Wednesday, May 11, 2005
GAME 2: SPURS 108, SUPERSONICS 91
Spurs 108, SuperSonics 91 (San Antonio leads best-of-seven series 2-0)
When you see the Spurs get the lead to double digits in the first quarter and basically tread water for the rest of the game, you realize there's little wonder that the Spurs only lost one game on their home floor during the season when they led after the first quarter of play. David Locke explained in a pre-series P-I article that the first quarter of the first game of the series in a way could decide the whole series, not just because of the tone it would set, but because of the Spurs' home record when leading after the first quarter. The plan was to have the Sonics stick it to the Spurs in the first quarter of Game 1, and have Vladimir Radmanovic go nuts. Neither happened in Game 1, and only one of the two could have happened in Game 2, and it didn't.
So this is the part where I shuffle through my game notes and see what's postworthy.
The Sonics won the opening tip, so that was a plus. Rashard Lewis missed a midrange jumper on that first possession, the Spurs got the rebound, and Luke Ridnour fouled Tony Parker right away in backcourt. That's bad in a way because I hate when Ridnour makes dumb fouls to finish off fast breaks or when he fouls in backcourt, but we'd soon find out that if Ridnour doesn't foul there, the Spurs run that defensive rebound all the way out for an easy transition layup. Tim Duncan spun to the baseline and hit a short shot for the first basket of the game at the 11:22 mark. Ray Allen was knocked down at the top of the key by Bruce Bowen at the 10:56 mark and hit a couple free throws to tie the game at 2-2. After Seattle made a defensive stop (Brent Barry missed a three and they got the rebound), Reggie Evans sort of made a jump-pass on the other end, except he didn't pass the ball (that's a walk). Duncan missed a short hook on the other end, and the Sonics got the rebound and went the other way. Ridnour dribbled into a jumper from near the top of the key to make it a 4-2 Seattle lead. At the 8:47 mark, Duncan got an offensive board and putback to tie the game at 4-4. The Spurs ran off a break, and Tony Parker blew a layup, but it was cleaned up by Nazr Mohammed. The Spurs led 6-4 with 8:19 to go in the first quarter.
Why did I basically do play-by-play for the entire last paragraph? There were two lead changes and two ties in the entire game, and they were featured in the paragraph above.
Jerome James put back an offensive board at the 6:57 mark to bring the Sonics within two at 8-6, but that's as close as they would get from that point onward. Manu Ginobili answered that with a three-pointer from the left side. Ridnour hit a runner from the right side to make it an 11-8 San Antonio lead before the Spurs broke the game open with a 9-0 run to make it 20-8 at the 3:41 mark. Ginobili finished off a break with a layup, and he hit a three after losing the ball. That was sandwiched by the requisite drives to the glass by Parker. Before Ginobili hit the three that made it 18-8, the Sonics were shooting 3-for-13 from the floor. Both teams scored eight points after San Antonio's run, but the Spurs' baskets are marked in my notes as "2:16 Collison bad pass from under basket, Parker runs all the way to basket for dunk SA 22-10," "1:12 Duncan trails, slams to finish break SA 24-12," "0:47.3 Ginobili all the way to the glass, layup SA 26-14," and "0:00.0 Robinson pulls up midrange to beat buzzer, SA 28-16." Glenn Robinson was pulling up for a buzzer-beater. That's just demoralizing, but so are three fast break baskets to go before the Robinson buzzer shot.
The Spurs led 28-16 after one. The Sonics shot horribly in the first quarter. The radio-only crew (no FSNNW telecasts?!) of Kevin Calabro and Craig Ehlo basically pointed out that the Sonics were sending guys under the basket for offensive boards, but the Spurs would pin the Sonics' bigs under the basket, get the rebounds, and then beat the Sonics' big men down the floor. Make no mistake, Tim Duncan and Nazr Mohammed can beat Jerome James and Reggie Evans down the floor. Anyway, the Spurs would get these rebounds and then run them out into a fast break, eerily reminiscent of a certain team from Phoenix.
