over Ginobili's outstretched arms that dropped shy of the rim as time expired.

"We were fortunate to get something to fall at the end, and they couldn't get something to fall," Popovich said. "Sometimes it comes down to a possession here or there with two good basketball teams."

The Spurs and Mavericks brought a collective 131 victories, as well as the league's second- and third-best records into Sunday, and the finish did nothing to dispel the hype surrounding the long-anticipated series. Dallas led by six at halftime and by as many as eight in the third quarter, before the Spurs steadied themselves.

"I think," Bowen said, "this has the feel of the NBA Finals."

If nothing else, Duncan looked as strong as he did in last season's playoffs. With the Mavericks electing to stay on the Spurs' 3-point shooters in the first half, Duncan took advantage of the single coverage, scoring 20 points while single-handedly putting all three of Dallas' centers in foul trouble.

Duncan admittedly has performed poorly in early starts. But after rising at 6a.m. on Sunday, he appeared to have found his rhythm by the time he stepped onto the court. Late in the third quarter, he dribbled between his legs, then drove through the lane to bank in a left-handed layup.

"It was like when I was a rookie," Tony Parker said, "and we were just going to him all the time."

Parker and Ginobili, meanwhile, each looked like they were playing on heavy legs. They combined for 34 points but missed made only 12 of their 32 shots.

Bowen, however, did his best to also mute Nowitzki's impact. After averaging 31.3 points against Memphis, Nowitzki finished Sunday's game with 20. He made just 3 of 11 shots in the second half.

Bowen tried to get a hand up on every shot Nowitzki took. When possible, he crowded him. A little too closely, in fact, to the liking of Nowitzki's coach.

"It's what you call 'bearhug' defense," Johnson said.

Criticized for not being strong enough in his first-round matchup with Sacramento's Bonzi Wells, Bowen shrugged off Johnson's suggestion he's now too physical.

"Add him," Bowen said, "to the list of many others who said stuff."

The Mavericks had another reason to be upset with Bowen. With a little more than two minutes remaining, he took a pass from Parker and buried the go-ahead 3-pointer.

It was the only shot the Spurs made in the last 5:21 and one of only three 3-pointers they hit all game. The Spurs also thought it was fitting: On a day when most of them were fighting fatigue, the winning shot was made by a guy who hasn't missed a game in more than 41/2 seasons.

"He's never tired," Ginobili said. "I don't know how he does it."

After leaving the team's practice facility early Saturday evening, Bowen cooked a large Southern dinner of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes and green beans. He was in bed by 11.

Like the rest of the Spurs, Bowen would have preferred to sleep in, to have more time to prepare.

"But in those situations," he said with a shrug, "you just have to forget it and go on."
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此帖于 2006-05-08 13:39 被 tinysands 编辑.
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 2006-05-08 12:21  #2
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回复: 06季后赛第二轮轮招工专帖

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2006050724

By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
May 7, 2006

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Avery Johnson should've known better than to underestimate Tim Duncan. Especially in the playoffs.

In the opener of a second-round series against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Johnson took the calculated risk of letting his former teammate go against his centers with only limited help.

Duncan, a three-time Finals MVP who teamed with Johnson for the Spurs' 1999 championship, made the strategy backfire by scoring 20 of his 31 points in the first half, giving his worn-out teammates the lift they needed to pull out an 87-85 victory Sunday.

"Timmy was awesome," teammate Tony Parker said. "When he plays like that, it makes it easy for everybody."

The Spurs were playing just 36 hours after closing out their first-round series in Sacramento, while the Mavs had been off since Monday.


Both teams, however, had been bracing for this meeting most of the season because of a flaw in the NBA's seeding system that forced them to meet in the second round, regardless of the fact they both hit 60 wins.

Neither team needed much time to prepare for the other, anyway, considering all the ties between them -- from Johnson's time in San Antonio and his close relationship with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to San Antonio reserve Michael Finley having spent the last nine years on the Mavericks.

