Suns-Spurs Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Jan 14 2012 3:44PM

The San Antonio Spurs continue to dominate at home, and their next visiting foe could come into town short-handed.

The Spurs will try to improve to 9-0 at home Sunday night when they meet the Phoenix Suns, who could be without Steve Nash and Grant Hill.

San Antonio (8-4) is off to its best start at home since beginning 13-0 in 2006-07. The Spurs cruised to a 99-83 victory Friday over Portland by outscoring the Trail Blazers by 16 in the fourth quarter.

"I thought we earned it," coach Gregg Popovich said. "We competed well. We had a lot of guys that competed defensively and rebounding wise in the second half and it generated a lot for us."

The Spurs continue to play without star guard Manu Ginobili but still should be favored against Phoenix (4-7), which is beginning a five-game trip and is unsure when Nash and Hill will return. The aging stars sat out Friday's 110-103 loss to New Jersey.

According to Suns coach Alvin Gentry, the 37-year-old Nash has a "charley horse" type injury - technically a right quad contusion - and the 39-year-old Hill has a right quad tendon strain.

Those injuries occurred in Phoenix's 101-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. Nash also is bothered by a sore back, a condition that has bothered him throughout his career.

The Suns dropped their third straight Friday as Ronnie Price filled in for Nash with 18 points and eight assists.

"It's kind of like Peyton Manning for the Colts," said forward Jared Dudley about playing without Nash. "This offense is predicated on him and everything. Ronnie filled in nicely. He played extremely well. But obviously there's only one Nash and obviously you need G-Hill out there."

Price and the Suns guards had trouble with Deron Williams, who had 35 points and 14 assists one night after Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving had 26 and six against Phoenix.

That could be good news for Spurs top scorer Tony Parker, who scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter Friday. Parker is averaging 17.8 points on 47.0 percent shooting at home compared to marks of 12.3 points on 38.5 percent on the road.

"They did a pretty good job on me the first three quarters," Parker said. "I was just trying to wait for my time."

Rookie Kawhi Leonard scored 11 points for the second straight game in his second consecutive start since replacing Gary Neal in the lineup.

Another young player, Tiago Splitter, is starting to become more effective. Splitter made all five shots for a season-high 14 points Friday, and has made 16 of his last 21 field-goal attempts.

"He has been doing this for years in Europe and everywhere," Popovich said. "He is a blue collared guy who just does the basics really, really well. He is a great competitor."

San Antonio went 3-1 against Phoenix last season. The Spurs can knot the all-time series at 72 wins apiece with a victory.

Duncan helps Spurs improve to 9-0 at home

Posted Jan 16 2012 1:35AM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Tim Duncan spent the summer trying to improve his jump shots.

It showed Sunday night as the two-time MVP and 13-time All-Star scored 24 points, many on jumpers, to lead the Spurs to a 102-91 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, keeping the Spurs perfect at home.

"Especially this summer, I worked on it a lot trying to extend my range a little bit," Duncan said. "Be a little more consistent. It's been up and down so far but great tonight."

Tony Parker had 17 points and nine assists for the Spurs, who have won three straight and improved to 9-0 at home - their best opening since they won their first 13 at home to begin the 2007-08 season. San Antonio is also 0-4 on the road.

DeJuan Blair added 14 points and rookie Kawhi Leonard had 12 for San Antonio.

"It was a good night for us," Duncan said. "We made some shots down the stretch for us, which was big. Tony's been great this season, especially in the fourth quarter for us."

Marcin Gortat had 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead Phoenix. Markieff Morris added 14 points, Jared Dudley had 12 points, and Shannon Brown had 10 as the Suns, beginning a five-game road trip, have lost four straight.

Suns veterans Steve Nash and Grant Hill returned after missing Friday's loss to New Jersey. Nash was out with a right quadriceps contusion and Hill missed the game with a right quadriceps tendon strain. Nash had 20 points and 10 assists, while Hill had just four points.