Nick Collison was whistled for a foul at the 11:18 mark of the second quarter, going in the books as the 5th Sonic turnover. The Sonics were shooting 6-for-23 at that point. The Sonics called timeout at the 8:13 mark, as the Spurs had gotten their lead to 15 at 35-20 after Mohammed packed Beno Udrih's airball. The Sonics were shooting 8-for-28 from the floor at this point. The Spurs grabbed their largest lead of the night not long after, a 40-22 lead after some Parker free throws.
Then the Sonics went on an 11-2 run to make the game feel like somewhat of a game. The Spurs called timeout at the 4:11 mark mid-run, and KJR studio man David Locke pointed out that the Sonics hadn't strung together three consecutive defensive stops in the game up to that point. The run was finished not long after, as Lewis cleaned up a miss on the break to make it 42-33. Seattle got within eight points twice in the final minutes of the first half, once on a Ray Allen three, and once on a couple of Allen free throws (50-42, 1:02). The Spurs sank four free throws for the final points of the half, and they led 54-42.
The Spurs were shooting 53% at halftime, no doubt aided by a good deal of transition layups. The Sonics shot 38%, hampered by bad shooting, the Spurs' defense, and the general inability to move the ball in any capacity (only five assists). The Sonics shot 53% in the second quarter, but San Antonio was taking away the three-ball, and between that and all the fastbreak stuff, that's why the Sonics began and finished the quarter down 12 points. In the first half, the Sonics hit all nine of their free throw attempts, but were beaten 30-20 in the paint, 12-4 on the break, and 26-15 on the bench.
The Sonics couldn't get close than ten points for most of the third quarter. A Reggie Evans free throw at 7:28 made it 62-52 and Ridnour ran a pick-and-roll with James, who finished with a slam (66-56, 6:22). The only other positive was that Ray Allen had finally warmed up, scoring 14 of 19 Seattle points in one stretch. Calabro and Ehlo were befuddled at one point when Evans had set a solid high screen, and Ron Murray just sat there dribbling behind it instead of taking a shot. Ray Allen drove to the basket and was tripped by Ginobili at the 3:03 mark. Allen hit his free throws, and Seattle was within nine at 72-63.
Perhaps the Sonics were in business down nine with 3:03 left in the third quarter? Well...no. The Spurs went on a 7-2 run to close the quarter. Robert Horry finished a break with a layup, but the Spurs' other points were on free throws as they closed the third quarter leading by a 79-65 margin. The Sonics had gotten back within nine, but ended the quarter down by 14. They had ended each of the first two quarters down by 12.
So the fourth quarter was a combination of the Spurs treading water along with basically a coronation. Collison finished a nice pick-and-roll from Daniels for a three-point play on the first possession of the quarter though, so it's nice to see some of the fundamentals work at times. Perhaps the epitome of the final three quarters came in a stretch from the 10:07 mark to the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter. At 10:07, Daniels went to the basket for a layup to make it 83-70. Brent Barry kicked the ball out of bounds at one point, and Robinson put up an airball. Three minutes and seven seconds elapsed off the clock before any team scored, and of course if it's that late in the game, that's not to the Sonics' advantage. Over three minutes went past, and the Sonics finally tallied another basket (Lewis pull-up) to make it 83-72. Then of course Duncan hit a midrange jumper right away on the other end to answer that. Another small positive came when Ray Allen drove right at Bruce Bowen, tagging the latter with his fifth foul at the 5:55 mark. It was apparent that the only thing slowing down Ray Allen was his ankle, and definitely not Bowen.
