Wednesday, May 18, 2005
GAME 5: SPURS 103, SUPERSONICS 90
Spurs 103, SuperSonics 90 (San Antonio leads best-of-seven series 3-2)
Well, it's pretty easy to sum up this game. In Game 1 and Game 2, the Sonics doomed themselves with bad starts. In this Game 5, the Sonics doomed themselves with bad starts in the 1st and 3rd quarters, a real shame considering they'd had a great second quarter and tied the game going into halftime.
In short, Tony Parker still managed to suck (six of his 11 points were in meaningless minutes toward the end of the game), Manu Ginobili went nuts, Nazr Mohammed got way too many points, Jerome James/Reggie Evans were not showing up on defense, and Ray Allen was silenced in odd-numbered quarters.
The Sonics won the opening tip, but that was the only good thing that happened for much of the start of the game, since they didn't score until Antonio Daniels hit a runner with 7:50 to go, making it a 7-2 lead for the Spurs. Seattle opened up 0-for-7 from the floor to start the game. From there, the rest of the quarter was filled with the Sonics never getting closer than two possessions. The closest the Sonics got was when Danny Fortson hit a double-pump layup down low to make it 20-16 just inside the final minute of the quarter. Not long after, Nick Collison had his pocked picked in backcourt by Beno Udrih, went got an easy layup, and that made the end of the first quarter crumble a bit.
The Spurs led 25-18 after one quarter of play. They led 14-7 on the boards and 6-1 on the offensive glass. To put it bluntly, they had one less offensive foul than the Sonics had boards altogether. Jerome James got called for two quick fouls, and Ray Allen was called for two fouls as well. More importantly for Allen, he was held scoreless in the first quarter of play. Here's a David Locke stat -- the Sonics scored only once on their first nine trips down the floor. Not good.
Seattle started to get the offensive machine rolling a bit, but had trouble getting regular defensive stops for much of the quarter. With 8:50 to go, the Sonics had scored on 12 of their last 18 trips down the floor. At that point, the Sonics were down 31-25, but they had been down only 20-16 toward the end of the first quarter, so the offensive proficiency was offset. After Nick Collison put back a Ray Allen miss with 10:11 to play, the Sonics didn't score again until Allen hit a jumper from just below the free-throw line with 7:42 to go, cutting the deficit to 31-27. That was answered by a Tim Duncan hook. Damien Wilkins drove and threw down a two-handed slam not long after, and that was eventually answered by a Ginobili three.
The Sonics cut a seven-point lead to three when Allen ran the pick-and-roll with James, who finished with a slam, and when Allen hit a leaner from the free-throw line. This made it 36-33 with 5:57 left in the half. Things looked rosy for the Sonics. So rosy, in fact, that they immediately surrendered an 8-2 run, finished by the cardinal sin when it comes to defending the Spurs, the inexcusable Bruce Bowen three-ball from the corner with 4:57 to go in the half.
Seattle stuck with it though, finishing the half on a 9-1 run, with Allen scoring seven of those points to tie the score at 50, directly correlating with their ability to finally get a consistent stretch of defensive stops on the Spurs (obviously, that's what a run is). Before saying anything else, I must bring up the fact that Craig Ehlo made a Ted DiBiase reference (the Million-Dollar Man) inside the final minute of the half. Ginobili had 19 first-half points. Seattle had turned over the ball five times, which was reasonably good. Their bench was outscoring their Spur counterparts 12-4. However, the Sonics were getting beat 21-17 on the boards (not quite as badly as after the first quarter), 11-4 on second chances (brutal), and they had only dished out five assists as the ball movement had stagnated once again.
Hmm...tied at 50 coming out for the third quarter. Wanna know how to lose a game? Leave Nazr Mohammed wide open under the basket. With the requisite Ginobili going nuts, the Ginobili/Mohammed combo scored the Spurs' first 24 points of the third quarter. Of course, you know that's bad right away because you wonder how many other points the other Spurs scored. But yeah, Mohammed was left wide open for a ton of easy dunks and baskets, which I guess is turnabout for Jerome James going 7-for-7 with the five pick-and-roll dunks in Game 3.
To the game action specifically, the Spurs jumped out to a crippling 17-3 run over the first 4:49 of the second half, more than enough in their home building to take the win. It got to the point where if the Sonics made a 9-0 run to get to within seven (74-67, 3:01), it was a big deal. The Sonics were down 78-68 after three quarters. Danny Fortson provided the only consistent play from any Seattle big man all night, grabbing seven rebounds in the quarter.
