Cold, hard facts greet Spurs
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Web Posted: 02/12/2007 10:35 PM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
NEW YORK — After a three-day stay in sunny Florida did nothing to improve their record or disposition, the
Spurs awoke here Monday to the chill of winter and the realization they likely won't warm up enough to land either of the Western Conference's top two playoff seeds.
Trailing Dallas by a staggering nine games and Phoenix by six, the
Spurs are just as close to catching the Mavericks as they are to being caught by ninth-place New Orleans. On the Spurs' to-do list, "Win Southwest Division" could eventually be replaced by "Qualify for Playoffs."
"It's kind of hard now to challenge Phoenix and Dallas for the first seed,"
Manu Ginobili said. "We know that's going to be impossible at this point.
"But we still have room to improve and a long way to go. We really believe we can (turn the season around). We have to keep working hard and forget about what's been happening."
The
Spurs didn't practice Monday, instead using the day as an opportunity to rest and recover before they close out their rodeo trip with back-to-back games against New Jersey and Detroit. The
Spurs need to win both just to split the eight road games. In the four previous seasons, they never lost more than twice during their rodeo travels.
And while tonight's meeting in New Jersey might have looked appealing a week ago, the Nets are riding a three-game winning streak, while the
Spurs have dropped consecutive games.
"Every single team is giving us problems," Ginobili said, "so we have to try to improve regardless of whether we're playing Dallas, Phoenix or whoever."
The
Spurs find their current struggles all the more frustrating because last week coach Gregg Popovich thought the team was on the upswing. He was encouraged by the Spurs' competitiveness in losses to Utah and Phoenix and thought the team's defense had improved.
When the
Spurs opened the second leg of their travels with a rout in Washington and took an 18-point second-quarter lead two nights later in Orlando, the team looked like it had begun to gain some traction. The Magic, however, shot 57.5 percent in the second half and won the game 106-104 on Dwight Howard's remarkable dunk over
Tim Duncan with .2 seconds left.
"The Orlando loss was tough,"
Brent Barry said. "I don't know if I've ever lost a game in that fashion. I don't know if any of the guys in here will ever lose another game on an alley-oop play."
The
Spurs still looked dazed on Sunday in Miami. Their defense again unraveled in the second half as Miami shot 52.8 percent for the game and Dwyane Wade scored 18 points in the fourth quarter.
The 100-85 loss marked the first time since Dec. 26-29, 2001, the
Spurs had allowed 100 points in consecutive non-overtime games.
"It just seems like we keep letting down defensively when we should be getting stronger in the third and fourth quarter," Barry said. "We're not able to do that the last few games."
As has often been the case of late, the
Spurs also have failed to finish their defense with a rebound. They were outboarded 50-32 by Utah, 51-41 by Phoenix and 46-31 by Miami.
That prompted Popovich to question the team's toughness. Miami's "physicality was much better than ours and they maintained it for the entire period of time," he said. "We didn't."
Asked if he agreed with Popovich's "too soft" assessment, Duncan said, "It's all in definition."
"I think we're playing hard," he added. "I don't think anyone's slacking off, and that's where it starts."
But with four losses in their past five games and an unimpressive 10-10 record since Jan. 1, the
Spurs have entered, according to
Bruce Bowen, "uncharted waters."
"That's a lot of games we're losing, and it's not us,"
Tony Parker said. "We just have to find some solution and keep working. That's all we can do. Keep working hard and keep our heads up."