After the Suns closed what had been a 19-point game in the first half to five in the fourth quarter, San Antonio scored six straight, capped by Duncan's 17-foot jumper. to remain in control.

One spot that was consistent for much of the game was the Spurs' defense, which has been a sore spot for coach Gregg Popovich at times this season. San Antonio entered the game ranked ranked 26th in opponents' field goal percentage. Duncan sees things improving, though.

"It's progressing," Duncan said. "Yeah, it's progressing. It's been way too high for the first couple of games of the season here. It's been up and down. We're not at the consistency where we need to be at. All in all we're getting there. It's a work in progress. We know it's a long season. We use the season to get where we want to be. But defensively we have to be a lot better."

Phoenix's problems were easy to pinpoint: the second quarter, when San Antonio held the Suns to 6-of-23 shooting in building a 19-point lead.

"You just can't spot them 19, especially playing at home," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "It was an uphill battle from there. We gave ourselves an opportunity to make it interesting at the end but, you know, once again, we dug a hole and spent a whole lot of time trying to dig ourselves out of it."

Phoenix finished 38 of 91 from the field, while the Spurs hit 40 of 81 shots.

"We just didn't quit," Hill said. "We fought hard. The problem was we gave them a big lead. When you're down 19 against a good team, you spend so much energy trying to get back in the game. We fought hard, we're playing hard, we're not playing to our fullest potential. But we're certainly playing hard. There's never any quit."

NOTES: Duncan's jumper with 1:29 left in the second quarter moved him past Gary Payton into 26th on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 21,829. Clyde Drexler is 25th with 22,195. ... Neal sustained a right quad contusion in the second quarter and didn't return. ... Spurs F Malcolm Thomas missed the game with gastroenteritis. ... Suns F Hakim Warrick received a technical foul with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter for arguing with referees. ... Hill said after the game he's OK physically. "I felt fine. My legs felt good. My knee feels real good."

Notebook: Spurs 102, Suns 91

By Tim Price, for NBA.com
Posted Monday January 16, 2012 1:06AM

THE FACTS: Tim Duncan's move past Larry Bird and Gary Payton on the all-time scoring list was more than just ornamental this week, and he had the best game of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds in the Spurs' 102-91 victory over Phoenix on Sunday at AT&T Center.

Duncan is in 26th place on the career scoring list, moving past Payton tonight and now with 21,829 points in his 15th season. He passed Bird two games back.

San Antonio (9-4) also got 17 points and nine assists from Tony Parker. San Antonio is undefeated at home, but they remain winless on the road this season and start a two-game trip Tuesday at Miami followed the next night in Orlando.

The Suns (4-8) have lost four straight, but they got strong games from Marcin Gortat (24 points, 15 rebounds) and Steve Nash (20 points, 10 assists).

QUOTABLE: "I worked all this summer trying to extend my range jump shot a little bit. It's been up and down so far, but it was great tonight. They (the Suns) got a little too close to comfort, but we were able to close it out."
-- Duncan, who hit a number of key shots from past 15 feet tonight

THE STAT: The Spurs just shot better and controlled the game to the point that they got to the free-throw line more. They almost hit 50 percent from the floor (40-of-81) and had nine more trips to the line, limiting a foul shooter like Nash to just two free-throw attempts. The Suns were four percentage points below their season average from the floor (39-of-91, almost 42 percent) and were outscored 17-10 from the foul line.

TURNING POINT: There was a second on the shot clock with San Antonio inbounding with a five-point lead and five minutes to go. Yet Parker got the ball in cleanly and Duncan got off a 15-footer than went in over a late-arriving Channing Frye for a basket and a 94-87 lead. Frye had just come in for rookie Markieff Morris less than a minute earlier, and he'd go back out for Morris not two minutes later. The Spurs outscored Phoenix 8-4 the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "It was a challenge (playing against Duncan). I don't think I was really focused today. (Duncan) got me a couple of times on the pump fake and I fouled him. I had worse games against him, so I would say it was a decent game against him today. I tried to be aggressive, put the ball on the ground and run up and down because I knew Tim Duncan couldn't keep up with me. I tried to make him tired."
-- Gortat

HOT: Duncan's 10-of-14 is not out of the normal for him lately. He hit 9-of-12 against Milwaukee last week.