Nick Collison drew his fifth foul on a questionable call with 11:25 to go in the final quarter when Tim Duncan turned right into him with the ball and he went after it. Not long after, the Sonics went on what turned out to be a last-gasp 7-0 run, with four of the points from James. That made it 80-75 with 9:57 to go, but Seattle would get no closer as the Spurs reeled off a 7-0 run of their own to put the outcome out of doubt. If anyone didn't think it was all over by that point, they had to wait until after the Sonics got within eight after a teardrop runner and three-point play by Luke Ridnour that made it 89-81. It was definitely over after the ensuing 8-0 run by the Spurs. As the Spurs stood with a 97-81 lead with 3:48 to go, it became apparent that the Sonic win would only be achievable via an act of God. It didn't happen.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 19 pts/4 reb/6 ast (8-19 FG, 2-8 3pt, 1-4 free throws, 43 min), Antonio Daniels 17 pts/3 reb (4-9 FG, 0-1 3pt, 9-10 free throws, 41 min), Luke Ridnour 12 pts/6 reb/2 ast (4-11 FG, 0-2 3pt, 4-5 free throws, 43 min), Reggie Evans 4 pts/6 reb (2-3 FG, 12 min)
bench
Nick Collison 14 pts/2 reb (6-8 FG, 2-2 free throws, 20 min), Damien Wilkins 9 pts/6 reb/2 stl (4-10 FG, 1-2 3pt, 0-2 free throws, 32 min), Danny Fortson 5 pts/9 reb (2-3 FG, 1-1 free throw, 18 min), Ron Murray 0 pts/2 ast (0-1 FG, 13 min), Vitaly Potapenko 0 pts/0 reb (0-0 FG, 1 min)
Jerome James Watch
10 pts/2 reb (4-10 FG, 2-2 free throws, 2 fouls, 17 min)
team
shot 34-for-74 (45.9%) from the field, shot 3-for-13 (23.1%) from downtown, shot 19-for-26 (73.1%) from the line; were outrebounded 42-39, outscored 17-11 on second chances, 52-50 in the paint, and 6-0 on the break; won 28-6 in bench scoring (and 18-10 on boards)
Unsurprisingly, you've got to play 48 minutes of good basketball to beat the San Antonio Spurs, and the Sonics pretty much lapsed to start the game and to start the second half. That did them in. Specifically, though, Ray Allen was held scoreless in the first quarter, and had one point in the third quarter. That's part Ray not hitting shots (he was 1-for-8 in the second half), and partly the fact that the Spurs were defending him pretty well.
But good gracious, Nazr Mohammed open under the basket was like the horrible backlash to the Jerome James pick-and-roll dunkfest of Game 3. Now I know how the San Antonio fans felt. The Mohammed explosion was again partly attributed to the Sonics' big guys leaving them open, and I'm remembering Jerome James on one occasion, and I'm guessing Reggie Evans. I can't remember if I put it earlier in the post (yes, I'm typing this out incrementally), but at one point the Sonics were being outscored 23-5 when both Jerome James and Reggie Evans were on the floor together. That's poor. Couple that with Nick Collison getting into foul trouble, and that's not a good brew at all.
This game wasn't a stinker like Game 1, but was more like Game 2. The Sonics had a couple bad starts, but in this game they were never truly out of it until the fourth quarter wore on. Part of that is the tenacity and resilience of the Sonics, but the other part is that the Spurs have a huge crazy record in their building, and there's a reason for it. I believe in Game 2 the Spurs got an early lead and just treaded water the rest of the way and held it. I wouldn't say the Spurs necessarily just treaded water in this game (they did have the explosive run to open the second half), but the Sonics never led.
Despite his foul trouble, Nick Collison poured in 14 points without me even realizing it. For the other standout statistic, Good Danny Fortson showed up, grabbing seven of his nine boards in the third quarter of play. Well, I guess the other standout statistic is that Ray Allen led the team with 19, and that absolutely has to be higher for this team to win, especially in the playoffs.
A healthy Rashard Lewis would be nice for Game 6 (and would have been nice for Game 5). He's got to play Game 6, though. Though I've heard he's on track to play, he's got to play. The Sonics can't hold back when they're trying to stave off elimination.
Two more things: Tony Parker hasn't shown up for three straight games, and Manu Ginobili takes flopping to a whole new level. Flopping is one thing, but I'm having adverse reactions to the violent head jerks.
Oh yeah, though the game was out of reach, the flagrant foul on Damien Wilkins (on a Ginobili drive) was bullcrap since he didn't go for or make contact with the head. Total crap. So was Wilkins grabbing a rebound under the basket and having Ginobili ram his face into Wilkins' elbow. That even had Ehlo saying "oh noooo!" in disgust.
Anyway, Game 6 is upon us.
I asked Jinkies if he knows The Closer. His reply: "Do you kiss your mother and father with that filth-covered mouth?"
