1999-04-11, By Johnny Ludden
无名英雄太阳队重创马刺队
马刺队在 NBA 赛场上连续六周势如破竹。他们取得九连胜，接着又是六连胜。
周四晚上，马刺队以压倒性的优势击败休斯顿火箭队，将康柏中心的球迷都变成了客场球迷，几乎没有人会质疑马刺队是联盟中最热的球队。他们的战绩也证明了这一点。只有波特兰和多伦多这两支球队打破了他们的完美记录。
有趣的是，一场比赛就能改变一切。
具体来说，是一场令人麻木的 110-84 失利。
周六晚上，当菲尼克斯太阳队在美洲西部球馆 19023 名球迷面前彻底羞辱马刺队时，马刺队很难找到他们做得对的一件事。
“总的来说，我们上一场对阵休斯顿的比赛是我们的最佳表现，”马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)说道，“这场比赛是我们表现最差的一场。”
26 分的失利差距是马刺队自 1997 年 12 月 9 日被休斯顿火箭队以 108-78 击败以来的最大失利。那场失利让他们的战绩变成了 10-10，之后他们反弹并赢得了接下来 13 场比赛中的 12 场。
马刺队 (24-11) 希望在周一菲尼克斯太阳队重返阿拉莫穹顶时重新找回自己的立足点。
“我们只是来到这里，就像下了一个蛋，”艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)说道，他因为在第四节技术犯规而表现出沮丧的情绪，“这场失利令人作呕。
“我不知道他们做了什么。我只知道我们打得糟糕。简直令人作呕。”
太阳队 (18-19) 缺席了首发中锋卢克·朗利(Luc Longley)和前锋汤姆·古格利奥塔(Tom Gugliotta)。但这几乎没有影响比赛。
帕特·加里蒂(Pat Garrity)，一位来自圣母大学的金色头发的新秀，为太阳队贡献了职业生涯新高的 25 分。克利福德·罗宾逊(Clifford Robinson)贡献了 22 分。雷克斯·查普曼(Rex Chapman)，他在周五对阵犹他爵士队的比赛中 9 投全失，贡献了 18 分。
杰森·基德(Jason Kidd)，一如既往地领导着球队。他贡献了 15 分和 14 次助攻。太阳队全场送出 37 次助攻，创下赛季新高，仅比本赛季联盟最高的助攻数少一次。
基德利用挡拆战术击垮了马刺队。他突破到篮下，找到空位的队友。当马刺队夹击时，他 simplemente传球出去。
因此，菲尼克斯太阳队对联盟顶级防守球队之一的马刺队，以 55.3% (85 投 47 中) 的命中率创造了赛季新高。
“我的大部分投篮都是空位投篮，”加里蒂说道，“我认为这就是成为新秀，成为新人后的结果。”
与此同时，马刺队几乎无法命中任何球，82 投 31 中 (37.8%)。大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson) 9 投 1 中，24 分钟内只得到 4 分和 2 个篮板。
“我投篮不中，”大卫·罗宾逊说道，“我没有追着篮板球跑。我没有盖帽。我什么也没做。”
蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)以 21 分领跑马刺队，但其中 18 分是在上半场取得的，其中 14 分是在第一节取得的。他在中场休息后只出手了 5 次。
“他们在开场阶段就对我进行了紧逼防守，他们没有给我想要的投篮机会，”邓肯说道，“他们的防守策略在整场比赛中都发生了变化。
“他们有时会快速扑上来，有时不会。这很不一样。我认为他们做得很好。”
马刺队在第三节比赛中超过 4 分钟没有得分，直到约翰逊在还剩 6 分 49 秒时用一记 13 英尺跳投暂时止血。这是马刺队自本节比赛开始 16 秒后大卫·罗宾逊的跳投以来投进的第一球。
与此同时，菲尼克斯太阳队正在连续得分，取得 9 分。半场结束时双方打成平手，进入第四节后，太阳队以 78-66 领先。
进入第四节不到 3 分钟，比赛几乎已经结束。太阳队领先了 16 分，并在加里蒂和查普曼的带领下继续压制马刺队。
加里蒂 16 投 11 中。查普曼贡献了太阳队 9 个三分球中的 3 个。
“我和肖恩一直在谈论这件事有多可怕，”马利克·罗斯(Malik Rose)说道，他是马刺队为数不多的亮点之一，“看到我们在对阵休斯顿时的表现有多好，然后再看到这场比赛，真是令人恐惧。”
尽管马刺队拥有明显的体型优势，但他们仅仅在篮板上取得了 42-42 的平局。丹尼·曼宁(Danny Manning)，一位身高 6 英尺 10 英寸的前锋，经历了无数次膝盖手术，抢下了全场最高的 13 个篮板。
“我们不能忽视这场比赛，”大卫·罗宾逊说道，“我们不能在试图追赶犹他爵士队时出现这样的比赛。”
马刺队观战
周六：菲尼克斯太阳队 110，马刺队 84。
亮点：太阳队终结了马刺队的六连胜；大卫·罗宾逊仅得到 4 分。
战绩：马刺队 24-11 (中西部赛区第二名)；菲尼克斯太阳队 18-19 (太平洋赛区并列第三名)。
下一场比赛：周一对阵菲尼克斯太阳队，晚上 7:30 (电视：FOXSW)
备注
蒙面人：马刺队训练师威尔·塞文宁(Will Sevening)为威尔·珀迪(Will Perdue)定制了一个保护性面罩，使他能够在周六的比赛中上场，但珀迪没有离开替补席。
周四对阵休斯顿的比赛中，马利克·罗斯意外打断了珀迪的鼻子。在周六的比赛开始之前，珀迪说流血已经停止，但他的鼻子仍然很疼。
塞文宁改变了珀迪两年前戴的银色面罩上的填充物，当时他伤到了右眼眶的脚骨。
“威尔一直认为，9 年级的木工课会派上用场，”珀迪说道。
点击查看原文：Unsung Suns drop huge loss on Spurs
Unsung Suns drop huge loss on Spurs
For six weeks the Spurs rolled through the NBA. They won nine straight, then six more.
