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San Antonio Spurs 94, Milwaukee Bucks 79
San Antonio, TX Jan. 12 / Brett Dvorak --
Coming off two sub-par defensive performances, the San Antonio Spurs went back to basics tonight at the SBC Center. The
Spurs found their defensive intensity, forcing sixteen turnovers, swiping eight steals, blocking ten shots, and all-around
making life difficult for the Bucks. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combine for forty-one points as the Spurs defeat the Bucks
94-79.
The Spurs must have been shocked looking at the stat sheet after the loss in Utah Monday night. No steals? It had to be a
misprint, right? Afraid not, it was actually a telling statistic of the lack of team defense the Spurs had been playing the
past few games. Well tonight the Spurs (29-8) went back to basics overwhelming an under-manned Milwaukee (12-21) team
playing the second of back-to-back games. Seven Spurs had at least one block, six had at least one steal, and four had at
least five rebounds.
"It was a good win for us," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "We played good defense and a lot of people participated.
It's important for us to involve everybody. It's a very unselfish group. The defense is where we make our money so it was
good to see tonight."
Early on neither team was able to shoot the lights out. That was taken care of by the SBC Center itself. The game was
delayed briefly as the teams waited for the lights to come back up after the pre-game introductions. In fact, the game
actually started without the lights at full capacity, and it showed as both teams struggled shooting the ball. The inside
guys didn’t fare as badly as Bucks center Dan Gadzuric and Duncan each scored a pair of baskets.
Not surprisingly, when the lights got brighter, the shooting got hotter as the bench players began to find the range. Former
top five pick Marcus Fizer went to work against the slow of foot Rasho Nesterovic and Robert Horry, scoring eight points as
both had trouble containing the physical Fizer in the post. It was a quarter for the benches as both teams non-starters
combined for twenty first quarter points as the Bucks led 23-22.
Still showing the effects of lethargy when the second quarter began, Popovich went deep into his bench looking for a spark.
Enter Tony Massenburg. The thirteen-year pro was signed in the off-season to bring toughness to the Spurs and tonight he
earned his paycheck. Milwaukee opened the quarter turning the ball over on four of their first six possessions. This helped
the Spurs on an 8-0 run that gave the home team a 30-23 lead.
Of the four baskets in the run, Massenburg scored two on assists by Manu Ginobili, and returned the favor, assisting on one
of Manu’s two baskets. In nine-second quarter minutes, Massenburg scored six points, grabbed a couple of rebounds, dished
out an assist, and blocked a shot.
Massenburg talked about his early entrance and changing the game; “I didn’t expect to be in the rotation tonight, but I’m
expecting to play whether Pop calls me or not. As a team you have to go out and try to impose your will on them. This is a
physical game, and I think we need to be more physical. I’ve always played a physical style of basketball my entire career
so it comes pretty natural to me.”
With Massenburg doing the dirty work, Duncan and Parker were able to run the pick and roll to perfection. Duncan finished
the half with nine points and seven rebounds while Parker chipped in seven points and four assists as the Spurs ended the
half leading 49-40.
Michael Redd, the Bucks leading scorer, was held in check throughout the half, scoring just eight points, but when the
second half began, Redd looked like he was beginning to find his range, scoring on the Bucks first two possessions of the
half, but the dynamic duo would once again have the answer as Duncan scored six points and Parker four during a 14-2 run
that gave the Spurs a 63-46 lead. That lead would grow to as many as eighteen (74-56), but the Bucks weren’t dead
yet.
After a hot start to the quarter, Redd cooled in the middle, but as the third quarter wound down, Redd took over once more,
scoring five points during a quarter ending 8-0 run that cut the lead down to ten heading to the final twelve minutes. Redd
scored eleven of his game high 24 points in the quarter.
“They have a lot of very good offensive players like Michael Redd,” Bowen said. “He creates a very difficult match up.
He’s an awkward player, and what I mean by that is he’s able to get his shot off under any circumstance. Sometimes you
look at one of his shots and say that’s a bad shot, but that’s his shot.”
The lead would continue to dwindle, down to just six points with just over eight minutes to play, but Ginobili would respond
with a three pointer from the wing, re-establishing the lead. A 7-0 run would seal the game for the Spurs. It started with a
Parker three pointer, and ended with a pair of jumpers from the top of the key by Duncan on consecutive possessions.
Bucks coach and former Spur Terry Porter talked about this being a much different Spurs team than he has seen before; “The
biggest difference in this Spurs team than perhaps in the past is they have gotten so much more athletic on the perimeter.
They have guys like Ginobili and Bowen who can put it on the floor. That's a huge difference. It allows them to get more
open opportunities in the open court, more points in transition."
The run gave the Spurs a 90-75 lead, and the game. Duncan finished the night with 21 points and 9 rebounds while Parker
notched his fourth consecutive twenty-point game with 20 points and 8 assists. Ginobili (15 points, 5 rebounds, and 7
assists), and Brent Barry (11 points) also registered double figures for the Spurs. The Bucks were paced by the 24 points
from Redd, but he was just nine of twenty-three from the floor. Fizer was the only other Buck in double figures, scoring
12.
"First and foremost we are a defensive team," Bowen said. "In preparation for our next few games (Dallas and Houston), we
need to get back to business. We allowed teams to shoot over 48 percent in a lot of our losses and that's not us, we
understand that."
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