The Sonics went on a 7-0 run to pull to within 10 at 91-81 with 3:18 to go, including five points from Daniels. Allen found James for a dunk to make it 93-83 not long after. The foulfest began with just over a minute left, starting the march to the free-throw line.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 25 pts/5 reb/2 ast (6-14 FG, 3-7 3pt, 10-10 free throws, 42 min), Rashard Lewis 22 pts/7 reb (8-19 FG, 0-5 3pt, 6-6 free throws, 45 min), Luke Ridnour 6 pts/3 reb/1 ast (3-6 FG, 24 min), Reggie Evans 1 pt/12 reb (0-4 FG, 1-2 free throws, 24 min)
bench
Antonio Daniels 16 pts/6 ast/3 stl (6-11 FG, 1-2 3pt, 3-3 free throws, 33 min), Nick Collison 9 pts/5 reb (4-6 FG, 17 min), Ron Murray 4 pts (2-8 FG, 24 min), Danny Fortson 0 pts/1 blk (0-1 FG, 7 min)
Jerome James Watch
8 pts/7 reb/3 blk (4-9 FG, 0-2 free throws, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 24 min)
team
shot 33-for-78 (42.3%) from the floor, shot 4-for-15 (26.7%) from downtown, shot 21-for-24 (87.5%) from the line, outrebounded the Spurs 41-37, were beaten 52-46 in the paint, were beaten 22-8 on the break, were beaten 15-12 on second-chance points, turned ball over 17 times for 22 San Antonio points (11 for 11 points the other way), bench was outscored 43-29 (Ginobili had 28)
Well, really, it's hard to take many positives out of this game. Ray Allen did something I was used to seeing him do during the season, though it usually happened when he was sick or his shot wasn't falling. His ankle was bum, and he got to the free-throw line ten times. I've said many times during the season that I love it when this team gets to the free-throw line because they're a great free-throw shooting team (minus Collison/Evans/Murray). I know San Antonio's got some stellar interior defense, but how in the hell does Luke Ridnour not get to the free-throw line at least once?
As I said earlier, the first quarter did in the Sonics. It might be that the Spurs are that great, and it might be because it's this level of playoff basketball, but you just can't have a bad quarter against the Spurs. Period. Especially not the first quarter.
I sat there after the game watching some of Inside the NBA, which I usually wouldn't do since the Sonics lost, and I don't want to hear a national crew badmouthing my team. I decided to be a sucker for punishment anyway. The first question Ernie Johnson asked Charles Barkley was if Seattle could take anything positive from this game into the next game. I knew what was coming, and Barkley came through. His response: "no." That was the short, blunt answer, but what he said afterward, though obvious, rang true with what I said after Game 1. Barkley said the Sonics need more than two guys (more than Allen and Lewis) to do their scoring. He said Vladimir Radmanovic was the only other guy that might be capable of going off for 20 or 25 off the bench, and he's not in the series. Again, pretty much what I said after Game 1.
Vladimir Radmanovic was the key to so many things. It wasn't just his scoring that the Sonics were looking for, it was the fact that he draws big men out to the perimeter, softening up the middle so that Jerome James/Nick Collison/Danny Fortson/Reggie Evans have one less guy to battle against for a rebound. Now that the Sonics don't have that Nowitzki Lite roaming around the perimeter, the Spurs can put that big guy back in the paint and seal off everyone for defensive rebounds; in this series, the Spurs are turning those rebounds into easy fast-break opportunities. Vladimir Radmanovic for a good deal of the year was the indicator to how well the Sonics were clicking. If he got 18 points off the bench or something and nailed four or five threes, then the Sonics were doing pretty well. If he shot 2-for-11 from the field, the Sonics did horrible. When Vlade got injured, the Sonics won with smoke and mirrors for the first few games in his absence until it finally caught up with the team.
So what's left? Well, I guess you could remember that the Sonics that went to the Finals in 1996 were down 3-0 to the buzzsaw 72-10 Bulls before taking the series to a Game 6. Of course, one remembers the 2-3-2 format in the Finals, so the Sonics would have had Game 6 and Game 7 back in Chicago. The Sonics right now are down 2-0 with a more sensible 2-2-1-1-1 format, so who knows. But yeah, I really don't see too much difference for the rest of the series. The Sonics might pull one out at home, and it should at least be a little closer, but unless Ron Murray (or even Damien Wilkins?!) goes nuts, I really don't see anything happening to take this out to six games or anything.
