Lakers pop weary Spurs: Cold shooters, bad attitudes lead to loss
Web Posted: 01/18/2007 12:34 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News
Their season having reached a new low, the Spurs trudged off the AT&T Center floor Wednesday night with another loss, unable, among other things, to count to five, let alone beat a Los Angeles Lakers team missing two starters.
With Kobe Bryant scoring 34 points, more than a few of which he accumulated by pounding the ball over Tim Duncan’s head, the Lakers held on for a 100-96 victory. The loss was the Spurs’ seventh at home, equaling their total from last season.
The loss also once again raised questions about the direction of the team and the makeup of its roster. The Spurs looked tired at times, rudderless at others, committing 19 turnovers and missing 16 3-pointers — none of which approached the level of embarrassment as when the team took the court for the fourth quarter with only four players.
“Our attitude was not the best,” Manu Ginobili said. "We were hanging our heads, feeling sorry for ourselves, getting upset with the refs.
“If we really want to make it to the end and be the team we usually are, we need to step up and play better — and more professional.”
Hitting a few shots also would help. Duncan scored 26 points and Tony Parker 25, but the Spurs made only 6 of 22 3-pointers. In Monday’s loss in Chicago, they made 6 of 23.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who have shots who aren’t taking them and taking some shots that are contested,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We’re just really out of whack as far as the shooting is concerned.”
Bruce Bowen had his worst game of the season, missing all four of his 3-pointers and failing to slow Bryant until the closing minutes. He spent much of the evening carping at the officials for letting Bryant clear out space with his left forearm and also accepted blame for a technical the Spurs received when they opened the final quarter with only four players.
Popovich said he made just one substitution at the end of the third quarter, putting Duncan in the game. But Bowen evidently thought he was being replaced, and no one apparently told him otherwise, so he stayed on the bench.
The Spurs were 15 seconds into the possession when the officials noticed the error. The technical allowed the Lakers to tack another point onto their lead — a costly mistake because the game was close in the final seconds.
“There was no communication,” Popovich said of the error.
Said Bowen: “It’s my fault. Pop didn’t sub me out, and that is that.”
The Spurs canceled practice Tuesday, along with their game-day morning shootaround, because of the icy conditions that had shut down much of the city for two days. But with most of the highways opening Wednesday afternoon, the AT&T Center was filled almost to capacity, including a rather vocal group of Lakers supporters.
Vladimir Radmanovic’s hot shooting allowed the Lakers to surge to a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Ginobili, who scored eight of his 16 points in the quarter, rallied the Spurs, giving them a 91-90 lead with 2:54 left.
But Bryant found Luke Walton cutting to the basket for a layup then hit a tough fadeaway himself. Duncan missed a couple of key free throws, and Parker threw away a pass when he thought Ginobili was cutting the opposite direction.
“I think we have to talk between us and start bringing the best of each of us,” Ginobili said. “We know every team is good and trying to beat us, but we are just letting them get away with too much.”
Bryant, who was in foul trouble early, scored 17 points in the second quarter while making 7 of 9 shots.
Bowen struggled to stay in front of Bryant, and he didn’t have much help behind him. Even when one of the Spurs’ big men tried to protect the rim, Bryant usually twisted around him and scored anyway.
Once in the third quarter, Bowen tried to herd Bryant to the baseline only to watch him elevate and dunk viciously in Duncan’s face. A couple minutes later, Bryant dunked over Duncan again, this time flushing a lob pass from Smush Parker.
“It’s just mental,” Ginobili said. “We have to forget about all the things we’re doing wrong and start from zero.”
Provided, of course, they can count that high.