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OK I've gotten a little bit behind again with my updates. For this reason I'm going to link you to ESPN's recaps of the three games, with a little bit of my own commentary along the way.
Wednesday the Spurs began a 3 games in 4 nights stretch. The last two of the three are back-to-back, and on the road - @OKC & @Dallas.
Wed, Mar. 14 vs. Orlando: ESPN's boxscore & recap. This might be the game of the year so far. Nothing like a dominant performance at home against a very good team, right? Last game of the 7-game home-stand after the Rodeo road-trip. Richard Jefferson's last game as a Spur, not to mention what was thought to be Dwight Howard's last game with Orlando, was a close game most of the way, except for our 10-pt. hole early in the 1st-Q. Both teams shot very well, and it wasn't until about 2:58 left in the game when we took a 10-pt. lead and took control.Image Source (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)
Whenever we have 6 guys in double figures, only 6 turnovers, make 13 of 26 from three, and make 86% of our FTs, we're gonna be tough to beat - especially at home. Tony had 31 & 12 asst., and Duncan had 21 & 13 boards as the Spurs WIN 122-111.
Fri, Mar. 16 in Oklahoma City: ESPN's boxscore & recap. Our third and final meeting with the Thunder this season started with a bang, as we would jump out to a 30-16 lead just before a James Harden three ended the 1st-Q. Blair and Green were outrageously effective in this one. They were huge contributors to a Spurs' 27-pt. 2-Q lead (63-36). So yeah we're kicking their tails at this point, but Harden & Ibaka lead a 12-2 run of their own to close the half (65-48).Russell Westbrook exponentially extended the excitement of this game by almost
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single-handedly keeping the Thunder in the game in the 2nd-half (he had 13 3rd-Q pts. and 7 more in the 4th). Down 16 with :32 left in the 3rd-Q, the Thunder went on a 14-0 run over a 3:55 span, and it was suddenly a game - and the OKC crowd was well aware! Spurs were 0-7 with 3 turnovers during that span. Enter Danny Green.
Green's 8 pts. in less than 3 minutes, combined with 4 from Tony & 4 from Timmy, countered Westbrook's and Harden's clutch play. Durant would nail a big three with 1:20 left to close to 107-105, SA. Four timeouts later, we would make all the plays down the stretch. A Duncan lay-in, a spectacular Danny Green steal of an in-bounds pass, and three FTs would seal the awesome Spurs WIN, 114-105. Danny Green's performance of 21 pts., 4 reb., and 5 steals was incredible, but Tim Duncan proved he is gonna be a force to be reckoned with for a while: 16 pts., 19 reb., and 5 blocks. It marks the first time since 2003 that he's recorded that many boards and blocks in a game. And he's old? And as good as Westbrook played, I think he still may have been in awe (Notice and then click on the title).
Sat, Mar. 17 in Dallas: ESPN's boxscore & recap. After 2 straight games of mostly dominance, my Spurs have to play the reigning World Champions, who were resting, waiting for us. We came out a little flat, and got behind 23-12, and 28-19 after 1-Q. Things would change, though, asImage Source (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Stephen Jackson makes his second Spurs' debut. He and Splitter would bring us back to within 2. The end of the 1st-half marked a classic Dirk/Duncan rivalry. Down by two after 2-Q, Rodrigue Beaubois began to make a statement, but the game would stay pretty close until back-to-back threes by Jason Terry and Jason Kidd led to the Mavs' biggest lead since the 1st-Q. (68-58).
This would be a 10-pt. lead that would become a Maverick basis for the rest of the game. They would extend it to 13, then we would cut it to 5. Then in less than another minute they would extend it to 13 again. Down the stretch, Beaubois, Terry, and Vince Carter would hit all the key shots the Mavs needed, while it seemed as if we took too many threes to try to catch-up too quickly. That just snowballed, and the threes continued, without going inside. Spurs shot 3 of 8 from three in the 4th, but in contrast the Mavs hit 6 of 10, for a total of 11 of 24 for the game! I doubt they've hit 11 in a game this year.
Nevertheless, we played tough and tired, and withstood a great shooting night by the Mavericks - while being out-rebounded 48-35. We also missed 8 of 18 FTs. These are two things that must be addressed if we're gonna win a title this year. The Spurs' 106-99 LOSS gives the Mavs the 2-1 series advantage for the season, but we get enact some revenge this next Friday.
Three full days off, and then it's a home-stand vs. Minnesota and Dallas Wednesday & Friday. However, the Dallas game at home Friday begins our first of two back-to-back-to-backs. Luckily the middle game of the three is at New Orleans, so I expect Pop to seriously rest a bunch of guys.
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