Well, it's pretty easy to sum up this game. In Game 1 and Game 2, the Sonics doomed themselves with bad starts. In this Game 5, the Sonics doomed themselves with bad starts in the 1st and 3rd quarters, a real shame considering they'd had a great second quarter and tied the game going into halftime.
In short, Tony Parker still managed to suck (six of his 11 points were in meaningless minutes toward the end of the game), Manu Ginobili went nuts, Nazr Mohammed got way too many points, Jerome James/Reggie Evans were not showing up on defense, and Ray Allen was silenced in odd-numbered quarters.
The Sonics won the opening tip, but that was the only good thing that happened for much of the start of the game, since they didn't score until Antonio Daniels hit a runner with 7:50 to go, making it a 7-2 lead for the Spurs. Seattle opened up 0-for-7 from the floor to start the game. From there, the rest of the quarter was filled with the Sonics never getting closer than two possessions. The closest the Sonics got was when Danny Fortson hit a double-pump layup down low to make it 20-16 just inside the final minute of the quarter. Not long after, Nick Collison had his pocked picked in backcourt by Beno Udrih, went got an easy layup, and that made the end of the first quarter crumble a bit.
The Spurs led 25-18 after one quarter of play. They led 14-7 on the boards and 6-1 on the offensive glass. To put it bluntly, they had one less offensive foul than the Sonics had boards altogether. Jerome James got called for two quick fouls, and Ray Allen was called for two fouls as well. More importantly for Allen, he was held scoreless in the first quarter of play. Here's a David Locke stat -- the Sonics scored only once on their first nine trips down the floor. Not good.
Seattle started to get the offensive machine rolling a bit, but had trouble getting regular defensive stops for much of the quarter. With 8:50 to go, the Sonics had scored on 12 of their last 18 trips down the floor. At that point, the Sonics were down 31-25, but they had been down only 20-16 toward the end of the first quarter, so the offensive proficiency was offset. After Nick Collison put back a Ray Allen miss with 10:11 to play, the Sonics didn't score again until Allen hit a jumper from just below the free-throw line with 7:42 to go, cutting the deficit to 31-27. That was answered by a Tim Duncan hook. Damien Wilkins drove and threw down a two-handed slam not long after, and that was eventually answered by a Ginobili three.
The Sonics cut a seven-point lead to three when Allen ran the pick-and-roll with James, who finished with a slam, and when Allen hit a leaner from the free-throw line. This made it 36-33 with 5:57 left in the half. Things looked rosy for the Sonics. So rosy, in fact, that they immediately surrendered an 8-2 run, finished by the cardinal sin when it comes to defending the Spurs, the inexcusable Bruce Bowen three-ball from the corner with 4:57 to go in the half.
Seattle stuck with it though, finishing the half on a 9-1 run, with Allen scoring seven of those points to tie the score at 50, directly correlating with their ability to finally get a consistent stretch of defensive stops on the Spurs (obviously, that's what a run is). Before saying anything else, I must bring up the fact that Craig Ehlo made a Ted DiBiase reference (the Million-Dollar Man) inside the final minute of the half. Ginobili had 19 first-half points. Seattle had turned over the ball five times, which was reasonably good. Their bench was outscoring their Spur counterparts 12-4. However, the Sonics were getting beat 21-17 on the boards (not quite as badly as after the first quarter), 11-4 on second chances (brutal), and they had only dished out five assists as the ball movement had stagnated once again.
Hmm...tied at 50 coming out for the third quarter. Wanna know how to lose a game? Leave Nazr Mohammed wide open under the basket. With the requisite Ginobili going nuts, the Ginobili/Mohammed combo scored the Spurs' first 24 points of the third quarter. Of course, you know that's bad right away because you wonder how many other points the other Spurs scored. But yeah, Mohammed was left wide open for a ton of easy dunks and baskets, which I guess is turnabout for Jerome James going 7-for-7 with the five pick-and-roll dunks in Game 3.
To the game action specifically, the Spurs jumped out to a crippling 17-3 run over the first 4:49 of the second half, more than enough in their home building to take the win. It got to the point where if the Sonics made a 9-0 run to get to within seven (74-67, 3:01), it was a big deal. The Sonics were down 78-68 after three quarters. Danny Fortson provided the only consistent play from any Seattle big man all night, grabbing seven rebounds in the quarter.
