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San Antonio Spurs 105, Philadelphia 76ers 72
San Antonio, TX Dec. 1 / Brett Dvorak --
During the past few seasons the Spurs have had three constants; a suffocating defense, a deep bench, and Tim Duncan. Tonight
all three were on display. Tim Duncan and reserve guard Devin Brown each score 24 points as the Spurs dismantle the Sixers
105-72.
“We got beat, no we got our butt kicked, by a good team tonight,” Said Allen Iverson afterwards. “It’s as simple as that.
It was a collective effort. These guys, the Spurs have won two championships in five years and tonight they showed why.”
After losing back-to-back games in Toronto and Memphis, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told his team that they had to get to
back to playing Spurs defense if they wanted to get to the levels that everyone expected. Since then the Spurs have reeled
off five wins in a row, by an average of twenty-two points while holding the opponents to an average of seventy-eight
points. Once again they are back in their rightful place as having the stingiest defense in terms of points allowed an
opponents shooting percentage. What has been the difference?
“Everyone on this team has a job to do,” Said Brown. “And we go out and do our jobs. You have to go out and have the
mentality that you are going to stop people. It starts defensively for us.”
Unlike the game in Philadelphia the Seventy-Sixers wasted little time taking the lead. Kyle Korver scored on the team’s
first possession and Philadelphia was off to a quick 19-12 lead. Penetration by Allen Iverson led to easy baskets inside by
Marc Jackson. When Jackson wasn’t doing the dirty work inside, Iverson was scoring via the fast break. Both players scored
eight points in the quarter.
San Antonio stayed close early thanks to the aggressive play of Manu Ginobili, who was fouled repeatedly, but made just five
of eight free throws in the quarter as the Sixers built their lead.
Looking for a spark, Popovich went to his bench, inserting Devin Brown and Beno Udrih into the lineup. The duo combined for
nine quick points as the reserves erased the lead, evening the game at twenty-five at the end of the quarter, but Brown was
just getting started. After scoring a season high sixteen points last night in Dallas, the former UTSA Roadrunner scored the
Spurs first seven points of the second quarter as the home team took a 32-29 lead. Brown scored twelve of the reserves
twenty-two first half points.
Philadelphia coach Jim O’Brien called a quick timeout hoping to cool off the hot shooting Brown. It worked because he
didn’t score again in the half, that job belonged to Tim Duncan.
Duncan re-entered the game at the 9:02 mark of the second quarter with the Spurs up 36-31. Over the next six and a half
minutes, Duncan was at his MVP best, scoring at will against the smaller Sixer defenders. TD scored seventeen consecutive
points, with only a Josh Davis three pointer interrupting his run. The Duncan run would end with a Jackson jumper, but the
Spurs would score the final four points of the quarter and take a 55-36 lead to the locker room. It was a 30-11 quarter that
did the visitors in.
“We needed to try and hurt them inside with Timmy,” Commented Tony Parker when asked about the game plan coming in. The in
the understatement of the night Parker said; “They (Philly) had nobody that could guard him.”
The halftime break did little to slow down the Spurs. This time Tony Parker got into the action. With the defense having to
sag into the paint to try and contain Duncan, Parker roamed the wings free to shoot, and shoot he did. Tony scored ten
points during a quarter opening 14-4 run that increased the lead to 69-40.
Philly cut the lead down to twenty-three as the third quarter ended, but for Popovich it was now about resting the starters
and giving the reserves some quality minutes on the floor. Brown took full advantage of that opportunity once again. Brown
added ten more points to his total, finishing the night with a career high 24 points on eight of fourteen shooting,
including four of seven from three point range.
“I didn’t think he could hurt us that bad from that distance, outside of 15 feet,” Said a frustrated O’Brien. “If you
look back at old games there was nothing there to show you that he could hurt you that bad from that far outside. There was
nothing to show he would be that effective.”
When told of O’Brien’s comments, Brown replied; “My shots were going in tonight. We are doing a good job of moving the
ball. I am getting a little more confident out there every time out. I am just trying to work hard and help the team.”
No player played as many as Brown’s twenty-nine minutes and no starter logged more than the twenty-seven minutes of Rasho
Nesterovic. Every Spur played, and with the exception of Bruce Bowen, everyone scored. In addition to the career night of
Brown, Duncan also tallied 24 points on ten of twelve shooting to go along with 12 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Joining the
scoring parade was Parker (14 points and 5 assists), Ginobili (11 points), Udrih (10 points while making all five of his
shots), Robert Horry (7 points and 5 rebounds), and Malik Rose (6 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists). For the visitors,
Jackson led the Sixers with 18 points while Iverson struggled, scoring 14 points on six of seventeen shooting.
For the game the Spurs reserves outscored the starters 54-51, so is this the beginning of a friendly rivalry? “Of course
bench players have to stick together.”
All in all Popovich was pleased with the game. “Tim did a good job setting the tone for us, but everybody chimed in. We got
great play off the bench from Devin and Beno. We combined good passing with good defense. With the number of assists we had,
a lot of people got involved. It was a good night for us.”
What a nice problem to have.
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