76ers-Spurs Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Mar 25 2012 1:04AM

The San Antonio Spurs have had to shuffle their lineup during the first two games of a back-to-back-to-back stretch, but they continue finding players to step up.

The Spurs will try to win their fourth straight and continue their home dominance against the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

San Antonio has won six of seven to pull within three games of Oklahoma City for the Western Conference lead.

After cruising to a 104-87 win over Dallas on Friday, the Spurs (32-14) had to hold on for an 89-86 win at conference-worst New Orleans on Saturday, shooting 40.0 percent while going 2 for 19 from 3-point range.

Tony Parker returned after missing the previous game with tightness in his hamstring but Manu Ginobili, who started in place of Parker on Friday, did not make the trip while he recovers from a hip problem.

Gary Neal (foot) and Tiago Splitter (back) both missed the game as well.

With San Antonio short-handed, DeJuan Blair, who averaged 6.0 points the previous three games, stepped up and finished with 23 points, while Tim Duncan had 13 points, including a key basket and two free throws down the stretch. He also had seven boards and three blocks.

"I thought that they hung in there," coach Gregg Popovich said. "I thought New Orleans was more efficient than we were and executed better than we did. So we just had to hang in there and keep plugging."

Prior to the victory, Popovich said he may rest Duncan for this game.

While the Spurs struggled against one of the NBA's worst teams, they'll face another playoff contender in Philadelphia. However, San Antonio is 23-1 at home against the 76ers since the start of the 1986-87 season, winning the last seven.

Philadelphia (27-21) is trying to strengthen its hold on the Atlantic Division. The 76ers have won two of three since a three-game losing streak, defeating Boston 99-86 on Friday to increase their lead to 1 1/2 games over the second-place Celtics.

Elton Brand scored 20 points, Louis Williams had 19 and Philadelphia played good defense, scoring 20 points off 13 Boston turnovers while outrebounding the Celtics 46-35.

Brand scored 14 of his points in the third quarter, making 7 of 10 shots while the Sixers outscored the Celtics 37-17. While a balanced offense has meant Brand's scoring average has dipped to a career-low 10.6 points this season, he showed he can still take over a game.

"When we were winning, they didn't need a lot," early this season, Brand, whose season high is 21 points, said. "I said, when they need me, I'd be prepared. That was a game like tonight. They needed me to step up and I did."

While the 76ers are leading the division, they haven't fared well against other playoff contenders. Before defeating the Celtics, their previous four losses were against New York, Chicago, Miami and Indiana.

"To me, we've been playing playoff games for six weeks," said coach Doug Collins, who earned his 400th win Friday. "Whether it's at home or on the road. We've had an incredibly difficult schedule."

The 76ers will look to end their losing streak at the AT&T Center, although San Antonio won 100-90 in Philadelphia on Feb. 8. Parker, who finished with 12 points and 10 assists Saturday, scored 37 points in the victory versus the 76ers.

Philadelphia's last win in San Antonio was in 2004.

Parker scores 21 as Spurs beat 76ers 93-76

Posted Mar 25 2012 11:15PM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) For the third time in three nights, the San Antonio Spurs proved they know how to win short-handed.

Tony Parker scored 21 points and the Spurs, playing without Tim Duncan, beat the Philadelphia 76ers 93-76 on Sunday night.

DeJuan Blair added 19 points for the Spurs, who won for the seventh time in eight games and swept the season series with the 76ers. Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

With the Spurs playing the last of back-to-back-to-back games, coach Gregg Popovich gave the 35-year-old Duncan his second day off this season. It was the third straight night San Antion played without one of its stars as Parker sat out with a hamstring injury Friday at home against the Mavericks and Ginobili missed the win at New Orleans on Saturday with a hip injury.

"They show a lot of toughness, a lot of character to do that three nights in a row with different combinations and different players playing on each night," Popovich said. "What's really great is that they appreciate or are happy with the success of their teammates. Whoever's not playing isn't hoping something bad happens so he can get in the game or anything like. They really pull for each other."