I asked Jinkies if he would ever ponder swimming in the water next to the Riverwalk. His reply: "Was that supposed to be funny to me? It was not. Take the hike."
When you see the Spurs get the lead to double digits in the first quarter and basically tread water for the rest of the game, you realize there's little wonder that the Spurs only lost one game on their home floor during the season when they led after the first quarter of play. David Locke explained in a pre-series P-I article that the first quarter of the first game of the series in a way could decide the whole series, not just because of the tone it would set, but because of the Spurs' home record when leading after the first quarter. The plan was to have the Sonics stick it to the Spurs in the first quarter of Game 1, and have Vladimir Radmanovic go nuts. Neither happened in Game 1, and only one of the two could have happened in Game 2, and it didn't.
So this is the part where I shuffle through my game notes and see what's postworthy.
The Sonics won the opening tip, so that was a plus. Rashard Lewis missed a midrange jumper on that first possession, the Spurs got the rebound, and Luke Ridnour fouled Tony Parker right away in backcourt. That's bad in a way because I hate when Ridnour makes dumb fouls to finish off fast breaks or when he fouls in backcourt, but we'd soon find out that if Ridnour doesn't foul there, the Spurs run that defensive rebound all the way out for an easy transition layup. Tim Duncan spun to the baseline and hit a short shot for the first basket of the game at the 11:22 mark. Ray Allen was knocked down at the top of the key by Bruce Bowen at the 10:56 mark and hit a couple free throws to tie the game at 2-2. After Seattle made a defensive stop (Brent Barry missed a three and they got the rebound), Reggie Evans sort of made a jump-pass on the other end, except he didn't pass the ball (that's a walk). Duncan missed a short hook on the other end, and the Sonics got the rebound and went the other way. Ridnour dribbled into a jumper from near the top of the key to make it a 4-2 Seattle lead. At the 8:47 mark, Duncan got an offensive board and putback to tie the game at 4-4. The Spurs ran off a break, and Tony Parker blew a layup, but it was cleaned up by Nazr Mohammed. The Spurs led 6-4 with 8:19 to go in the first quarter.
Why did I basically do play-by-play for the entire last paragraph? There were two lead changes and two ties in the entire game, and they were featured in the paragraph above.
Jerome James put back an offensive board at the 6:57 mark to bring the Sonics within two at 8-6, but that's as close as they would get from that point onward. Manu Ginobili answered that with a three-pointer from the left side. Ridnour hit a runner from the right side to make it an 11-8 San Antonio lead before the Spurs broke the game open with a 9-0 run to make it 20-8 at the 3:41 mark. Ginobili finished off a break with a layup, and he hit a three after losing the ball. That was sandwiched by the requisite drives to the glass by Parker. Before Ginobili hit the three that made it 18-8, the Sonics were shooting 3-for-13 from the floor. Both teams scored eight points after San Antonio's run, but the Spurs' baskets are marked in my notes as "2:16 Collison bad pass from under basket, Parker runs all the way to basket for dunk SA 22-10," "1:12 Duncan trails, slams to finish break SA 24-12," "0:47.3 Ginobili all the way to the glass, layup SA 26-14," and "0:00.0 Robinson pulls up midrange to beat buzzer, SA 28-16." Glenn Robinson was pulling up for a buzzer-beater. That's just demoralizing, but so are three fast break baskets to go before the Robinson buzzer shot.
The Spurs led 28-16 after one. The Sonics shot horribly in the first quarter. The radio-only crew (no FSNNW telecasts?!) of Kevin Calabro and Craig Ehlo basically pointed out that the Sonics were sending guys under the basket for offensive boards, but the Spurs would pin the Sonics' bigs under the basket, get the rebounds, and then beat the Sonics' big men down the floor. Make no mistake, Tim Duncan and Nazr Mohammed can beat Jerome James and Reggie Evans down the floor. Anyway, the Spurs would get these rebounds and then run them out into a fast break, eerily reminiscent of a certain team from Phoenix.