NOT: In addition to his late defensive lapse on the inbounds to Duncan, Frye couldn't hit his shot. He finished 0-of-7 including all three of his 3-pointers. Frye had been one of Phoenix's best shooters of late, going 24-of-37 (65 percent) better than 50 percent (11-of-20) from the 3-point line the last four games.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Duncan (24-11 and also four assists) had his double-double just 6:45 after halftime. It's his third double-double of the season but his second in the last three games. Gortat (24-15) actually had a subpar shooting night, his 11-of-20 well below his league-leading .633 shooting percentage heading into this one. He's scored in double digits nine of the past 10 games.

GOOD MOVE: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had rookie Cory Joseph leading the team at point guard from 1:52 left in the third quarter (San Antonio led by 10), and he didn't blink on putting Parker back into the game until Suns coach Alvin Gentry moved first on the Phoenix bench with Nash's return. That happened with 7:21 to go and the Spurs leading by seven. With the rest, Parker immediately connected with Duncan, who knocked down a 15-footer.

BAD MOVE: The Suns could have done some damage with the inexperienced Joseph on the floor. Yet Ronnie Price failed to follow his nine 3-ball that cut the Spurs leads to six. The next trip down the floor, with a chance to cut it to at least four, Price dribbled the ball away and watched Joseph pick up the loose ball. Joseph was headed in for a sure layup the other way until Robin Lopez was called for a foul that sent Joseph to the line. Lopez was fortunate he was not called for a clear-path foul.

ROOKIE WATCH: Kawhi Leonard had his third-straight start and hit 4-of-8 for 12 points and had eight rebounds. He also seemed more willing with the three, knocking 2-of-4 from past the arc.

Morris had another strong game, though it would have helped if he'd have stayed out of foul trouble (four). He hit 6-of-10 shots and scored 14 points in 25 minutes. He was 2-of-6 from past the 3-point line.

Joseph, getting his most significant action with almost 13 minutes, had one assist and two steals with no turnovers, and he scored a point from the foul line.

Malcolm Thomas, called up last week from the D-League by San Antonio, missed the game due to gastroenteritis.

NOTABLE: With Gary Neal hobbled by a right quadriceps contusion (he was injured in the first half), the Spurs had no one to turn to other than Joseph as the backup point guard. He's very wet behind the ears: He's already spent a week at D-League Austin and had been averaging less than five minutes in five games coming into tonight. No timetable has been announced for Neal, who was moving from shooting guard to backup point with T.J. Ford out more than a month with a left hamstring tear. ... Though he has moved up two spots on the career scoring list in less than a week, it should be a while before another career milestone for Duncan. He's 366 points behind Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 25th place. ... The Spurs evened up the all-time series with Phoenix with the win (72-72), and now there's only one team -- the Lakers -- with a lead over the Spurs in an all-time series. ... This was the first of a five-game road trip for the Suns, who don't play in Phoenix again until Jan. 24 (the opponents all made the playoffs last season and includes current division leaders San Antonio and Chicago). ... Hakim Warrick was whistled for a technical foul by Leroy Richardson for arguing when the teams were walking off for a timeout late in the first half.

UP NEXT: For the Suns, Tuesday @ Chicago, Wednesday @ New York, Friday @ Boston. For the Spurs, Tuesday @ Miami, Wednesday @ Orlando, Friday vs. Sacramento.

• Suns: --
• Spurs: Ford, Ginobili

• Suns: Warrick
• Spurs: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #36 David Jones, #20 Leroy Richardson
• Attendance: 18581
• Duration: 2:16