San Antonio improved to 24-1 at home against the 76ers since the start of the 1986-87 season, winning the last eight. The 76ers' last win in San Antonio was in 2004.

Elton Brand led the 76ers with 12 points. Jodie Meeks, starting for Iguodala, added 11 points. Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday each added 10 as Philadelphia lost for the second time in its last four games. The Sixers were also missing one of their starters - forward Andre Iguodala, who missed the game because of left patella tendinitis.

Philadelphia trailed by three points at halftime, but San Antonio's defense helped force 14 second-half turnovers.

"They did speed us up," 76ers coach Doug Collins said. "I'll give their defense credit. They stripped us around the basket, must have been six or seven times. And once it started going south, we couldn't get it stopped."

It was the first game Iguodala missed this season. Collins said the team first found out about the injury earlier in the day and decided to hold him out as a precaution. He's expected to return for Tuesday's game against the Cavaliers.

"He does so much for us offensively and defensively," Brand said. "He gets easy shots for everybody. His defensive presence out there ... hopefully everything goes well for his knee."

Before the game, Popovich had said that Boris Diaw, playing in only his third game for the Spurs, would start for Duncan. But Diaw came off the bench and Matt Bonner drew the start. Bonner, starting for Duncan, finished with 10 points, and Danny Green also had 10 to help the Spurs improve to 20-4 at home.

San Antonio outscored Philadelphia 41-27 in the second half and held the 76ers to 12-of-38 shooting. It was the second-fewest points the 76ers have scored in a half this season - they scored 24 in the second half in a loss to Dallas on Feb. 17.

The Spurs scored 19 points off the 76ers' 14 second-half turnovers to cruise to victory.

"We went in at halftime and discussed our rotations and shifts," Leonard said. "We bought into the coach's game plan and went into the second half ready to play."

NOTES: The Spurs' statisticians at the AT&T Center poked some fun at Duncan, listing his line in the official box score with a "DND - OLD." ... Duncan, sitting with the Spurs' bench, was called for a technical foul with 2:35 remaining. Joey Crawford had warned the teams earlier about arguing calls, and Josh Tiven issued the technical. Crawford ejected Duncan from a 2007 game for laughing, and the referee later was suspended. Duncan was on the bench at the time he was ejected. ... Spurs G Gary Neal (left mid-foot sprain) and F Tiago Splitter (mid-back spasms) didn't play. It was the second straight game that Neal has missed and third for Splitter.

Notebook: Spurs 93, Sixers 76

Posted Sunday March 25, 2012 10:37PM

By Tim Price, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Tim Duncan was given the night off, but DeJuan Blair filled the hole in the middle of the Spurs interior with 19 points that added to a customary night from Tony Parker -- 21 points and seven assists -- as San Antonio planted a 93-76 defeat on the Andre Iguodala-less Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday at AT&T Center.

San Antonio finished a three-game-in-three-night stretch and won them all even with Duncan resting the last one. The Spurs (33-14) have won four in a row and seven of their last eight.

The absence of Iguodala, a late scratch with a flare up of left patella tendonitis, was compounded by the off night from Lou Williams. Philly's leading scorer, Williams shot 4-of-14, went 0-for-3 past the 3-point line, and scored nine points in 28 minutes. It was Iguodala's first missed start this season for the 76ers (27-22), who saw their lead in the Atlantic Division sink to a half game because Boston defeated Washington earlier in the day.

QUOTABLE: "This team (the Spurs) brings out the worst in us. They just put you in a bind the entire night. We normally turn the ball over 11 times and tonight it was 21. We missed 'Dre (Iguodala) because he's another ball handler. We were very careless, and that's unlike us."
-- 76ers head coach Doug Collins.

THE STAT: The Sixers scored 27 points in the second half -- three points from a season low for points in a half. When they weren't missing shots (12-of-38 for 31.6 percent including 0-of-6 from Jrue Holiday) they were turning it over. Their 14 turnovers (they average a league-low 10.8 per game) led to 19 Spurs points.

