1997-03-08, By Jerry Briggs Express-News Staff Writer
马刺依赖麦克斯韦终结连败
多伦多 - 经历了两周的场外纷争，弗农·麦克斯韦爆发，砍下 34 分。文尼·德尔内格罗让多伦多猛龙队有机会将比赛拖入加时赛，随后用意外的防守扑救掐灭了猛龙队的希望。
这对搭档联手帮助马刺队在周五晚上以 106-103 战胜猛龙队，终结了球队的七连败。
“我们只有八名（健康的）队员，所以我们知道自己必须全力以赴，”与本赛季最高分持平的麦克斯韦说。
“但我们知道我们面对的是一支年轻的球队。我们尝试做的就是与他们匹配强度，保持接近，然后在最后取胜。这就是我们所做的。”
凭借这场胜利，马刺队（14 胜 46 负）自 2 月 21 日以来首次获胜。他们还避免了在赛季最长的客场之旅中被横扫，尽管在为期 10 天的客场之旅中仅取得了 1 胜 4 负的成绩，但也为今晚在印第安纳举行的收官之战做好了准备。
此外，他们在上场比赛中以 42 分失利后，挽回了一些颜面。马刺队周三晚上在芝加哥以令人尴尬的 111-69 惨败。
马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇表示，他没有发表任何赛前激励讲话。
波波维奇说：“我没有那么聪明。”“这些球员都是真正的职业球员。他们是一群很棒的球员。他们每晚都全力以赴。在芝加哥，我们输给了比我们强得多的球队。”
身高 6 英尺 4 英寸的麦克斯韦担任小前锋，取代了周四在训练中腹股沟受伤的蒙蒂·威廉姆斯。威廉姆斯今晚出战成疑。
早些时候，威廉姆斯取代了受伤的多米尼克·威尔金斯，而威尔金斯则取代了受伤的肖恩·埃利奥特。
总而言之，在对阵多伦多猛龙队（20 胜 40 负）的比赛中，马刺队没有一名自然小前锋。他们有七名球员因伤缺阵，创下赛季新高。而伤病并不是他们唯一的麻烦。麦克斯韦在 Skydome 迎战 16178 名球迷之前，再次面临场外问题。
他在佛罗里达州的盖恩斯维尔老家有一份逮捕令，当局声称他拖欠了一笔未指明的子女抚养费。阿勒楚阿县警长部门的一位发言人表示，如果麦克斯韦不回应指控，他可能会被逮捕。
麦克斯韦说：“我不想谈论它。”“这不是真的。我甚至没有想过这件事。”
麦克斯韦太忙于压制沃尔特·威廉姆斯和其他试图防守他的球员。麦克斯韦让威廉姆斯的动作看起来像一座雕像，几次在他身边突破，直冲球框。他在 20 次投篮中命中了 9 次，在罚球线 13 投 13 中。
麦克斯韦连续第三场比赛出场，此前因贫血错过了之前的七场比赛，他说：“我觉得专心罚球并投进罚球真的很重要。”
比赛的最后阶段非常激烈，德尔内格罗在其中扮演了重要角色。猛龙队落后 8 分，仅剩两分钟多一点，开始通过抢断反击，并奋力打平比分。
但马刺队在还剩 49.4 秒时叫了暂停，并做出调整。
他们组织了一次针对对手全场紧逼的界外球配合，并在最后两次罚球中都奏效了。因此，他们击败了猛龙队，而两周前猛龙队在圣安东尼奥以 33 分击败了马刺队。
波波维奇说：“我们在暂停中进行了不同的布置，我们让对手措手不及。”“我们让弗农直接冲向了篮筐。”
马刺队没有进行标准界外球，而是让德尔内格罗跑回到底线后面。卡尔·埃雷拉传球给底线的德尔内格罗，他将球传给了空位的埃弗里·约翰逊。
在最后疯狂的一分钟里，这个配合起了两次作用。
有一次，麦克斯韦在约翰逊的妙传下，将这次配合转化为反击上篮。后来，他在还剩 11.1 秒时命中了两记关键罚球，为马刺队建立了 106-101 的优势。
达蒙·斯陶达迈尔（25 分，7 次助攻）通过两记罚球回应，帮助猛龙队追至三分之差。
随后，德尔内格罗在还剩 5.4 秒时走上罚球线，试图结束比赛。马刺队最好的罚球射手两罚不中，给了猛龙队扳平比分的机会。斯陶达迈尔冲向球场，但德尔内格罗冲了回来，将球从他手中打掉。
当斯陶达迈尔重新获得控球权时，他的 desperation three 分球出手太晚，已在蜂鸣器响起之后。
波波维奇说：“大多数球员都会站在那里，在错失那些罚球后郁闷几秒钟。”“但文森特有能力将这些抛诸脑后，回到防守中。这是一个令人惊叹的比赛。”
德尔内格罗全场得到 17 分，其中包括最后 2 分 19 秒的六分。
替补控卫科里·亚历山大追平了职业生涯最高分 18 分，其中包括第三节末和第四节初一段与斯陶达迈尔对飙得分的时间。
亚历山大在前三场比赛中 19 投 6 中，对阵猛龙队时 8 投 6 中，其中包括 4 投 3 中的三分球。中锋格雷格·安德森也打出了近几周以来的最佳表现，贡献了 14 分和 10 个篮板。
德尔内格罗表示，即使马刺队可能会参加抽签，再次获胜的感觉也很好。
他说：“在我们经历了这一切之后，获胜真是太棒了。”“我们已经很久没有那种感觉了。在界外球配合中，我们昨天在训练中练习了它，我们做得很好。”
马刺队的笔记
