Spurs of the Moment

NY 128, SA 115

I was certain the Spurs would roll right on through Madison Square Garden and face the Celtics with a six-game winning streak on the line. Apparently, the Knicks had different plans as they shot the lights out in a 128-115 victory. I didn’t want to blame the Spurs defense for allowing 128 points, including 72 in the first half. I wanted to say that the truth is the Knicks were just on that night. It’s partially true – that really was one of those ridiculous games that comes out of nowhere – one of those games that, if it happened on the playground, you’d be like, “Nah, uh-uh, run that back.” But then, of course, they let Boston go off on them the very next night… but I’ll get to that in a minute.

The Knicks pretty much ran amuck with three main guys…

Amare Stoudemire: 28 points (11-of-17), nine rebounds, six assists, three blocks – Amare is having a great season
Raymond Felton: 28 points (10-of-17), seven assists, four rebounds – Felton is proving to be the point guard the Knicks needed
Wilson Chandler: 31 points (13-of-19), nine rebounds, four assists, one steal – See why I was hoping the Knicks would trade him to San Antonio as part of their quest to get Carmelo Anthony?

As for the Spurs, well they weren’t too shabby either from the offensive standpoint as six players scored in double figures…

Manu Ginobili: 15 points, five boards, five assists, one steal, one block
Tony Parker: 26 points, six assists, two boards, two steals
DeJuan Blair: 17 points, eight boards, one steal
Richard Jefferson: 13 points, three boards, one assist
Tim Duncan: 14 points, six boards, one assist, one steal, one block
George Hill: 13 points, two boards, one assist

They shot 54% from the field, but it just wasn’t enough as the Spurs allowed the Knicks to shoot 55% and just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

BOS 105, SA 103

So that brings us to Boston. Blair fizzled away again, only playing 11 minutes, but everyone else played fairly well… except for letting Rajon Rondo go off for a triple-double (12 points, 10 rebounds, 22 assists – wait, what the?) and Ray Allen shoot 13-of-16 from the floor for 31 points. Oh, and Glen Davis pretty much got whatever he wanted as he put up 23 points.  Paul Pierce also finished with 18 points and seven boards. This time the Spurs only shot 45% from the floor, but allowed the Celtics too shoot a whopping 61%.

And therein lies the problem. Back-to-back games allowing ridiculously high field goal shooting will never get it done. I only hope the Pacers don’t have the game of their season tomorrow and shoot 60% while Granger goes off for 50 points on 20-for-25 shooting.

Of course, a game against the Pacers is probably just what the Spurs need to get back to their winning ways.