TURNING POINT: The Spurs started the second quarter by missing their first five shots from the floor (two were blocked), were 1-of-3 from the foul line and committed six turnovers (three-straight-possession at one point) and trailed Philly 36-30 with just 4 1/2 minutes gone from the second-quarter clock. But the Sixers could not build upon it. In less than two minutes after that the Spurs had scored six-straight and tied the game again.

QUOTABLE II: "DeJuan (Blair) had one of his better games for us. He played for 48 minutes, which is I guess impossible since I didn't put him in for that many minutes, but you catch my drift. He did a great job while he was out there, and he really set a tone for us in that respect."
-- Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

HOT: Elton Brand missed just two shots for the Sixers and has missed seven the past two games. Problem was he took only eight shots against the Spurs compared to his 10-of-15 effort last game against Boston.

NOT: The 76ers went 1-of-9 from the 3-point line and didn't hit one until Jodie Meeks, Iguodala's replacement, made one with 3:17 left in the game. Philly was outscored 21-3 from the 3-point line.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Blair just missed scoring 20 points in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 28-29 -- another set with games on consecutive nights. With his 23 points and seven rebounds the previous night at New Orleans, Blair has scored 42 points and grabbed 13 rebounds the past two games.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Dr. David Schmidt, the long-time team physician for the Spurs, was presented a framed team jersey bearing the name of his late son, Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt, who last October was killed in what was ruled a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan. It was Military Appreciation Night in San Antonio, and Popovich and Duncan made the presentation to Dr. Schmidt and his wife Teresa.

GOOD MOVE: With Duncan (he was given a day to rest) and big-man backup Tiago Splitter (mid-back spasms) sitting this one out, the Spurs were thin on the inside and were going to start Boris Diaw alongside Blair. But Popovich went with a factor he knew more with Matt Bonner in the starting lineup for the second time this season. Bonner responded by hitting a pair of 3-pointers and was 3-of-5 overall for eight points in eight minutes to give the Spurs a quick start. It allowed the undersized Spurs frontcourt more room to operate inside. Diaw played and went 0-of-3 with seven rebounds in 26 1/2 minutes.

BAD MOVE: The Sixers were not able to consistently apply defensive pressure to Manu Ginobili on drives to the basket. Ginobili was 0-of-5 from past the 3-point line, but he went 5-of-8 everywhere else, and that included drives to the basket when the 76ers had a big man like Spencer Hawes who could not keep up with the take-it-to-the basket Ginobili.

ROOKIE WATCH: Justin Dentmon has been scoring plenty of points in the D-League at Austin (double figures in 37 of 38 games), but he's yet to get untracked in San Antonio. He scored two points in 12 minutes tonight for the Spurs. Denton (6-0, 185 pounds) went undrafted in the 2010 Draft after playing four years at Washington, and he's in San Antonio after the Spurs have become thin at backup point guard. He's scored four points in 18 1/2 minutes since his call-up.

The Spurs heralded rookie, first-rounder Kawhi Leonard, had 11 points, 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.

NOTABLE: Duncan was in street clothes sitting next to the Spurs assistant coaches, yet he was called for a technical foul by referee Josh Tiven in the first half. Ironically, another time Duncan was called for a technical foul while sitting on the bench in his career came when Joey Crawford T'ed him up during a game in Dallas. Crawford also was calling the game tonight in San Antonio. Duncan made comments after Ginobili fell to the floor after a drive to the basket and did not get the foul call. ... San Antonio has won the last eight at home against Philly and is 24-1 since 1986-87, with Philly last winning here in 2004.

UP NEXT: For the 76ers, Tuesday vs. Cleveland, Friday @ Washington, Saturday vs. Atlanta. For the Spurs, Tuesday @ Phoenix, Wednesday @ Sacramento, Saturday vs. Indiana.

• 76ers: --
• Spurs: Joseph, Mills, Splitter

• 76ers: --
• Spurs: Duncan

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #58 Josh Tiven, #18 Matt Boland, #17 Joe Crawford
• Attendance: 18581
• Duration: 2:01