When they convincingly dumped Houston on Thursday night, turning the Compaq Center crowd against the home team, few would argue the Spurs were the league’s hottest team. Their record supported it. Only Portland and Toronto blemished perfection.
Funny what one game can do.
Specifically, a numbing 110-84 loss.
When Phoenix was finally done embarrassing them in front of 19,023 fans Saturday night at America West Arena, the Spurs had trouble pointing to one thing they did right.
“Overall, our last game against Houston was our best performance,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “This was our worst.”
The 26-point margin of defeat was the Spurs’ worst since Houston clubbed them 108-78 on Dec. 9, 1997. That loss left them at 10-10 before they rebounded to win 12 of their next 13 games.
For the time being, the Spurs (24- 11) would like to regain their footing by Monday, when Phoenix returns to the Alamodome.
“We just came in here and laid an egg,” said Avery Johnson, who showed his frustration with a fourth-quarter technical. "This loss is just sickening.
“I don’t know what they did. I just know we played awful. Just disgusting.”
The Suns (18-19) were missing starting center Luc Longley and forward Tom Gugliotta. It mattered little.
Pat Garrity, a fair-haired rookie out of Notre Dame, busted the Spurs for a career-high 25 points. Clifford Robinson added 22. Rex Chapman, who missed all nine of his shots Friday against Utah, hung up 18.
Jason Kidd, typically, was behind it all. He scored 15 points and dished out 14 assists. The Suns finished with a season-high 37 assists, one shy of the NBA’s best this season.
Kidd crippled the Spurs off the pick-and-roll. He penetrated and found the open man. When the Spurs trapped, he simply passed out of it.
As a result, Phoenix shot a season-high 55.3 percent (47 of 85) against one of the league’s top defensive teams.
“Most of my shots were open shots,” Garrity said. “I think that’s what happens when you’re a new guy, a rookie.”
The Spurs, meanwhile, couldn’t hit much of anything, making 31 of 82 shots (37.8 percent). David Robinson missed all but one of his nine shots and finished with four points and two rebounds in 24 minutes.
“I wasn’t making shots,” David Robinson said. “I wasn’t chasing shots down. I wasn’t blocking shots. I wasn’t doing much of anything.”
Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points, but 18 came in the first half, 14 in the first quarter. He took only five shots after intermission.
“They came down on me early and they just didn’t give me the looks that I wanted to get,” Duncan said. "Their defensive scheme kind of changed throughout the game.
“They came quick. They didn’t come sometimes. It was just different. And I think they did a great job with it.”
The Spurs went more then four minutes without a point in the third quarter before Johnson temporarily stopped the bleeding with a 13-foot jumper with 6:49 left. It was the Spurs’ first field goal since David Robinson’s jumper 16 seconds into the quarter.
Phoenix, meanwhile, was in the midst of scoring nine straight points. A tie game at halftime became a 78-66 Suns lead heading into the final quarter.
Less than the three minutes into the fourth quarter, the game was all but over. The Suns led by 16 and continued to bury the Spurs behind Garrity and Chapman.
Garrity made 11 of 16 shots. Chapman finished with three of the Suns’ nine three-pointers.
“Sean and I were talking about how scary this is,” said Malik Rose, one of the few bright spots for the Spurs. “It’ frightening to see how good we looked against Houston and then see this.”
Even with a definitive size advantage, the Spurs only mustered a 42-42 tie on the boards. Danny Manning, a 6-foot-10 forward with countless knee operations, pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
“We can’t shrug this off,” David Robinson said. “We can’t have games like this when we’re trying to chase Utah.”
Spurs watch
Saturday: @Phoenix Suns 110, Spurs 84.
Highlights: Suns end Spurs’ six-game winning streak; David Robinson limited to 4 points.
Records: Spurs 24-11 (second in Midwest Division); Phoenix 18-19 (tied for third in Pacific).
Next game: Monday vs. Phoenix, 7:30 p.m. (TV: FOXSW)
Online: expressnews.com/spurs
Notes
Masked man: Spurs trainer Will Sevening customized a protective mask that made Will Perdue available to play in Saturday’s game, but Perdue did not leave the bench.
Malik Rose accidentally fractured Perdue’s nose in Thursday’s win at Houston. Before Saturday’s game, Perdue said the bleeding had stopped, but his nose was still sore.
Sevening altered the padding on a silver mask Perdue wore two seasons ago, when he fractured the foot orbit of his right eye.
“Will never thought that ninth- grade wood shop would pay off,” Perdue said. - Johnny Ludden
By Johnny Ludden, via San Antonio Express-News