San Antonio 116, Indiana 89
Hot start fades into frigid finish
By Conrad Brunner | Feb. 5, 2008
The first sign of trouble actually came at the end of the first quarter when the Pacers, despite a stunning 15-of-19 shooting performance, led by just two points. The second sign came at halftime when the Pacers, despite shooting .676, found themselves in a 59-all tie.
When the shots stopped falling, the trouble started, and never really finished. Breaking open the game in the third quarter by holding the previously hot Pacers to nine points and 4-of-22 shooting, San Antonio cruised to a 116-89 victory Tuesday in Conseco Fieldhouse.
The most lopsided loss of the season punctuated the Pacers' seventh consecutive loss – the longest skid since last year's 11-gamer – and dropped Indiana to 19-30. San Antonio, playing the fourth of a nine-game, 17-day trip, improved to 30-16 overall, 4-0 on the road against Eastern Conference teams.
"They turned it up a notch-and-a-half in the third quarter and we just did not match that notch-and-a-half," said Coach Jim O'Brien. "We played a solid first half but did not have what it took against the defending champions to match them in the second half.… I think our guys knew Coach (Gregg) Popovich was not going to be happy with how they defended us in the first half and they weren't. The came out and played at a whole different level defensively."
After making 15 of 19 in the first 12 minutes, the Pacers shot 15 of 50 in the next 32 minutes. They started the second half by missing their first seven shots and went 2-of-19 during a stretch in which the Spurs put together a game-turning 22-4 run to build an 81-63 lead.
The Pacers, who shot 11-of-42 (.262) in the second half and were outrebounded 45-27 overall, got no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
"We had much better focus defensively and they finally started to miss some shots," said the Spurs' Tim Duncan, who had 19 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. "In the first half, it seemed like they didn’t miss anything. It was like a shooting gallery. Fortunately our offense was pretty sharp and kept up with them and allowed us to stay in the game."
Despite their hot shooting in the first half, the Pacers never led by more than six points (33-27 late in the first quarter). Starters Danny Granger, Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and Travis Diener combined for 51 points on 21-of-28 (.750) shooting in the first half; those four produced eight points on 1-of-11 (.091) in the second.
“We had some chances tonight but we didn’t get it done," said Jamaal Tinsley. "They made shots, we didn’t in the second half. We must improve on our chemistry and return to a high level of work ethic. We’ve got to figure it out, play 48 minutes on both sides of the ball and let things come as they do. "
Granger scored 16 and had a career-high five blocked shots. Murphy scored 15 with seven rebounds and three assists, while Dunleavy and Diener had 14 apiece. The reserves were outscored 47-28 by their San Antonio counterparts and combined to shoot 11-of-35 (.314).
The Spurs had seven players score in double figures, Jacque Vaughn had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench, Many Ginobili 15 points and seven assists, Bruce Bowen 14 points, Michael Finley 11 and Fabricio Oberto 10 with eight rebounds. Signed by the Spurs just two days prior, Damon Stoudamire started at point guard in his San Antonio debut and had 11 points in 22 minutes.
