My Game Report: Spurs take down the T-pups

missmyzte

San Antonio Spurs vs Minnesota Timberwolves

by: MistiLynn

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Third time’s a charm.

My third game this season in which I have flown to see the Spurs play and the first of those in which Robert Horry has played. He was taking a rest in the preseason game against Seattle in October and was nursing injuries in Phoenix in January when Manu Ginobili tallied up 48 points.

But tonight RoHo made up for it all to the tune of 18 points, his highest offensive production since signing with the Spurs last season.

We had a good group together: Jackie (Blondie), Mandy (Ginofan), Laura (LauraBC), David (GrandeDavid), Kristen (kmgospurs) and myself (missmyzte). There was a little girl sitting to my left that I taught to say that Horry was her favorite player, I was so proud.

The Star-Spangled Banner was sung but Kevin Garnett didn’t stick around for it. He walked away before the end of the song, which I found very disrespectful.

With Ginobili still sidelined, Brick Barry, I mean Brent Barry was in the starting line up again. He must have been feeling the pressure because he had a couple driving lay-ups in the game that were almost Gino-esque. He teased us by hitting his first 3-pointer but that was the end of his outside shot. He ended with 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting, 1 of 5 from 3-point land (which was accurately predicted before the game by Laura).

The Timberwolves had just played a tough game in *allas the night before, a rare win for them. They must have left their D there (goodness knows the Mavs could use it) because Tony Parker was able to waltz right to the basket. The Pups just laid out the red carpet and watched the Spurs nail lay-up after lay-up. Duncan to Horry – swish. Horry to Duncan – swish. San Antonio opened up a quick 21-9 lead about half-way through the first quarter.

Is San Antonio this good or is Minny this bad?

Both.

A classic match up of MVP’s: TD vs KG? This game (not to mention the rest of the Minny season) leaves me wondering if it’s possible to revoke MVP awards.

The Spurs played suffocating D, great to see because that has not been the case over the last few weeks. They had their hands up on shots, good help D and rotations and they were moving their feet limited the foul calls. On the offensive end, they were moving the ball well in typical Spurs fashion but without the turnovers that have been plaguing the team of late.

The first quarter ended at 32-18 with the Spurs shooting 70%. TP kept going to score a couple confidence points, he tossed up a shot from half-court after the buzzer and banked it in. RoHo had some confidence in his own shot with 7 points.

Jump ahead to the third quarter, with SA up 60-45, we see the value of Parker’s confidence points as he hits his first 3-pointer since the All-Star break. Then he followed it with 2 ugly shots and ended the night with 11 points on 5 of 15 shooting. Just a couple minutes later, Horry stepped in to take a charge and was called instead for a blocking foul as he went flying. I was less than pleased as I blurted a string of unidentified gibberish towards the officials and the player who knocked him over. Five minutes later, Laura and Mandy were still laughing at my outburst.

Near the end of the 3rd quarter, Horry hits yet another trey to complete his 18-point contribution on the night (in only 21 minutes). Some have made the suggestion that he played so well because he knew I was in attendance. I won’t deny the plausibility of this because it’s a nice thought that I’m a good luck charm to him. I’m currently accepting donations to send me to a couple Spurs games in the Finals.

Then something unbelievable happened: Beno Udrih was charging towards the basket on a fastbreak and took a hard foul while in the air from Wally Szczerbiak (not the surprise). Szczerbiak tried to help Udrih up but Bruce Bowen stepped into care for his rookie teammate. A little heated situation, at least by San Antonio standards, enough to warrant a double T on Bowen and Szczerbiak (but reports indicate that Szczerbiak went to the Spurs locker room after the game to apologize to Udrih). The Coyote happened to be in the area at the time so he played like he was going to go after Wally with his assistant holding him back. It was a joke, the fans were amused, the players indifferent and the refs humorless. Jess Kersey, the veteran official, threw the mascot out of the game “I want the wolf out of here!" Kersey said. "He's gone! Now!" Fans in attendance didn’t realize he was ejected and just noticed that he was gone for the 4th quarter. This is only the 3rd time a team’s mascot has been ejected and the first for the Spurs.

Player reactions to the tossing of the Coyote:

"That's the greatest thing I've ever heard," Duncan said. "That's the kind of toughness that we have on this team. They were afraid of The Coyote, so they had to toss him. That was incredible."

"You can't get mad at the Coyote for doing that," Horry said. "He was just trying to get the crowd hyped. And that was bad judgement on the official's part."

Barry ended the 3rd quarter with a turnover giving him half the team’s TO’s for the game (he had 2, there were 4 overall).

There was one play where several of the players seemed to have butterfingers as they knocked the ball around so I commented, “What, is Malik back?” Jackie was not happy as she informed me that I would be walking home. I’m just kidding Malik -- I love you and miss you!

Towards the end of the game, they showed Manu Ginobili on the jumbo screen, the fans cheered for him. Gino looked up to see what got the fans so excited and saw himself, he gave a smile and a shy wave, making everyone (especially Mandy) cheer that much more.

Game Over: 87-73

Spurs win, not that the game was ever in doubt. RoHo was named the Impact Player of the Game and stuck around for a post-game interview which just topped off a perfect game in my book.

Thanks to everyone that I got to see and hang out with during my trip to San Antonio, including Mandy, Jackie, Laura, Kristen, David, Courtney and Crystal. I had a great time and appreciate your generosity in welcoming me to San Antonio again!

Pictures coming soon!

MistiLynn

"It's got to be hard to defend us," Nesterovic said, "when we don't even know who's going to shoot." 1/26/05

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LauraBC · Guest

Awesome recap as always Misti!

I didn't know about KG leaving during the song. Ughhh. I think my favorite moment was when you had that RoHo excorcism moment lmaoo That was wild :roll