Pacers-Spurs Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Nov 04 2012 10:52PM

While they haven't made it easy on themselves so far this season, the San Antonio Spurs have a chance to secure the best start in franchise history.

The Spurs will try to improve to 4-0 while continuing their dominance of the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

San Antonio came from behind in the final minute to win its season opener, got a buzzer-beating game-winner from Tony Parker in its second game and needed a fourth-quarter recovery after blowing a 19-point lead Saturday against Utah.

The Jazz outscored the Spurs 35-17 in the third quarter to tie that game at 79 before San Antonio salvaged a 110-100 victory.

"We didn't panic. I thought we did a great job of sticking with what we were doing," forward Tim Duncan said.

After hitting a 21-foot jumper to beat Oklahoma City on Thursday, Parker had a team-leading 24 points and 10 assists versus Utah. The Spurs guard also made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in a season-opening 99-95 victory at New Orleans on Wednesday, when Duncan added a pair of late free throws.

Those efforts have helped San Antonio open with three consecutive wins for the fourth time in franchise history. Even with four titles, the Spurs have never won their first four games.

They have a good chance considering their track record against the Pacers (2-1), which includes wins in the last nine matchups and 12 of 13. San Antonio has prevailed in 13 of 14 home meetings and 10 straight.

The Spurs won 112-103 in last season's lone matchup March 31 at the AT&T Center. Duncan had a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Parker and Manu Ginobili each had 18 points.

Ginobili missed three preseason games and the first two regular-season contests with back problems before scoring eight points in 16 minutes Saturday. His presence in this game could make a difference, especially because he's averaged 20.8 points on 53.8 percent shooting and made 19 of 42 (45.2 percent) from 3-point range in his last eight games against the Pacers.

Indiana, meanwhile, remains without the services of Danny Granger, who has averaged 23.4 points in his last five matchups with San Antonio.

With a sore left knee keeping their perennial scoring leader out indefinitely, the Pacers have relied on their defense. They're giving up 92.0 points per game on 36.3 percent shooting after allowing 94.4 in 2011-12 and 100.9 in 2010-11.

Despite taking Saturday's game into double overtime, Sacramento failed to reach the century mark against Indiana in a 106-98 defeat. A 67-47 rebounding advantage aided the Pacers in their home opener, as did David West's 18 points and 18 boards.

Paul George added 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds to help his team bounce back from Friday's 90-89 loss at Charlotte. That defeat followed a 90-88 win over Toronto on Wednesday, when George Hill hit a tiebreaking shot with two seconds left.

"It's good for our team to know that in the tough situations, when we're not playing well, that we can continue to grind it out," Hill said. "I'm happy that we're learning in November instead of April or May."

Spurs beat Pacers 101-79 for first 4-0 start

Posted Nov 06 2012 12:32AM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs have won four NBA championships, made 32 playoff appearances and captured 18 division titles in their 40-year history.

Yet for all their success, they had never opened a season with four straight victories.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the Spurs finally did so Monday night, rolling past the Indiana Pacers 101-79 to remain unbeaten.

"I'm surprised we're still doing records," Parker said. "It seems like we did everything, but that's another one. That's great."

It's an unprecedented start for San Antonio, albeit one that left players scratching their heads.

"It's just a stat, not that important in the long-term," Manu Ginobili said. "(But) at this point we are enjoying it. It's curious that a team this successful hasn't started that well before."

The Spurs upended the Pacers (2-2) with what has become a familiar formula in recent years - a little Parker, a little Duncan and a lot off the bench.

Gary Neal scored 17 points, DeJuan Blair 14 and Stephen Jackson 12 to pace San Antonio's reserves. The Spurs outscored the Pacers' bench 57-35.

"That's kind of been our motto," Neal said. "With Manu coming off and Stephen Jackson, those guys could be starting on any team in the NBA. We are a deep team. We've just got to maintain effort when the bench comes in."

Duncan added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Parker finished with six points, seven assists and only one turnover.

Former Spurs guard George Hill led Indiana with 15 points. Paul George added 14 points and David West had 10.

The Spurs needed a boost from their bench after a sluggish start.

Both teams aggressively defended the point early, resulting in a combined 4-for-16 shooting from the field in the first 5 minutes.

The Spurs then scored nine straight points to take a 14-9 lead after sharing the ball more. Boris Diaw capped the run with a layup off a bounce pass from Parker with 5 minutes left in the first quarter.

Parker later fed a cutting Ginobili, who made a tip pass to Blair for a layup with 1 second left in the first quarter for a 26-18 lead.

"We moved the ball well," Ginobili said. "Gary was impressive today. But yeah, we changed the tempo of the game. We did good - much better than the last game."

Parker had three of the team's seven assists in the first quarter.

Parker sat for 9 minutes in the second period after playing the entire first. With the All-Star point guard on the bench, Jackson and Neal combined for nine points in an 11-0 run that gave the Spurs a 37-18 lead to open the second.

Indiana did not surpass 20 points until West dunked off an offensive rebound with 7 minutes left in the first half.