- 没有造成伤害：马刺队准备在一对一训练中看看前锋查尔斯·史密斯能做什么。史密斯正在康复右膝关节炎，还没有准备好。结果，马刺队的体能教练走出会场，显然很生气。
此事发生在周四的多伦多训练后。到周五，史密斯说他和负责监督史密斯训练的球队体能教练迈克·布朗加特已经解决了他们的分歧。
史密斯说：“我们已经谈过了。”“它已经解决了。”
布朗加特说，“这是查尔斯和我以及球队之间的事。这真的与其他人无关。”
史密斯自 11 月因膝盖问题休战以来表示，马刺队希望他在训练中对抗卡迪拉克·安德森和杰米·菲克来测试他的膝盖。
他说：“我只是觉得那行不通。”“对于这样的事情，你必须带着准备好的心态去做。”
史密斯的回归时间表尚未确定。史密斯在为期 10 天的客场之旅中一直在增加训练的长度和强度，该客场之旅将于今晚在印第安纳结束。- 杰瑞·布里格斯
点击查看原文：Spurs go to the Max to halt losing streak
Spurs go to the Max to halt losing streak
TORONTO - Vernon Maxwell disregarded two weeks of off-court problems and exploded for 34 points. Vinny Del Negro gave the Toronto Raptors a chance to send the game into overtime, and then he snuffed those hopes with a surprising defensive stop.
Together, the two helped the Spurs break a cumbersome seven-game losing streak Friday night with a 106-103 victory over the Raptors.
``We only had eight (healthy) guys, so we knew we had to compete hard,‘’ said Maxwell, who tied his season-high in points.
``But we knew we were playing a young team. What we tried to do was match their intensity, stay close and then pull it out at the end. That’s what we did.‘’
With the victory, the Spurs (14-46) won for the first time since Feb. 21. Also, they avoided being swept on the longest road trip of the season, improving to 1-4 on the 10-day journey heading into the finale tonight at Indiana.
On top of that, they salvaged some of their pride after losing by 42 points in their last game, an embarrassing 111-69 setback at Chicago on Wednesday night.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he didn’t have any inspirational pre-game speeches.
I'm not that smart,'' Popovich said. These guys are real pros. They’re a great group of guys. They play hard every night. In Chicago, we played a team that was just much better than we were.‘’
The fleet, 6-foot-4 Maxwell played small forward in place of Monty Williams, who strained his groin in practice Thursday. Williams is listed as doubtful for tonight.
Earlier, Williams replaced the injured Dominique Wilkins, who had replaced the injured Sean Elliott.