But at game's end, when the difference should've benefited Dallas the most, it was San Antonio that persevered -- thanks mostly to Bruce Bowen.

Bowen hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:15 left that ended up being the winner. His biggest contribution, though, was pestering Dirk Nowitzki into a forgettable game with what Johnson called "bear-hug defense."

Nowitzki was 8-of-20 for 20 points after averaging 31.3 in the first round. It was a bit of redemption for Bowen after not living up to his first-team All-Defense reputation against Sacramento's Bonzi Wells in the first round.

"You don't want people talking bad about you," Bowen said. "You get a little upset and your pride gets hurt a little bit."

Bowen came up big on the game's final possession, which began with 13.9 seconds left.

Nowitzki got the ball on the right side, but Bowen was all over him. When Nowitzki tried going right, Duncan headed his way. So Nowitzki threw a crosscourt pass to Jerry Stackhouse.

Manu Ginobili nearly intercepted it, but Stackhouse recovered. He could've driven for a tying shot, but instead stepped back into the left corner and put up a well-covered 3 that came up way short.

"Somehow, if I had a little more on it, then maybe we'd have a different feeling right now," said Stackhouse, who led Dallas with 24 points. "We came in here with the right attitude, right energy, but we let them take the game."

Johnson worried that the long layoff might get some of his players to lose their focus. Perhaps all the down time got him to overthink his strategy against Duncan -- one that's likely to change in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Duncan hasn't been his Big Fundamental self lately. His scoring was down this season and again in the first round. He's also been slowed by a foot injury.

Parker said he wasn't surprised that Dallas didn't aggressively double-team Duncan.

"A lot of people have been doing that lately because they thought he can't score any more," Parker said. "That's a big mistake."

DeSagana Diop was the first to go at Duncan alone. He got two fouls, then was replaced by Erick Dampier. He got two fouls, then was replaced by D.J. Mbenga. Yes, he also got two fouls -- all before the first quarter ended.

Despite the barrage, Duncan was only 3-of-5 for 10 points. Then he scored 10 of San Antonio's first 12 in the second quarter, giving him 20 of their first 38 points.

"He was pretty aggressive," Johnson said.

Most importantly, Duncan's start made the Spurs tied in a game they otherwise might've already gotten away from them. He was the only player who didn't seem bothered by the quick turnaround, or the noon start.

Duncan said he felt good even though he woke up at 6 a.m.

"Not by design," he added. Considering how he played, he joked that "that might be the routine" from now on.

Duncan made 12 of 24 shots, grabbed 13 rebounds and tied Parker for the team's assist lead with four. Parker scored 19 and Ginobili added 15.

Nowitzki was only 1-of-4 in the fourth quarter. He scored only two points in the final period and Dallas scored only 13. The Mavericks missed their final six shots.

"There wasn't any rust," said Nowitzki, who put himself through two workouts a day to remain sharp. "We played well enough to win the game, but didn't."

Dallas' Josh Howard scored 17, but only four in the second half. Jason Terry had 14. Nowitzki had 14 rebounds and Dampier had 10.

Dallas was hurt by nine missed free throws. The Mavs missed only 16 in four games against the Grizzlies.

Notes

Nowitzki finished third in MVP voting for the second straight year. Duncan was eighth, Parker ninth. ... Both teams went 10 deep in the first half. ... When Bowen went to the foul line early in the second quarter, it was his first attempt in 188 minutes this postseason. ... San Antonio great David Robinson showed his support for the Spurs by wearing a Ginobili jersey. ... The Spurs are in the second round for the sixth straight year.
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tinysands离线中   引用
 2006-05-08 15:16  #3
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回复: 06季后赛第二轮轮招工专帖

Bowen bugs, hugs Dirk

By Chris Sheridan, ESPN Insider

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-060508

SAN ANTONIO -- Bruce Bowen didn't merely drape himself all over Dirk Nowitzki's body. He also crawled into his head.