Nick Collison was whistled for a foul at the 11:18 mark of the second quarter, going in the books as the 5th Sonic turnover. The Sonics were shooting 6-for-23 at that point. The Sonics called timeout at the 8:13 mark, as the Spurs had gotten their lead to 15 at 35-20 after Mohammed packed Beno Udrih's airball. The Sonics were shooting 8-for-28 from the floor at this point. The Spurs grabbed their largest lead of the night not long after, a 40-22 lead after some Parker free throws.
Then the Sonics went on an 11-2 run to make the game feel like somewhat of a game. The Spurs called timeout at the 4:11 mark mid-run, and KJR studio man David Locke pointed out that the Sonics hadn't strung together three consecutive defensive stops in the game up to that point. The run was finished not long after, as Lewis cleaned up a miss on the break to make it 42-33. Seattle got within eight points twice in the final minutes of the first half, once on a Ray Allen three, and once on a couple of Allen free throws (50-42, 1:02). The Spurs sank four free throws for the final points of the half, and they led 54-42.
The Spurs were shooting 53% at halftime, no doubt aided by a good deal of transition layups. The Sonics shot 38%, hampered by bad shooting, the Spurs' defense, and the general inability to move the ball in any capacity (only five assists). The Sonics shot 53% in the second quarter, but San Antonio was taking away the three-ball, and between that and all the fastbreak stuff, that's why the Sonics began and finished the quarter down 12 points. In the first half, the Sonics hit all nine of their free throw attempts, but were beaten 30-20 in the paint, 12-4 on the break, and 26-15 on the bench.
The Sonics couldn't get close than ten points for most of the third quarter. A Reggie Evans free throw at 7:28 made it 62-52 and Ridnour ran a pick-and-roll with James, who finished with a slam (66-56, 6:22). The only other positive was that Ray Allen had finally warmed up, scoring 14 of 19 Seattle points in one stretch. Calabro and Ehlo were befuddled at one point when Evans had set a solid high screen, and Ron Murray just sat there dribbling behind it instead of taking a shot. Ray Allen drove to the basket and was tripped by Ginobili at the 3:03 mark. Allen hit his free throws, and Seattle was within nine at 72-63.
Perhaps the Sonics were in business down nine with 3:03 left in the third quarter? Well...no. The Spurs went on a 7-2 run to close the quarter. Robert Horry finished a break with a layup, but the Spurs' other points were on free throws as they closed the third quarter leading by a 79-65 margin. The Sonics had gotten back within nine, but ended the quarter down by 14. They had ended each of the first two quarters down by 12.
So the fourth quarter was a combination of the Spurs treading water along with basically a coronation. Collison finished a nice pick-and-roll from Daniels for a three-point play on the first possession of the quarter though, so it's nice to see some of the fundamentals work at times. Perhaps the epitome of the final three quarters came in a stretch from the 10:07 mark to the 7:00 mark of the fourth quarter. At 10:07, Daniels went to the basket for a layup to make it 83-70. Brent Barry kicked the ball out of bounds at one point, and Robinson put up an airball. Three minutes and seven seconds elapsed off the clock before any team scored, and of course if it's that late in the game, that's not to the Sonics' advantage. Over three minutes went past, and the Sonics finally tallied another basket (Lewis pull-up) to make it 83-72. Then of course Duncan hit a midrange jumper right away on the other end to answer that. Another small positive came when Ray Allen drove right at Bruce Bowen, tagging the latter with his fifth foul at the 5:55 mark. It was apparent that the only thing slowing down Ray Allen was his ankle, and definitely not Bowen.
