Live06 | San Antonio Spurs - Parker Lifts Spurs Over Celtics

Raymond Felton shot 1 of 13.

Nice first win man, goodluck with the Clips

Nicely done, you absolutely killed them in the third quarter.

newc - they had a chance... for about one quarter

Thierry - TD is the shizbomb and I was pleased with RJ for sure;

Martti - haha yah so far you're setting the pace but you got the hounds hunting you now

Azzdogz - wasn't entirely Felton's fault; with the defense up on all the other guys the ball kept coming back to him with under five secs on the shot clock and had to force bad shots lol;

Dare, Andrew - thx for the chime in guys!


The contest leader board is up guys; Martti's got the early jump... now see if you can take him down!

New entries always welcome

2nd is ok to me Go Spurs Go!

Nice win over the Cats.

C-77, dei - thx guys

Chris Kaman flattens Antonio McDyess on his way to a huge third quarter

Davis Rises To Occasion, Denies Spurs Comeback

BOX SCORE

Nov 02, 2009 Los Angeles, CA -- Late game heroics by Baron Davis snuffed a San Antonio comeback as the Los Angeles Clippers held on to defeat the visiting Spurs 105-103 at Staples Center.

It was a tight contest through the first half, with the Spurs managing to build a 4-point cushion entering halftime led by the terrific all-around efforts of Tim Duncan and Richard Jefferson. Duncan would finish the night with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks while Jefferson finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.

Momentum swung in LA's favor in the third, however, as the two-man game of Baron Davis and Chris Kaman took over and San Antonio quickly amassed fouls. Davis found Kaman several times in deep post position as the big man pounded the inside and dropped 8 of his 12 points in the quarter. Kaman also finished with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Facing a 6-point deficit entering the fourth and final period, point guard Tony Parker sparked the Spurs' comeback scoring 9 points in the quarter, including a timely three-pointer to pull San Antonio ahead 103-102 with under a minute remaining.

But Davis would not be denied, nailing a clutch three-pointer of his own during the closing seconds, the Clippers' only trey of the night. "(Marcus) Camby set a high screen and the slightest window opened up; I let loose and knew it was money right as it left my fingertips," said Davis of his three-pointer which proved to be the difference maker. He finishing the night with 15 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists while Parker ended with a team-high 24 points, 7 assists for the Spurs.

Marcus Camby's defense also played a huge factor in weathering San Antonio's late push as he collected a game-high 6 blocks including an emphatic stuff of Tim Duncan's last ditch shot attempt to tie the game. "They were the hungrier team tonight," said Duncan. "You've got to give them credit for stepping up and making big plays when it mattered most." Camby also finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds.

The Spurs have a day to regroup before continuing their road trip against the Chris Paul-less New Orleans Hornets.


PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP - NOV 4th: SA @ NOH



IR LIST

SA: Malik Hairston - Marcus Haislip - Ian Mahinmi

NOH: Ike Diogu - Hilton Armstrong - Chris Paul

_______


IMPORTANT CONTEST NOTE! Participating players, I totally spaced out on the template and listed Charlotte as the opponent for November 4th. I have since corrected this error, but feel free to recast your vote for November 4th: San Antonio @ New Orleans ONLY if you wish to do so; if you do not, then I will take your current prediction as is, just replacing Charlotte with New Orleans.

The final game in Boston is correct so those predictions stand. Sorry for the mix up!

Tough loss.
I Love the The Picture Of Kaman.

You'll destroy the Hornets without Paul.

Ahhh damn!!!! You had that game against the Clips!

Tough loss. Davis is clutch even in video games.

damn, tough loss to the Clippers (of all teams!) but 1-1 is not that bad of a start

I'll stick with the Spurs winning by 5 prediction.

Interested to see how well you do with Blair

Shame about the loss, but I've always found it keeps things interesting...when the CPU isn't being a cheating bastard, at any rate. Were you trying to draw a charge in that Kaman screenshot?

TheDee - when it happened i yelled, "DUDE!!!" lol

Thierry - one would hope so!

SGN_Mike - thx mate; diggin' your "parallel universe" Spurs too

dei, Valor, Carter - thx guys; i have a love/hate relationship with BD since GSW's "We Believe" series against DAL and his departure to LAC; he is money in the vid game though

TheX - i'm definitely excited about Blair but he'll need work with a current 67 overall rating; we've already got Cole working on it



Andrew - not trying to draw a charge; backing Dice down in the post, Kaman literally hooked him with the left arm and in one motion, did a spin while flinging Dice to the floor and dunking over him! for the life of me i don't recall ever seeing that animation so i was pretty impressed lol

Roger Mason converts for the bucket and the foul over Devin Brown late in overtime

Spurs Foil Rookie's Coming-Out Party

BOX SCORE

It took an extra period, but the San Antonio Spurs battled back from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat the New Orleans Hornets 125-118 in overtime.

A game many had expected to be a wash and Spurs highlight showcase since the Hornets were without injured floor leader, Chris Paul, turned into a hotly contested grudge match and coming-out party for UCLA rookie point guard, Darren Collison.

Collison played like no man's inferior, as he protected the ball fiercely, got teammates involved and attacked the basket on offense while doing a decent job containing veteran point, Tony Parker, on the defensive end. Before night's end, Collison tallied a team high 25 points and 7 assists, only turning the ball over once and committing one foul.

The unexpected excellent play of New Orleans' rookie point, as well as early foul trouble by Tim Duncan, and a mild ankle inversion which sidelined Manu Ginobili after only 10 minutes of play, found San Antonio staring at a 12-point deficit by halftime.

