Suns-Spurs Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO
Posted Jan 26 2013 1:04AM

The Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs own the best home record in the NBA, and that doesn't seem likely to change against their next opponent.

The Phoenix Suns, however, are finding a spark under new coach Lindsey Hunter.

While it's unclear if coach Gregg Popovich and forward Tim Duncan will return, the Spurs go for a 16th straight home win Saturday night when they face the Suns for the first time this season.

San Antonio (35-11) is a league-best 19-2 at home, winning 15 in a row since a 92-87 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 19. It's the Spurs' longest winning streak at AT&T Center since reeling off a franchise-record 22 straight in 2010-11.

Their current dominance includes averaging 107.1 points while limiting opponents to 42.9 percent from the floor - 30.9 from behind the arc.

Lately, the venue hasn't mattered with San Antonio putting together a season high-tying seven-game winning streak following Friday's 113-107 victory at Dallas. It was the second consecutive game the Spurs played without Popovich (illness) and Duncan (knee).

The Spurs were also down Tony Parker for nearly a quarter Friday after he required three stitches to close a cut above his eye. He returned to finish with 23 points and 10 assists.

"I think this group has shown that ability to if somebody is down then somebody else is going to step up," said Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer. "They all have a lot of confidence, and they know we have confidence in them."

DeJuan Blair should have plenty of confidence after scoring a season-high 22 points against the Mavericks, picking up the slack in Duncan's absence again.

Duncan, though, averages 23.0 points and 12.1 rebounds in 28 career home meetings with Phoenix (15-28).

A visit from the Suns would only appear to help keep the Spurs rolling. They've averaged 109.2 points during six straight regular-season home wins in the series since a loss on Oct. 29, 2008.

Phoenix, though, is entering this meeting in search of a third straight victory since Hunter surprisingly replaced Alvin Gentry on the bench Sunday following a woeful 2-13 stretch.

"When you change a coach, you always get a little bit of a reaction from everybody," forward Luis Scola said. "Everybody wants to play a little bit harder and everybody wants to do a little bit more. This is just a critical situation and everybody gives a little bit more of themselves."

Hunter's insistence on improved defensive play seems to be partly responsible. The Suns won his debut 106-96 at Sacramento on Wednesday, and followed that up the next day by holding the Pacific Division-leading Clippers to 39.8 percent shooting in a 93-88 victory.

"Our focus is to create a defensive mentality, to create a defensive presence," Hunter said. "Our guys are working hard to do it. It's a difficult thing to just change like that. To see every last guy really buying into it and realizing that regardless of how you shoot the ball, if you can defend you always have a chance to win a game, and our guys have been phenomenal in that area."

Goran Dragic, Phoenix's leader with 14.2 points and 6.2 assists per game, seems to be adjusting just fine under Hunter. He had 24 points and eight assists Thursday after dishing out 11 against the Kings.

The guard, though, is averaging 3.3 points and 2.8 assists in six visits to San Antonio.

Sebastian Telfair had no points in 14 minutes against Los Angeles, but he may see an increased role since he's totaled 41 in the past two meetings with the Spurs.

Parker powers Spurs past Suns 108-99

Posted Jan 27 2013 2:14AM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) It's easy to see why Tony Parker is headed to another All-Star game.

Parker had 31 points and seven assists, and the San Antonio Spurs earned their eighth consecutive win by shutting down the Phoenix Suns in the final quarter for a 108-99 victory on Saturday night.

"He is unbelievable," said teammate Manu Ginobili, who had 20 points. "I cannot say he became a fourth-quarter finisher this year because of how he played last year, especially in the first two months. But he is in that point of his career where he is so confident. He is doing so good that he can relax a little bit in the first half then when we need him, he starts making those jumpers and takes over."

Tiago Splitter had 13 points and Boris Diaw finished with 11 for San Antonio (36-11), which has won 16 in a row at home.

Michael Beasley had 25 points and Jared Dudley scored 23 for the Suns (15-29), who lost for the first time since coach Lindsey Hunter took over.

"He's their best player," Dudley said of Parker. "He's their best offensive threat. He knows their offense. If they don't have him, I know the Spurs are always good, but they can't win without him."

Playing without Tim Duncan (sore knee) and coach Gregg Popovich (illness) for a third consecutive game, the Spurs needed a clutch performance from Parker in the fourth and he stepped up again.

Showing no ill effects from a blow to the head by Elton Brand that required three stitches during a 113-107 victory at Dallas on Friday night, Parker had 11 points and five assists as San Antonio outscored Phoenix 27-17 in the fourth, forcing six turnovers in the period. The speedy point guard finished 13 for 17 from the field and only had three turnovers in 34 minutes.

The Spurs turned up their defensive pressure in the final period, forcing three turnovers and three missed shots while building a 96-88 lead with 6:21 remaining. Parker had four points and an assist in the 7-0 run, including racing down the court for a layup after stepping in front of a pass by Markieff Morris.

"Over the last few years it is becoming my team and coach Pop is always challenging me to become the franchise player who closes games and makes good decisions with the ball offensively for myself and my teammates," Parker said. "I always take to heart Pop's challenges."

San Antonio grabbed control after Ginobili was knocked down by Shannon Brown with 31.4 seconds left in the third, leading to a flagrant foul and an ejection.

Brown struck Ginobili violently across the side of the head as he attempted to recover defensively after getting beat off the dribble. Ginobili also was undercut by Morris almost simultaneously, leading to loud jeers by the crowd. The ejection shocked Brown, who watched mouth agape as the foul was replayed on the video screen.