Take a look at a sampling of Nowitzki's postgame comments Sunday after he made just one basket in the fourth quarter and nearly threw the ball away on Dallas' final possession in an 87-85 loss to San Antonio in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series:

"I'm not going to get any open looks in this series. I already know that."

Or this one:

"I know I'm not going to score 35 a game in this series."

Despite standing nearly a half-foot taller than the defensive specialist assigned to guard him, Nowitzki grew increasingly flummoxed as the afternoon wore on Sunday to the point where the look on his face went from normal to quizzical to queasy.

And on the final play, when Dallas got the ball into his hands near the top of the circle, he stumbled so quickly in the face of an onrushing second defender that he fired the ball to Jerry Stackhouse in the corner rather than waiting for Stackhouse to cut to the basket as coach Avery Johnson had intended the play to unfold. Manu Ginobili deflected the pass, and Stackhouse managed only a desperation heave from the corner that missed everything to end a compelling, competitive game between the two best teams in the West.

More of the same should be in store as we move through the next two weeks. Unless, of course, the doubts in Nowitzki's head continue to rattle around up there like one of Bowen's foul shots. And with a full dose of the same close coverage coming his way for the foreseeable future, that possibility cannot be dismissed.

"It's what you call 'bear-hug defense,'" Mavs coach Avery Johnson said afterward. "That's the new NBA rule. That's what's going on, and I've got to try to formulate or simulate a drill to help him. If a bear comes up to you and hugs you, what's he going to do?"

Johnson left his own question unanswered, but you don't need to be a Discovery Channel regular or a National Geographic Explorer aficionado to know what happens when a bear hugs a human.

The bear wins. And it ain't a pretty loss for the human.

But Bowen wasn't bear hugging Nowitzki so much as he was pestering him like an oversized insect. He was a gnat with his hands and arms, keeping one or the other on Nowitzki at all times, grabbing and clutching occasionally, and with enough discretion, that the refs never called him on it.

We've all seen him do the same to Kobe Bryant and every other scorer in the league, most recently against Bonzi Wells of Sacramento in the latter stages of the Kings-Spurs first-round series, and now it's the big blonde German's turn to try to find a way to repel him. Bowen has guarded Nowitzki before, but never with the stakes this high.

"This has the feel of an NBA Finals," said Bowen, who shrugged it off when Johnson's bear hug comment was relayed to him. "It used to bother me. You would think you try to earn the respect of other coaches, and you'd think they'd be happy with what you do because you give 110 percent. But it's something that's said a lot, so add him to the mini-list of others who want to say stuff."

The task for Johnson in the next two days will include not only inventing a drill to simulate Bowen's defense, but also giving some serious thought to sending a few more double-teams at Tim Duncan.

The Mavs tried to stop the Big Fundamental with single coverage about 90 percent of the time -- using DeSagana Diop, Erick Dampier and DJ Mbenga -- and Duncan ate it up with a display of his offensive arsenal rarely seen during this regular season, when his scoring average was the lowest of his career.

"It was like it was in my rookie year when we were going through him all the time," Tony Parker said.

Dallas got away with leaving Parker (7-for-18) open on the perimeter, and they contained Ginobili enough (15 points on 5-for-14 shooting, five turnovers) to put themselves in position to win.

Bowen's 3-pointer from the corner with 2:14 remaining gave the Spurs their final points and broke an 84-84 tie.

Six missed shots later, the game came down to one final possession, and Nowitzki was too blanketed by Bowen to finish his job as the first option.

"I knew they were going to go to Dirk, and my thing was I'm going to make this as tough as possible for him -- tougher even than his other shots. He started stumbling, and if he tries to shoot the ball stumbling it's going to be a bad shot."

But that wasn't even Nowitzki's final stumble. As he left the postgame interview podium after telling everyone how he wouldn't score 35 in the series or get any open looks, he nearly tripped over a chair while exiting stage right. It shouldn't surprise anyone if it was Bowen who put that chair there.
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Blessing in Disguise

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