Final
Pacers-Spurs Preview
Dec 19, 2009 - 6:42 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS WriterIndiana (9-14) at San Antonio (13-10), 8:30 p.m. EDT
Thanks to improved performances at both ends of the floor, Gregg Popovich's San Antonio Spurs are starting to emerge from a slow start.
A matchup with the Indiana Pacers should help San Antonio give its coach a good shot at his 700th career win.
Popovich will try to lead the Spurs to their fifth victory in six games and their eighth straight home win against the Pacers on Saturday night.
With its top three players missing games earlier this season, San Antonio (13-10) struggled to find a consistent groove - especially on offense - while splitting its first 18 games.
The Spurs averaged 100.0 points but much of that came from five games in which they scored 112 or more. In the other 13 contests, San Antonio averaged 93.3 points.
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have stayed healthy this month, and it's seemed to pay off for the Spurs, who have averaged 108.8 points and shot 52.9 percent in the past five games.
Duncan has averaged a team-best 23.2 points in that time, and he followed a season-high 34 in Phoenix on Tuesday with 27 in a 103-91 victory at Golden State on Wednesday.
"We're trying to turn that corner and learn from our mistakes and be better about it," Duncan said.
The Spurs have also limited their last four opponents to an average of 95.5 points after giving up at least 104 in each of the three previous games.
Despite his team making strides, Ginobili isn't completely satisfied yet.
"We've had a couple of pretty good games, but we're not playing at our full potential," Ginobili said. "That's something we want to accomplish and the sooner, the better. We know we can do so much better."
Ginobili has led the Spurs during their four straight overall wins over the Pacers with 21.3 points per game on 62.2 percent shooting, and Parker is not far behind with 21.0 points per game.
Indiana (9-15) has split six games since losing leading scorer Danny Granger to a torn right plantar fascia, but the Pacers have dropped two of three this week, including Friday night's 107-94 defeat in Memphis.
Indiana has won three straight when topping 100 points, but a 3-for-21 performance from 3-point range prevented the Pacers from reaching that mark against Memphis. They were also outscored 56-38 in the second half with many of the Grizzlies' points coming in the paint.
"I thought their bigs dominated our bigs," coach Jim O'Brien said. "They just dominated our people inside. We could not stop their low-post game."
Mike Dunleavy, who tied for the team lead with 16 points Friday, has averaged a team-best 19.2 points over the past five games but is scoring 14.0 points per game during the losing streak to San Antonio.
However, Dunleavy had a team-high 21 in the Pacers' previous win over the Spurs on April 1, 2007.
Indiana hasn't won in San Antonio since Jan. 4, 2002, and has dropped 10 of 11 there since the beginning of the 1997-98 season.
With his next win, Popovich will become the 17th coach in league history with 700 victories.
- NBA
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
INDIANA 21 24 38 16 99
SAN ANTONIO 30 20 20 30 100 FINAL
HIGH SCORERS: IND - TROY MURPHY 21, ROY HIBBERT 20,
T.J. FORD 14
SAS - TIM DUNCAN 19, TONY PARKER 15,
KEITH BOGANS 14
Dec 19 10:57 PM - NBA
END 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
INDIANA 21 24 38 83
SAN ANTONIO 30 20 20 70 END 3RD QTR
HIGH SCORERS AFTER 3RD QUARTER
IND - TROY MURPHY 19, ROY HIBBERT 16, MIKE
DUNLEAVY 11
SAS - KEITH BOGANS 14, TIM DUNCAN 11,
TONY PARKER 11
Dec 19 10:21 PM - NBA
HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
INDIANA 21 24 45
SAN ANTONIO 30 20 50 HALFTIME
HIGH SCORERS AT HALFTIME
IND - ROY HIBBERT 12, MIKE DUNLEAVY 10,
TROY MURPHY 10
SAS - TIM DUNCAN 11, MANU GINOBILI 8,
MATT BONNER 7
Dec 19 9:37 PM - NBA
INDIANA 21
SAN ANTONIO 30 END, 1ST QTR
Dec 19 9:06 PM
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