Spurs vs. Pacers Recap

After beating the Golden State Warriors, the Spurs (13-10) hosted the Indiana Pacers (9-15) in San Antonio. With the Spurs winning five of their last six games, they hope to continue this winning trend tonight. Note, if the Spurs win, Coach Pop will pick up win 700 for his career making him the 17th coach in NBA history to accomplish such feat.

The Pacers recently lost their main player, Danny Granger, to an injury to his right plantar fascia. Something Spurs fan know all about with Duncan suffering a similar injury. To add insult to injury, the Pacers have not won in San Antonio since 2002.

So how did the Spurs do?  This is how it went down in San Antonio.

First Quarter:

Spurs started with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Keith Bogans, Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess.

Parker opened up things for the Spurs by drawing a foul on Pacers’ Roy Hibbert and hit 1-2 free-throws. He then hit an open shot. Bogans got an early foul and Pop pulled him out and brought in Malik Hairston. Pop gave Bogans some “tough love” on the bench as he soon came back in the game. Duncan scored quick four points for the Spurs as well.

However, the Pacers kept it close and the Pacers’ Troy Murphy drained a three and just like that the Pacers tied the game at 7 at the 8:09 point of the quarter.

Roger Mason got in the game very early in the game due to Jefferson getting into early foul trouble. Manu then passed to Duncan in the post for an easy two. Duncan was having a nice quarter and had eight points early in the game as Hibbert was playing soft defense on Timmy. With 4:12 left in the quarter it was 15-14, Spurs with the lead.

Turnovers started to creep into the games for the Spurs as this led to the Pacers get a 3 point lead on the Spurs.  Manu got in the action with a teardrop shot in the paint. The Spurs finally cranked up the defense and Manu was aggressive going to the rim and getting to the free-throw line.

Spurs went on a 15-3 run to build up an nine point lead on the Pacers when Manu hit a quarter ending three-point shot. At the end of the first it was 30-21, Spurs with the lead.

Leading the way was Duncan with 8 points and the Spurs committed 4 turnovers. They shot 60% from the field.

Second Quarter:

Spurs started with McDyess, Hill, Ginobili, Blair, and Mason.

Hill was aggressive and drew the foul which sent him to the line.  Bogans then hit a three from an assist from Hill. Pacers coach Jim O’Brian then picked up the technical foul contesting a no-call on Blair. Speaking of Blair, he got an offensive board fighting off two Pacers and got the bucket.  At the 7:43 point of the game it was 40-27 Spurs in the lead. Once again it was the Spurs second unit building up this lead for San Antonio outscoring the Pacers bench 22-4 in the game so far.

Parker then hit a nice left-handed layup over Roy Hibbert. The Spurs were just dominating the Pacers on the boards. At one point it was 22-11 on the boards in favor of the Spurs. Good to see Mason hit outside shots and get the layup on a fast-break.

Duncan continued to dominate the Pacers’ big men getting great post position for easy layups. Parker attacked the rim and was picking up the fouls on the Pacers’ defenders. At the 2:58 point of the quarter it was 50-37, Spurs.

Bad news for Spurs as it was reported Bonner breaks his right hand during the game and will be out for sometime.

Pacers then go on a 8-0 run to cut into the Spurs lead thanks to the Spurs committing more turnovers.  At the half it was 50-45.

Leading the way was Duncan for the Spurs with 11 points. Spurs committed 8 turnovers and shot 46% from the floor. Spurs led in the rebounding department against the Pacers 29-17.

Third Quarter:

Spurs started with Jefferson, Duncan, Parker, Bogans and McDyess.

Pacers continued their run from the first half and it got up to an 11-0 run on the Spurs until Parker hit a pair of free-throws. Duncan then picked up a frustration technical foul as he felt he was fouled by the Pacers in the paint on one possession.

Aside from turnovers to look out for, tonight the Spurs were shooting terrible from the free-throw line. Got to give it to Pacers’ Roy Hibbert. He was aggressive in the paint, blocking shots and was hitting his free-throws.  At the 5:55 point of the game it was tied at 60.

Pacers just were playing with confidence in the third. It also didn’t help the Spurs were missing their free-throws and committing turnovers. Pacers took the lead away from the Spurs and it was 72-66 Pacers with the lead.

Pacers’ TJ Ford was getting into the lane, causing the Spurs defense to collapse leaving the Pacers’ shooters wide open.  Pacers took an 11 point lead over the Spurs at the 1:06 point of the game, 79-68 Pacers with the lead.

This was an absolute horrible quarter for the Spurs. Choked away a huge lead, no sense of urgency, missing free-throws and were not playing aggressive.

At the end of the third it was 83-70, Pacers with the lead. Leading the way for the Spurs so far was Bogans with 14 points. Spurs shot 41% from the floor and committed 9 turnovers so far in the game. They also went 12-26 from the free-throw line so far in the game.

Fourth Quarter:

Spurs started with Jefferson, Mason, Blair, Hill and Ginobili.

Hibbert continued to have a nice game for Indiana when he hit an outside shot. However, Manu drove to the basket to picks up the foul on Hibbert and go to the line.

The Spurs cut into the Pacers’ lead, mainly by Manu, and at the 8:56 point of the quarter it was 87-79 Pacers in the lead.

TJ Ford then hit a corner three over Duncan but Duncan then got to the rim for an easy bucket. Duncan then blocked Pacers’ Troy Murphy which lead to an RJ crossing over on Pacers’ Tyler Hansbrough for a nice reverse dunk. At the 7:23 point of the quarter it was 89-83 Pacers with the lead.

George Hill started to feel it for the Spurs. Hitting outside shots and picking up fouls on the Pacers. Finally the Spurs started to hit their free-throws and were in striking distance of the Pacers. Duncan then hit the bank shot and the Spurs took the lead with 3:09 left in the game it was 96-95, Spurs in the lead.

Spurs defense was just stellar late in the fourth. Parker stole the ball from the Pacers which lead to Parker hitting a layup from a pass from RJ. However it was a nip and tuck game.

It was a nail-biter but Duncan, with 10 seconds left in the game, dunks on Hibbert to take the lead for the Spurs and with 4 seconds left in the game the Pacers’ TJ Ford misses a shot.  The Spurs win 100-99 after being down by 13 points.

Spurs record goes to 14-10 and will next play the Los Angeles Clippers in San Antonio on Monday.

Also congrats to Coach Pop for getting his 700th win of his career!

Shiny Spur Award: Tim Duncan
Rusty Spur Award: Antonio McDyess

Notes:

• Spurs allowed 30 points in the third quarter and were outscored by 18 in the third.
• Spurs shot 42% from the floor for the game, only committed eight turnovers (shocking), and out rebounded the Pacers, 51-38.
• Tim Duncan had 19 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. Hill with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Parker with 15 points and four assists. Bogans added 14 points.
• Another game and another mediocre game from McDyess. In 23 minutes he had two points and eight rebounds. Spurs need to see a lot more from him.
• Spurs did not play with a sense of urgency in the crucial third quarter.
• Free-throws! Spurs went 23-38 from the line but to their credit did make them in the fourth quarter when it counted.
• Spurs defense held the Pacers to just 16 points in the fourth quarter.
• Spurs bench scored 40 for the game.
• Matt Bonner broke his right hand during the game and will be re-evaluated on Monday.
• As much as a win is a win, there was no need for this game to be a nail-biter. The Pacers were without Granger and this Spurs team should have put this team away early in the game.