West kept the Pacers in contention, scoring all 10 of his points in the second quarter while going 4 for 5 from the field. His 23-foot jumper cut San Antonio's lead to 47-38 at halftime.

The Spurs maintained a double-digit lead for nearly all of the second half.

The Pacers shot just 35 percent for the game. San Antonio forced 14 turnovers in the second half.

"Their continuity is evident just watching them play," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "Thirteen of their 14 guys were here last year and their core guys have been here for many years winning championships. It's a system they are familiar with. They are a well-oiled machine and they play extremely hard on both sides of the court."

NOTES: Indiana forward Danny Granger missed his fourth game with a sore left knee. Granger is out indefinitely. ... Former Indiana Pacers point guard Haywoode Workman was among the game officials. Workman played for the Pacers from 1993-99 and spent parts of four other seasons with three other clubs. His final season in the NBA was 2000 with the Toronto Raptors. ... Hill received a loud ovation during pregame introductions. ... Parker went flying over the first row of courtside seats while chasing down a loose ball in the second half. He landed partially on Ed Whitacre, bending the eyeglass frame of the former CEO of General Motors and AT&T.

Notebook: Spurs 101, Pacers 79

Tim Price, for NBA.com
Posted Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:52 PM - Updated Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:52 PM

THE FACTS: Gary Neal came off the bench to score 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and the Spurs' productive reserves showed a double-double from DeJuan Blair (14 points, 11 rebounds) as San Antonio easily defeated Indiana 101-79 for the team's first 4-0 start in its 40-year history Monday at AT&T Center.

Indiana, which won in double-overtime two nights ago against Sacramento, was led by George Hill's 15 points and David West's second straight double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds). But the Pacers (2-2) shot 34 percent from the field and turned the ball over 19 times compared to eight for San Antonio.

QUOTABLE: "We caught a break tonight. Without (Danny) Granger, their team loses their spacing and their ability to hang tough in certain periods of the game when he would keep them in the game. I thought our defense was very good tonight. It was impressive." -- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

THE STAT: Indiana stumbled through an 0-of-10 stretch from the end of the first quarter through the opening five minutes of the second and dug an early 20-point deficit. None of those shots came from within 12 feet of the basket, and for the night San Antonio's defense turned the Pacers into largely a jump shooting team by outscoring Indiana 52-24 in the paint.

TURNING POINT: Indiana trimmed San Antonio's 20-point second quarter lead to single digits by halftime when the Pacers scored 11 unanswered points to end the first half. But the Pacers came out flat to start the second half. On their first six possessions they committed three turnovers and missed two shots. They trailed by double digits the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "We turned the ball over a lot. We didn't get open shots." -- Roy Hibbert (1-of-7 from the floor, five rebounds and three turnovers).

HOT: After a 1-of-5 shooting night in the season-opener, Neal has gone 15-of-20 in the three games since.

NOT: Tyler Hansbrough has gone 22-of-25 from the free-throw line this season, but he was 1-of-7 from the floor tonight and is 2-of-10 in 39 minutes the past two games.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: After averaging less than eight minutes per game in the Spurs' playoff run last year, Blair resurfaced with a double-double (14, 11) that also came with four assists in less than 30 minutes of play.

INSIDE THE ARENA: After spending the first two home games wearing the new silver-gray alternative uniforms with the Spurs logo on the front, San Antonio returned to the traditional home white uniforms tonight.

GOOD MOVE: Pacers coach Frank Vogel stated before the game that he wanted Hibbert to be active on offense so that the Pacers had a chance to wear down Tim Duncan. It was more like the other way around. Duncan took six shots in the opening 6:15 and made half of them while Hibbert missed all four shots in the first quarter -- took none in seven second-quarter minutes -- and Duncan went on to score his third double-double in four games (14 and 11 in 25 1/2 minutes tonight).

BAD MOVE: The Pacers' lineup switch that sent Sam Young into the starting lineup for his defense and Gerald Green onto the bench as a featured sixth man for his scoring didn't pay immediate dividends. This was Indiana's worst defeat of the young season, the fewest the team has scored and the most points the Pacers have allowed.

ROOKIE WATCH: They all got garbage minutes tonight. Nando De Colo played almost four minutes (0-of-2 from the floor) for San Antonio. For Indiana, Ben Hansbrough, Orlando Johnson and Miles Plumlee each played the same amount as De Colo and scored a total of four points. It was the first appearances for the Indiana rookies this regular season.

NOTABLE: The 17 minutes from Manu Ginobili exceeded the 15 1/2 he played Saturday in his first game since experiencing back spasms during the preseason. Ginobili scored three points but had seven assists. ... The Pacers continued to be without Granger, who has missed all four games with a sore knee.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Wednesday @ Atlanta, Friday @ Minnesota, Saturday vs. Washington. For the Spurs, Wednesday @ L.A. Clippers, Friday @ Sacramento, Saturday @ Portland.

• Pacers: Granger, Pendergraph
• Spurs: Joseph

• Pacers: --
• Spurs: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #27 Dick Bavetta, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 17158
• Duration: 2:02