Spurs’ Game 3 keys to victory
Web Posted: 04/27/2007 11:16 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Finish what they start
If you ask the Spurs, they could have done without the dramatic ending to Game 2 — even if it did make for good TV.
After leading by 17 points with a little more than seven minutes left in the game, the Spurs watched Denver draw within 91-88 on Allen Iverson’s 3-pointer with 45.9 seconds left. Had Marcus Camby not back-rimmed a dunk a minute earlier, Iverson might have tied the game with the shot.
Iverson and Carmelo Anthony hit some tough shots during that stretch, but that’s the problem: They’re both clutch performers who can create for themselves. The key, if possible, is to avoid putting the Nuggets’ two stars in a position where they can be heroes.
The same thing happened at the end of the first half in Game 2 when the Spurs had a 15-point lead with less than two minutes left. Tim Duncan goes to the bench, Tony Parker makes a couple of bad decisions, Anthony gets hot and Denver is within eight at halftime.
In Game 1, it was a bad pass from Manu Ginobili that gave Anthony a dunk in the closing seconds of the second quarter to put the Nuggets ahead at the half.
With the series’ next two games in Denver, the Spurs will be lacking the emotional boost they get from their fans. If they want to avoid coming home in a 3-1 hole, they’ll need to do a better job of closing out quarters.
Locate regular-season Tony
Parker hasn’t been bad in the series’ first two games, but he also hasn’t looked like a two-time All-Star.
Denver has packed the lane to limit Parker’s penetration — the same type of defense he has faced in the playoffs for much of the previous five years. Parker routinely struggled in the postseason until improving his midrange jump shot last year.
But while Parker continued to shoot well this season, that success hasn’t carried over to the playoffs. He’s just 14 of 35 in the two games.
The Spurs want Parker to continue to be aggressive. Not reckless.
Keep pounding the boards
The Spurs still gave up 18 second-chance points in Game 2, but they at least equaled Denver’s 44 total rebounds.
“If we can match them on the boards,” Ginobili said, “it’s a win for us.”
- Johnny Ludden