Spurs of the Moment

Tim Duncan is not known for his trash talking. Chances are he never will be, but for one night it was wonderful to see the irrepressible swagger and confidence that comes with being a champion on full display when San Antonio obliterated Miami in the first quarter of what would become a full-fledged 125-95 blowout victory.

I get it, though. It’s one game -- especially for the Spurs who went up 36-12 by the end of the first quarter. For Miami it’s another example of everything that is wrong with that team in South Beach. Not even the ghost of Mike Bibby could save them. Not even a stupid flagrant foul from Erick Dampier could slow down the Spurs. Nothing. Miami relies on Wade and James to penetrate and get the occasional three from one of those 12th men they have masquerading as role players, but the good teams are putting the clamps on that and forcing them to shoot jumpers. As we’ve seen recently by LeBron’s knack for missing big shots at the end of close games against quality teams this season, the whole jump shot thing is not working out so well for the Floridians.

On another high note, Tony Parker returned from his calf injury MUCH earlier than expected and was able to start the game. He finished with 15 points and eight assists in 23 minutes of action. He was also on the receiving end of Ericka’s flagrant stupidity. Luckily, TP was able to walk it off and not sustain any other injuries.

Eight Spurs finished in double figures, and the Spurs bench outscored Miami’s “bench” 58-26. The Spurs shot a ridiculous 56% from the floor including a franchise best 17 three-pointers in the game, going 17-of-28 from long range as Miami constantly failed to close out on the Spurs shooters. I know the Spurs won’t hit 17 threes in every game, but the bottom line is that they executed and played as good a game as can be played last night. Now bring on the Lakers.

Notable Spurs Stat Lines
Matt Bonner: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6-of-7 from downtown including 4-of-4 in the first quarter.
Manu Ginobili: 20 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals. Part of Miami’s game plan had to involve containing Manu to some degree. We see how that went.
Tim Duncan: 11 points, 14 rebounds, and a “Game Over” for good measure.
Gary Neal: 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench. What a great pickup this cat turned out to be.
George Hill: 11 points, 4 assists, 3-of-6 from downtown.
Richard Jefferson: 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting along with some other odds and ends. I ain’t mad at ‘em though. As a matter of fact, he has fit in much better this year and I love the fact that he is not a selfish player who demands 20 shots a game.
DeJuan Blair: The Grizzly Blair finished with 10 points and 6 boards.

Oh and by the way… from Dictionary.com

drub

[druhb] verb, drubbed, drub·bing, noun