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San Antonio center scores 29 points and grabs 12 rebounds in victory over New Jersey
Wednesday, March 05, 2008By DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
SAN ANTONIO -- Two days later, the same lesson holds. You can catch the Spurs on a bad shooting night, even hold them to an ugly 33.8 percent, but you can still be out of the game for two reasons.
1) They all remember to do the grunt work before punching out.
2) And they have the Human Metronome to do everything else.
It didn't much matter what the rest of the Spurs did last night, because Tim Duncan was a man against boys. He had 29 points, 12 boards, and a mile-wide presence at AT&T Center as he and the Spurs recorded their 10th straight victory by squashing the Nets, 81-70, for the second time in three days.
Same lesson, different day.
"Their role players play to the level they need to play every game," said Devin Harris, whose first start with the Nets was a mixed bag (13 points, 5 for 17, seven assists, five turnovers). "It's the little things that make them good. They outhustle, the offensive rebounds, they get to the free-throw line, the simple things you've got to control, but they're very adamant in doing stuff."
And then there's the one big thing: "Duncan was a monster," coach Lawrence Frank said.
Indeed, the game's mightiest big man pushed the Nets around. He was 11 for 21 from the floor and 7 for 9 from the line, pulling everything out of his vast post repertoire and carrying the offense throughout the last three quarters, which San Antonio dominated. It was the Spurs' 12th consecutive win over the Nets, including playoff games.
"I expected he was coming out with an aggressive mind-set," Josh Boone said. "Anytime one of the top two players goes 4-for-14 from the floor they're obviously going to come out with a much different mind-set, a much more aggressive mind-set. That's definitely how he came out. He played a great game."
Duncan was essentially all the Spurs needed at offensive end, because everyone else did their job at the other. Especially Manu Ginobili, who was brilliant: He grabbed four steals, embarrassing the Nets on occasion with his hustle, and hardly anyone noticed that he shot 3-for-11.
http://www.silive.com/sports/advance/index.ssf?/base/Sports/1204716624149630.xml&coll=1
Wednesday, March 05, 2008By DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
SAN ANTONIO -- Two days later, the same lesson holds. You can catch the Spurs on a bad shooting night, even hold them to an ugly 33.8 percent, but you can still be out of the game for two reasons.
1) They all remember to do the grunt work before punching out.
2) And they have the Human Metronome to do everything else.
It didn't much matter what the rest of the Spurs did last night, because Tim Duncan was a man against boys. He had 29 points, 12 boards, and a mile-wide presence at AT&T Center as he and the Spurs recorded their 10th straight victory by squashing the Nets, 81-70, for the second time in three days.
Same lesson, different day.
"Their role players play to the level they need to play every game," said Devin Harris, whose first start with the Nets was a mixed bag (13 points, 5 for 17, seven assists, five turnovers). "It's the little things that make them good. They outhustle, the offensive rebounds, they get to the free-throw line, the simple things you've got to control, but they're very adamant in doing stuff."
And then there's the one big thing: "Duncan was a monster," coach Lawrence Frank said.
Indeed, the game's mightiest big man pushed the Nets around. He was 11 for 21 from the floor and 7 for 9 from the line, pulling everything out of his vast post repertoire and carrying the offense throughout the last three quarters, which San Antonio dominated. It was the Spurs' 12th consecutive win over the Nets, including playoff games.
"I expected he was coming out with an aggressive mind-set," Josh Boone said. "Anytime one of the top two players goes 4-for-14 from the floor they're obviously going to come out with a much different mind-set, a much more aggressive mind-set. That's definitely how he came out. He played a great game."
Duncan was essentially all the Spurs needed at offensive end, because everyone else did their job at the other. Especially Manu Ginobili, who was brilliant: He grabbed four steals, embarrassing the Nets on occasion with his hustle, and hardly anyone noticed that he shot 3-for-11.
http://www.silive.com/sports/advance/index.ssf?/base/Sports/1204716624149630.xml&coll=1
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