"I saw a clear path and I thought I was going to go to lay it up and then I felt that hit in the head and I did not know what happened," Ginobili said. "I knew it was a flagrant foul, but I did not see what the player was doing."

The play invigorated Ginobili, who had two steals and a 3 to bridge the third and fourth quarters and tie the game at 84.

Hunter refused to blame the foul for Phoenix's struggles in the fourth.

"We talk about being a no-excuse organization and that's no excuse," he said. "We're not at that level right now, but I can tell you this, it won't be long before we are."

Just as it did in Wednesday's 106-102 victory over New Orleans, San Antonio struggled early.

The Spurs missed their first three shots while failing to score in the first 3 minutes. After Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard each missed a 3, Parker scored on a layup after Goran Dragic fell while attempting to backpedal defensively.

The basket sparked the Spurs, who made their next 10 attempts in a 22-13 run. Parker scored 10 points during the run, including a layup that put San Antonio up 22-19 with 4 minutes left.

Beasley scored 10 points in the second quarter, including six during an 11-6 surge that put Phoenix ahead 49-48 with 4:21 left in the half.

"They have history," Beasley said. "They just know how to win. The same guys have been here for the last hundred years. They know how to play with each other. They've won titles on top of titles. We've got to be able to take care of the ball, at the very least get a shot."

NOTES: Duncan has sat out four games this season after missing eight during last year's strike-shortened season. ... Suns F Channing Frye (enlarged heart) remains out indefinitely. Frye has not played this season. ... The Spurs swept the season series against the Suns last season, winning the four games by an average of 8.5 points. ... Phoenix general manager Lance Blanks spent five seasons in San Antonio's front office, ascending to director of scouting before joining the Suns.

Notebook: Spurs 108, Suns 99

Tim Price, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:32 AM - Updated Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:32 AM

THE FACTS: Tony Parker scored 31 points for San Antonio, 11 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Spurs to a 108-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday at AT&T Center.

While coach Gregg Popovich (illness) and Tim Duncan (sore left knee) each missed their third-straight games, Manu Ginobili came off the bench for 20 points as the Spurs (36-11) won for the eighth-straight time and 16th in a row at home.

The Suns were led by a season-high 25 points off the bench from Michael Beasley. Jared Dudley scored 23 points off 10-for-12 shooting for Phoenix (15-29). The Suns had come into the game winning three of their last five.

QUOTABLE: "With Manu [Ginobili] having been injured, and now [Tim Duncan] is a little dinged up, it's probably given Tony [Parker] more opportunities. We're almost down to no choices, and he loves it."

-- Mike Budenholzer, the Spurs assistant who has acted in place of Popovich

THE STAT: Dudley entered the fourth quarter 9-for-10, but he played 10 minutes in the fourth and took only two shots. Meanwhile, Parker also played 10 minutes and was 5-for-7 with 11 points and five assists. In fact, during the final 9 ½ minutes of the game the Spurs outscored Phoenix 22-11 and Parker either scored or had an assist on all but one of the scoring possessions.

TURNING POINT: The Suns led 88-86 when they tried to set up a shot for Dudley. But they couldn't find a quality shot and turned the ball over on a 24-second shot clock violation. Phoenix went scoreless on the next six trips down the floor and went from leading by two to trailing by eight.

QUOTABLE II: "You can ask the other 30 teams in the NBA that same question [how to stop Parker]. I thought Goran [Dragic] did just as well. Goran attacked and fought defensively. Our guys stood toe-to-toe with a giant tonight and they still came out standing."

-- Suns coach Lindsey Hunter

HOT: Dudley and Beasley combined to shoot 21-for-28 (75 percent). But the rest of the Suns finished 20-for-53 (38 percent).

NOT: Spurs starting guard Danny Green was 0-for-5 and backup Gary Neal was 1-for-7.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Parker has scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games and eight of his last nine. During his last seven games he's averaging 23.2 points per game and 9.8 assists.

GOOD MOVE: Dudley had been having his way most of the night, hitting 10 of his first 11 shots. In the fourth quarter, the Spurs tightened the defense and assigned their best perimeter defenders -- Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson -- to defend him. The 24-second violation with just more than eighth minutes to go came when Jackson was on Dudley.

BAD MOVE: Shannon Brown was ejected from the game late in the third quarter when the officiating crew of Zach Zarba, Sean Corbin and Eric Walen called Brown for a Flagrant 2. Brown was beat on a dribble in the lane by Ginobili, and he swung his arm high from behind as Ginobili was going in for a layup.

ROOKIE WATCH: None of the rookies who suited up tonight -- Kendall Marshall and Luke Zeller for Phoenix and Nando De Colo for San Antonio -- played. It's the first time in eight games that De Colo has not participated, while Marshall has not played in the last five and Zeller has not played in the last two.

NOTABLE: The 10 shots made by Dudley tonight is one off his career best, which he has done twice before (the most recent being last month against the Knicks). ... The 11 shots made by Beasley tonight was his season-best. ... This was the first loss for Hunter in the three games since he took over for recently fired coach Alvin Gentry.

UP NEXT: For the Suns, Sunday @ Dallas, Wednesday vs. L.A. Lakers, Friday @ Golden State. For the Spurs, Wednesday vs. Charlotte, Saturday vs. Washington, Wednesday @ Minnesota.

• Suns: Frye, Garrett
• Spurs: Duncan, Joseph

• Suns: --
• Spurs: --

• Lead Changes: 9
• Times Tied: 10

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #28 Zach Zarba, #33 Sean Corbin, #75 Eric Dalen
• Attendance: 18581
• Duration: 2:06