Nick Collison drew his fifth foul on a questionable call with 11:25 to go in the final quarter when Tim Duncan turned right into him with the ball and he went after it. Not long after, the Sonics went on what turned out to be a last-gasp 7-0 run, with four of the points from James. That made it 80-75 with 9:57 to go, but Seattle would get no closer as the Spurs reeled off a 7-0 run of their own to put the outcome out of doubt. If anyone didn't think it was all over by that point, they had to wait until after the Sonics got within eight after a teardrop runner and three-point play by Luke Ridnour that made it 89-81. It was definitely over after the ensuing 8-0 run by the Spurs. As the Spurs stood with a 97-81 lead with 3:48 to go, it became apparent that the Sonic win would only be achievable via an act of God. It didn't happen.
PEEK AT THE BOXSCORE
starters
Ray Allen 19 pts/4 reb/6 ast (8-19 FG, 2-8 3pt, 1-4 free throws, 43 min), Antonio Daniels 17 pts/3 reb (4-9 FG, 0-1 3pt, 9-10 free throws, 41 min), Luke Ridnour 12 pts/6 reb/2 ast (4-11 FG, 0-2 3pt, 4-5 free throws, 43 min), Reggie Evans 4 pts/6 reb (2-3 FG, 12 min)
bench
Nick Collison 14 pts/2 reb (6-8 FG, 2-2 free throws, 20 min), Damien Wilkins 9 pts/6 reb/2 stl (4-10 FG, 1-2 3pt, 0-2 free throws, 32 min), Danny Fortson 5 pts/9 reb (2-3 FG, 1-1 free throw, 18 min), Ron Murray 0 pts/2 ast (0-1 FG, 13 min), Vitaly Potapenko 0 pts/0 reb (0-0 FG, 1 min)
Jerome James Watch
10 pts/2 reb (4-10 FG, 2-2 free throws, 2 fouls, 17 min)
team
shot 34-for-74 (45.9%) from the field, shot 3-for-13 (23.1%) from downtown, shot 19-for-26 (73.1%) from the line; were outrebounded 42-39, outscored 17-11 on second chances, 52-50 in the paint, and 6-0 on the break; won 28-6 in bench scoring (and 18-10 on boards)
Unsurprisingly, you've got to play 48 minutes of good basketball to beat the San Antonio Spurs, and the Sonics pretty much lapsed to start the game and to start the second half. That did them in. Specifically, though, Ray Allen was held scoreless in the first quarter, and had one point in the third quarter. That's part Ray not hitting shots (he was 1-for-8 in the second half), and partly the fact that the Spurs were defending him pretty well.
But good gracious, Nazr Mohammed open under the basket was like the horrible backlash to the Jerome James pick-and-roll dunkfest of Game 3. Now I know how the San Antonio fans felt. The Mohammed explosion was again partly attributed to the Sonics' big guys leaving them open, and I'm remembering Jerome James on one occasion, and I'm guessing Reggie Evans. I can't remember if I put it earlier in the post (yes, I'm typing this out incrementally), but at one point the Sonics were being outscored 23-5 when both Jerome James and Reggie Evans were on the floor together. That's poor. Couple that with Nick Collison getting into foul trouble, and that's not a good brew at all.
This game wasn't a stinker like Game 1, but was more like Game 2. The Sonics had a couple bad starts, but in this game they were never truly out of it until the fourth quarter wore on. Part of that is the tenacity and resilience of the Sonics, but the other part is that the Spurs have a huge crazy record in their building, and there's a reason for it. I believe in Game 2 the Spurs got an early lead and just treaded water the rest of the way and held it. I wouldn't say the Spurs necessarily just treaded water in this game (they did have the explosive run to open the second half), but the Sonics never led.
Despite his foul trouble, Nick Collison poured in 14 points without me even realizing it. For the other standout statistic, Good Danny Fortson showed up, grabbing seven of his nine boards in the third quarter of play. Well, I guess the other standout statistic is that Ray Allen led the team with 19, and that absolutely has to be higher for this team to win, especially in the playoffs.
A healthy Rashard Lewis would be nice for Game 6 (and would have been nice for Game 5). He's got to play Game 6, though. Though I've heard he's on track to play, he's got to play. The Sonics can't hold back when they're trying to stave off elimination.
Two more things: Tony Parker hasn't shown up for three straight games, and Manu Ginobili takes flopping to a whole new level. Flopping is one thing, but I'm having adverse reactions to the violent head jerks.
Oh yeah, though the game was out of reach, the flagrant foul on Damien Wilkins (on a Ginobili drive) was bullcrap since he didn't go for or make contact with the head. Total crap. So was Wilkins grabbing a rebound under the basket and having Ginobili ram his face into Wilkins' elbow. That even had Ehlo saying "oh noooo!" in disgust.
Anyway, Game 6 is upon us.
I asked Jinkies if he knows The Closer. His reply: "Do you kiss your mother and father with that filth-covered mouth?"
/ Click for main page
