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San Antonio Spurs 94, Orlando Magic 91
San Antonio, TX Dec. 15 / Brett Dvorak --
On the verge of loosing their second consecutive home game, Manu Ginobili put on his cape and pulled a rabbit out of his
hat. Ginobili scored eleven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter while the Magic performed a disappearing act, falling
94-91 to the Spurs.
Leading at one point in the first half by thirteen points, the Spurs watched as Orlando erased the deficit and built a ten
point lead of their own heading to the final quarter. San Antonio needed a little magic of their own if they were going to
pull this one out. Enter Manu the Magician.
On the first possession of the final quarter Ginobili penetrated and set up a Beno Udrih three pointer. A minute later the
favor was returned as the Udrih assisted on Ginobili’s three. Nine of the Spurs next eleven points came from Manu, running
basic pick and roll basketball with Tim Duncan. Only a Duncan lay up kept Manu from scoring all the points. Orlando finally
doubled on the penetration, but that left Udrih open for another three pointer.
Eleven points, two assists, and one rebound; not bad for six minutes of work. As good as his offense was, his defense was
just as good, helping to hold Cuttino Mobley scoreless in the final quarter. It was the same Mobley that torched the Spurs
for eleven third quarter points as the Magic built their lead.
The Spurs were nursing a three point lead (92-89) going into the final minute thanks to a leaning runner from Devin Brown,
but Orlando would have a couple of chances to close the gap. First it was former Spur Hedo Turkoglu missing a pair of jump
shots, then after a questionable traveling violation on Ginobili, Steve Francis would make a pair of free throws, cutting
the lead to three.
After a Ginobili miss, Orlando would have a final chance to tie the game. Francis penetrated into a wide-open lane, but no
one in white came to double-team him, forcing Francis to dribble back out to the three-point line where he threw up an air
ball as time expired.
The two teams combined for a wild first quarter as Duncan and Tony Parker combined for 15 points, equaling the output of
Tony Battie and Grant Hill. Parker, who was questionable after injuring his groin against Cleveland last Saturday, showed no
ill affects of the injury, blowing by Francis repeatedly in the half. Parker didn't play in the fourth quarter, and with
Udrih playing so well with Ginobili who could blame him.
"Beno stepped in and did a good job," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It was great to have him playing that way. We didn't
want to give Tony too many minutes. And Beno was rolling anyway so it worked out."
The Spurs reserves provided a huge lift in the second quarter. After starting the quarter tied, the bench brigade, led by
Brown, Udrih, and Malik Rose scored ten points during a 14-3 run that gave the Spurs their first double digit lead of the
night. The lead would grow to as many as thirteen (48-35), but this new and improved Magic team fought back.
Battie (12 points), Hill (11 points), and Mobley (10 points) were all in double figures by halftime as the lead was whittled
down to six as the half ended. Duncan and Parker continued to be the show, scoring 15 and 11 respectively as the Spurs took
a 54-48 lead to the locker room.
San Antonio was dominant in the half, shooting 51% from the floor, compared to 45% for the visitors from the Magic Kingdom.
The Spurs also dominated the best rebounding team in the league 25-15, so why was the lead just six points? Because this
isn’t your same old Magic team.
After giving up the first four points of the half, the three-headed monster of Hill, Mobley, and Francis took over. They
were so dominant that they weren’t letting anyone else get a shot. Mobley (11 points), Hill (6 points), and Francis (9
points) scored all but two points in a quarter ending 28-6 run that gave the Magic the lead.
While Hill and Mobley were scoring from the field, Francis was doing his damage from the free throw line. The aggressive
play of the Magic forced the Spurs into silly fouls, putting Orlando in the bonus with just under six minutes left in the
quarter. When you’re almost a ninety percent foul shooter, what would you do? Francis would continually throw himself into
the lane and into the Spurs drawing fouls, sending him to the line. Francis made all nine of his free throws tonight,
offsetting a poor shooting night (5 of 19).
Duncan talked about the Magic's third quarter dominance; "We struggled in the third quarter. Things just weren't going in.
Their guards took control of the game."
The Magic led by ten after the third quarter, but this cat had at least one more life.
Duncan led all scorers with 24 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. Joining him in double figures was Ginobili (17
points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds), Parker (13 points and 6 rebounds), Brown (11 points), and Rose (12 points and 7
rebounds). Orlando had four of it’s five starters in double figures with Mobley’s 21 points leading the way. Francis
chipped in 20 points and 9 assists, while Hill added 18 points and Battie 14 points. The other starter was rookie, and first
pick in the draft Dwight Howard, but the young man from Atlanta had a rough night, scoring eight points, spending most of
the night in foul trouble before finally fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
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