The Sonics went on a 7-0 run to pull to within 10 at 91-81 with 3:18 to go, including five points from Daniels. Allen found James for a dunk to make it 93-83 not long after. The foulfest began with just over a minute left, starting the march to the free-throw line.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 25 pts/5 reb/2 ast (6-14 FG, 3-7 3pt, 10-10 free throws, 42 min), Rashard Lewis 22 pts/7 reb (8-19 FG, 0-5 3pt, 6-6 free throws, 45 min), Luke Ridnour 6 pts/3 reb/1 ast (3-6 FG, 24 min), Reggie Evans 1 pt/12 reb (0-4 FG, 1-2 free throws, 24 min)
bench
Antonio Daniels 16 pts/6 ast/3 stl (6-11 FG, 1-2 3pt, 3-3 free throws, 33 min), Nick Collison 9 pts/5 reb (4-6 FG, 17 min), Ron Murray 4 pts (2-8 FG, 24 min), Danny Fortson 0 pts/1 blk (0-1 FG, 7 min)
Jerome James Watch
8 pts/7 reb/3 blk (4-9 FG, 0-2 free throws, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 24 min)
team
shot 33-for-78 (42.3%) from the floor, shot 4-for-15 (26.7%) from downtown, shot 21-for-24 (87.5%) from the line, outrebounded the Spurs 41-37, were beaten 52-46 in the paint, were beaten 22-8 on the break, were beaten 15-12 on second-chance points, turned ball over 17 times for 22 San Antonio points (11 for 11 points the other way), bench was outscored 43-29 (Ginobili had 28)
Well, really, it's hard to take many positives out of this game. Ray Allen did something I was used to seeing him do during the season, though it usually happened when he was sick or his shot wasn't falling. His ankle was bum, and he got to the free-throw line ten times. I've said many times during the season that I love it when this team gets to the free-throw line because they're a great free-throw shooting team (minus Collison/Evans/Murray). I know San Antonio's got some stellar interior defense, but how in the hell does Luke Ridnour not get to the free-throw line at least once?
As I said earlier, the first quarter did in the Sonics. It might be that the Spurs are that great, and it might be because it's this level of playoff basketball, but you just can't have a bad quarter against the Spurs. Period. Especially not the first quarter.
I sat there after the game watching some of Inside the NBA, which I usually wouldn't do since the Sonics lost, and I don't want to hear a national crew badmouthing my team. I decided to be a sucker for punishment anyway. The first question Ernie Johnson asked Charles Barkley was if Seattle could take anything positive from this game into the next game. I knew what was coming, and Barkley came through. His response: "no." That was the short, blunt answer, but what he said afterward, though obvious, rang true with what I said after Game 1. Barkley said the Sonics need more than two guys (more than Allen and Lewis) to do their scoring. He said Vladimir Radmanovic was the only other guy that might be capable of going off for 20 or 25 off the bench, and he's not in the series. Again, pretty much what I said after Game 1.
Vladimir Radmanovic was the key to so many things. It wasn't just his scoring that the Sonics were looking for, it was the fact that he draws big men out to the perimeter, softening up the middle so that Jerome James/Nick Collison/Danny Fortson/Reggie Evans have one less guy to battle against for a rebound. Now that the Sonics don't have that Nowitzki Lite roaming around the perimeter, the Spurs can put that big guy back in the paint and seal off everyone for defensive rebounds; in this series, the Spurs are turning those rebounds into easy fast-break opportunities. Vladimir Radmanovic for a good deal of the year was the indicator to how well the Sonics were clicking. If he got 18 points off the bench or something and nailed four or five threes, then the Sonics were doing pretty well. If he shot 2-for-11 from the field, the Sonics did horrible. When Vlade got injured, the Sonics won with smoke and mirrors for the first few games in his absence until it finally caught up with the team.
So what's left? Well, I guess you could remember that the Sonics that went to the Finals in 1996 were down 3-0 to the buzzsaw 72-10 Bulls before taking the series to a Game 6. Of course, one remembers the 2-3-2 format in the Finals, so the Sonics would have had Game 6 and Game 7 back in Chicago. The Sonics right now are down 2-0 with a more sensible 2-2-1-1-1 format, so who knows. But yeah, I really don't see too much difference for the rest of the series. The Sonics might pull one out at home, and it should at least be a little closer, but unless Ron Murray (or even Damien Wilkins?!) goes nuts, I really don't see anything happening to take this out to six games or anything.
I asked Jinkies if he would ever ponder swimming in the water next to the Riverwalk. His reply: "Was that supposed to be funny to me? It was not. Take the hike."
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