San Antonio 108, Indiana 97
Pacers can't dance with Spurs
At San Antonio | March 6, 2008
This quick trip is often referred to as the "Texas two-step."
It felt more like a forced march than a dance for the Pacers, who once again fell victim to one of the league's hottest teams, losing 108-97 Thursday in San Antonio. After the Rockets extended their NBA-high winning streak to 16 with a 117-99 win over Indiana Wednesday night, the Spurs (43-17) won their 11th in a row.
The Pacers (24-38) lost their second in a row overall and sixth straight in San Antonio.
"The Spurs are a heck of a basketball team and that’s why they are the defending champions. We played a tough game last night and just didn’t have what it took to beat the Spurs," said Coach Jim O'Brien. "Clearly, playing both the Rockets and the Spurs is a very hard challenge for us right now. Not too many teams get the opportunity to play against a team that has 15 wins in a row and 11 in a row. We just didn’t have what it took to get things done."
The Spurs reminded the Pacers a lesson previously taught a month ago: half a game is no game at all.
As happened when the teams met on Feb. 5, San Antonio broke open a close game with a dominating third quarter and coasted to a blowout victory. The final margin was deceptively narrow; the Spurs led by as many as 23 in the fourth quarter before clearing the bench.
The Pacers had reason for optimism heading into the second half trailing just 50-48 despite missing all 10 of their 3-point attempts – five by Danny Granger. But the Spurs immediately seized control behind Manu Ginobili, who scored the first five points in a 14-4 run that gave the home team a 64-52 lead and much-needed momentum. Mike Dunleavy hit Indiana's first 3-pointer of the game to cut it to 64-55 but the Pacers would get no closer.
“We just didn't get it done as they're such a good team and so deep," said Granger. "They brought veterans off the bench as they did real good and they were just too much for us tonight."
Granger led the Pacers with 22, adding six rebounds and a career-high steals, but shot 9-of-23 and was 0-of-6 from the 3-point line. Dunleavy scored 13 with five rebounds and two steals, Troy Murphy 13 with six rebounds and two steals, Travis Diener 11 and Flip Murray 11 off the bench. The Pacers had 17 steals but finished 3-of-19 from the 3-point line.
Ginobili scored 28 on 10-of-13 shooting to lead the Spurs, who committed 21 turnovers but outrebounded Indiana 46-34. Tony Parker scored 19.
Noteworthy …