Following halftime, the Spurs would rally once again around mister consistency, Tim Duncan. Duncan scored 9 of his 20 points in the third quarter which got momentum rolling for San Antonio. Another turning factor was a renewed commitment to snaring rebounds, which no Spur did better than, Antonio McDyess. "Dice may be old but he can still make an impact," said Duncan of the veteran big man. McDyess shot a perfect 2-of-2 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe for 8 points and a team-high 16 rebounds.

Tony Parker orchestrated the Spurs offense and comeback, though he struggled from behind the arc shooting only 1-of-6. "Collison did a good job staying in front of me; I couldn't hit <expletive> from the perimeter." Parker finished with 24 points, 11 assists and 3 rebounds.

With 24.4 seconds left in regulation and New Orleans trailing 101-102, it looked like the Hornets might end victorious when Collison hit the go-ahead trey. But with 18.6 seconds remaining and New Orleans ahead 104-102, the ball was inbound to Duncan in the post who missed the shot attempt but was rebounded by Parker, who then tied the game with an acrobatic reverse layup as the game clock expired.

In overtime, Roger Mason was the man, scoring 11-points in the extra period, including the dagger "and 1" over defender Devin Brown which sealed the Spurs' road victory. After the game Mason told reporters, "I saw Timmy and Dice crashing the glass and going after every rebound, leaving everything on the floor, just to get us back even. When we went into OT, I was inspired and wasn't about to let their efforts go wasted."

GAME NOTES

· Erasing the 12-point deficit for the win is San Antonio's biggest comeback victory of the young season;
· Combined, 9 players scored in double digits, 8 players scoring 20+;
· Post-game medical exams confirm Manu Ginobili shows no lingering effects of tweaking his ankle during the first half; he will be available to play next game

San Antonio next faces the retooled Boston Celtics on the road.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS - Saturday November 7th: SA @ BOS



IR LIST

SA: Malik Hairston - Marcus Haislip - Ian Mahinmi
BOS: Glen Davis - Tony Allen - Bill Walker

Congrats on the win. Good news about Manu as well.

Andrew - not trying to draw a charge; backing Dice down in the post, Kaman literally hooked him with the left arm and in one motion, did a spin while flinging Dice to the floor and dunking over him! for the life of me i don't recall ever seeing that animation so i was pretty impressed lol

Admittedly it's been a while since I played NBA Live 06 outside some roster tests but I don't remember ever seeing that animation either. Good stuff.

Great win. Glad that Manu's doing well.

4 players scoring 20 or more for each team.

McDyess 16 rebounds maybe he really deserve that allstar spot in my dynasty

Andrew, Martti, Thierry - thx for the feedback guys

dare - i even toned down some of Dyess's stats before i began this dynasty and he still can put up good numbers; he's a workhorse from the ol' days where players earned their paycheck

Parker out-played Rondo leading to the Spurs to victory

Parker Lifts Spurs Over Celtics

BOX SCORE

November 7, 2009 -- The San Antonio Spurs powered past the Boston Celtics on the road 98-90 relying on smothering team defense and the outstanding play of point guard Tony Parker.

Parker, now in his 9th-NBA season, brought his A-game tonight vs 4th-year guard, Rajon Rondo, and a Celtics team many expect to be contending for the NBA championship come June. But if tonight's matchup is an indicator of the future, the Celtics have their work cut out for them.

Parker ran the Spurs' offense with crisp and efficient execution, building substantial leads at the start of each half; San Antonio's execution was so disciplined they would only turn the ball over 5 times the whole match while Boston struggled against the Spurs team defense, losing possession 16 times throughout the night.

"We couldn't take care of the ball...16 turnovers... that's unacceptable," said veteran Kevin Garnett, the Celtics emotional leader. "We've got a lot of work to do if we want to get back to where we were a few years ago."

Garnett did his best to carry Boston with a team-high 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists but the numerous turnovers and patrolling defense of Spurs' big man, Tim Duncan, were just impossible to overcome. Duncan finished the night with a game-high 7 blocked shots and also contributed 18 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

But the battle of point guards would ultimately decide the match as Parker outscored and outplayed Rondo much of the contest. "He (Parker) was the aggressor tonight. He really came out attacking early and got their offense going; we were on our heels the rest of the way," said Rondo. Parker finished the game with a team-high 25 points, 7 assists also snatching 3 rebounds and 2 steals for the Spurs. Rondo finished with 11 points and 2 rebounds, assists and steals a piece.

GAME NOTES

○ San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili showed no effects from tweaking his ankle a few nights earlier; he finished with 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting;
○ Rookie Dejaun Blair finished a solid night with a team-high 6 rebounds and also scored 4 points; Blair is projected to start in tomorrow night's game vs the Cavaliers

The Spurs have little time to celebrate as they head to continue their road trip tomorrow night to take on LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and the Cleveland Cavaliers

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS

New predictions template for: NOVEMBER (Week 3)

Sunday 8th: SA @ CLE
Thursday 12th: SA @ POR
Friday 13th: SA @ MEM

BONUS: Parker's Assist Average?

EARNING POINTS in Week 3

There are THREE ways to earn Points awarded as follows:

1) Guessed correct W or L: +10 pts

AND/OR

2) Guessed spread by +/- 4: +5 pts
○ +/- 2: +10 pts
○ Exact match: +25 pts

3) BONUS: Predict PARKER'S ASSIST AVERAGE for the coming week (rounding up)

i. Guess +/- 2: +5 pts
ii. Guess +/- 1: +10 pts
iii. Guess Exact: +20 pts

NOTE: You can only qualify for the BONUS question by casting ALL the week's predictions BEFORE any game recaps for the week are posted. Once the first game recap (vs CLE) is posted, any prediction of the BONUS will be void (however, non-recapped games can still be voted on and will count towards your overall score)

Good luck!