Scraggly situation in West for Spurs
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Web Posted: 04/01/2006 12:01 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
The
Spurs returned from their longest trip in 13 years Friday, touching down at San Antonio International Airport a little after 4a.m. and looking considerably more scraggly than when they departed more than nine days earlier.
Manu Ginobili and
Tim Duncan sported beards. The only thing missing from
Brent Barry's goatee-and-shaggy-haired look was Scooby Doo. Beno Udrih's chin had even sprouted a tuft of brown fuzz.
While the redeye flight had contributed to the hirsuteness, so had purposeful neglect. For the past month, most of the players, along with some of the team's support staff, have joined in a bet to see who could allow their facial hair to grow unkempt — no trimmings or touch-ups allowed — until the final day of the regular season.
"Guys bearded, long sideburns — there (could be) all sorts of things in a team photo," Barry said. "But by the end of year, there will probably be only a few standing, so you'll know who's in the running."
The Spurs' other race of interest, in contrast, could prove to be less hairy than expected.
With Dallas losing in Orlando on Friday, the
Spurs (56-16) own a 2 1/2-game lead atop the Western Conference. With seven of their final 10 games at the AT&T Center, including next Friday's meeting with the Mavericks, they have put themselves in good position to secure the conference's top playoff seed.
"We're where we want to be record-wise. Physically, we're healthy, and we're playing pretty well," Duncan said. "So we're right where we want to be."
The
Spurs begin their stretch run tonight against Washington, one of only three teams with a winning record left on their schedule. Entering Friday, the collective winning percentage of the Spurs' final 10 opponents was .496. The combined winning percentage of the Mavericks' nine remaining opponents was .563.
Friday's final regular-season meeting between the
Spurs and Dallas figures to be, in Ginobili's words, "huge" in determining who finishes first in the Southwest Division and who enters the playoffs seeded fourth. But even if the
Spurs lose that game, which would split the teams' season series, they likely would still have a good chance of claiming the head-to-head tiebreaker because they currently have four fewer conference losses.
Catching Detroit for the NBA's best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs will be difficult. Swept by the Pistons in the regular season, the
Spurs essentially have to make up three games in the standings.
"I think if we play the way we're playing right now, we can finish first (in the West),"
Tony Parker said. "We need to take care of the Western Conference, and we'll see what happens."
After allowing a victory in Seattle to slip away in the final 40 seconds Sunday, the
Spurs regained their poise when they arrived in Los Angeles. In the games against the Clippers and Lakers, the former of which they played without Parker, they overwhelmed their opponent in the second half.
On Thursday, the
Spurs found themselves trailing the Lakers 49-43 early in the third quarter when coach Gregg Popovich called a timeout and advised the team to start playing as if it wanted the West's top seed. The
Spurs responded by outscoring Los Angeles 33-9 over the remainder of the quarter.
"We still have sections where we go through lulls and don't play as well as we can," Duncan said. "But that's going to happen in a basketball game. It's about recovering, making adjustments on the fly and playing the game straight through."
Said Barry: "You can see we want to get going in these last (three) weeks and start to fire on all cylinders."
Getting healthy has helped. The bruise on Parker's right shin hasn't completely healed, but he scored 19 points against the Lakers and intends to keep playing. Udrih's sprained left ankle isn't considered serious, and Duncan and Ginobili seem to finally be settling into a rhythm.
Slowed much of the season by plantar fasciitis in his right foot, Duncan has scored at least 20 points in five of the past six games. He averaged 14.3 points on 38.6 percent shooting in February.
"In the last maybe three weeks, he says he's been feeling better than he has all year," Popovich said. "And we've played less back-to-backs — maybe that has something to do with it."
The
Spurs still have two back-to-backs remaining, including one in which they lose an hour switching time zones. Given that nine of the Spurs' losses have come when they haven't had a day of rest, Dallas could have an opportunity to make up ground.
The Mavericks' own health also is beginning to improve: Josh Howard returned Friday, and Devin Harris and Adrian Griffin aren't expected to be out much longer. So, despite their lead, the
Spurs aren't ready to feel comfortable just yet.
"We don't even think about the lead we have now," Ginobili said. "As soon as we relax a little bit, it can be a bad thing."
2006-04-08, 23:14