All told, the Spurs didn’t have a natural small forward available against Toronto (20-40). They had a season-high seven players out with injuries. And injuries weren’t their only problem. Going into the game at Skydome in front of 16,178, Maxwell once again was fighting off-court problems.
There is a warrant out for his arrest in his hometown of Gainesville, Fla., with authorities alleging that he owes an unspecified sum in child support payments. A spokesman in the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department said Maxwell could be apprehended if he doesn’t answer the charges.
I don't want to talk about it,'' Maxwell said. It’s not true. I wasn’t even thinking about that.‘’
Maxwell was too busy torching Walt Williams and others who tried to guard him. Maxwell made Williams look like a statue on a few occasions, bolting past him on drives to the hoop. He hit 9 of 20 shots from the field and 13 of 13 at the line.
``I felt it was real important for me to concentrate at the line and knock ‘em down,’’ said Maxwell, who played for the third straight game after missing the previous seven with anemia.
It was a wild finish at the end, with Del Negro figuring prominently into the dramatics. Trailing by eight with a little more than two minutes remaining, the Raptors started getting steals off their press and fought their way into a tie.
But the Spurs called time out with 49.4 seconds remaining, and made an adjustment.
They organized a play on their inbounds pass against the press that worked twice down the stretch. Consequently, they fought off the Raptors, who had beaten them by 33 two weeks ago in San Antonio.
We drew it up a different way in the huddle and we got 'em off kilter,'' Popovich said. We got Vernon right to the rim.‘’
Instead of the standard inbounds, the Spurs ran Del Negro back behind the baseline. Carl Herrera passed down the line to Del Negro, who kicked it out to Avery Johnson into the open court.
It worked twice in the final, frantic minute.
Once, Maxwell turned the play into a breakaway layup off a nice feed from Johnson. Later, he hit a pair of crucial free throws with 11.1 seconds left to give the Spurs a 106-101 cushion.
Damon Stoudamire (25 points, seven assists) responded with a pair of free throws with to bring the Raptors within three.
Subsequently, Del Negro went to the line with 5.4 seconds remaining, looking to put the game away. The Spurs’ best free-throw shooter missed both, giving the Raptors a chance to tie. Stoudamire raced upcourt, but Del Negro charged back and knocked the ball from his grasp.
By the time Stoudamire regained possession, his desperation trey was hoisted too late, after the buzzer.
Most players would stand there and sulk for a few seconds after they missed those free throws,'' Popovich said. But Vinny had the presence to wipe that out of his head and get back on defense. That’s an amazing play.‘’
Del Negro scored 17 for the game, including six in the final 2:19.
Guard Cory Alexander tied a career-high with 18 points off the bench, including a stretch at the end of the third and the start of the fourth when he traded baskets in a shootout with Stoudamire.
Alexander, 6 for 19 from the field in his past three games, hit 6 of 8 shots against the Raptors, including 3 of 4 on three-pointers. Center Greg Anderson also had his best game in weeks, producing 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Del Negro said it felt good to win again, even though the Spurs are probably headed for the lottery.
After what we've been through, it's fun to get a win,'' he said. We haven’t had that feeling for awhile. On the inbounds play, we worked on it some yesterday in practice and we ran it real well.‘’
SPURS NOTES
- No harm done: The Spurs were ready to see what forward Charles Smith could do in one-on-one drills. Smith, rehabilitating his arthritic right knee, wasn’t ready. As a result, the Spurs’ strength and conditioning coach walked off the floor, obviously miffed.
It happened after practice in Toronto on Thursday. By Friday, Smith said he and Mike Brungardt, the team’s strength coach, who is overseeing Smith’s workouts, had patched up their differences.
We talked about it,'' Smith said. It’s been resolved.‘’
Brungardt said it was ``between Charles and I and the team. It’s really no one else’s business.‘’
Smith, out since November with the knee problem, said the Spurs wanted him to practice against Cadillac Anderson and Jamie Feick to test his knee.
I just felt that it wasn't going to work,'' he said. With something like that, you have to go into it with the mindset that you are ready.‘’
There has been no timetable set for Smith’s return. Smith has been increasing the length and intensity of his workouts during the 10-day road trip, which concludes tonight in Indiana. - Jerry Briggs
By Jerry Briggs Express-News Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News