Mar 29, 2002 11:59 AM EST
The Spurs obviously would prefer their 19-year-old keep the fender-denting to a minimum these days. Especially since Terry Porter's strained right calf has forced Popovich to hand his rookie the keys in the fourth quarter.
"I like the pressure," said Parker, who rarely saw the floor during crunch time a month ago. "The last couple of games, even when TP was there, Pop showed a lot of confidence and put me back in the fourth quarter. With all these big games, I'm ready to take the challenge."
Whether Parker is ready matters little. In the past, Popovich would bring in Porter to steady the team if needed. With Porter out for at least three more games, the only options are to move Antonio Daniels into that role — even though Daniels is more comfortable at shooting guard — or let Parker continue to cut his teeth as the playoffs near.
So far, Popovich has chosen the latter. In the past three games, Parker has averaged 11.0 points and 7.7 assists in 38.0 minutes — up from the 8.8 points, 4.0 assists and 28.8 minutes he averaged in his first 63 games.
Via San Antonio Express-News
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Using a team defense that would have even made the Baltimore Ravens proud, the Trail Blazers held Duncan to eight of his 34 points over the final 21:45 to beat the Spurs 98-93 and end their league-best 13-game winning streak.
The Spurs' first loss of the month also kept them from moving into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers — who lost at Phoenix earlier Wednesday night — for second place in the Western Conference. Instead, Portland (44-27) kept alive its slim hopes of catching the Spurs or Dallas for the No. 4 seed.
The Trail Blazers, a league-best 19-4 since the All-Star break, held the Spurs without a field goal for a critical stretch of 4:08 that ended when Duncan tipped in a miss with about 12 seconds left. By then, however, Portland had taken control of the game behind 24 points — 18 in the second half — from Bonzi Wells.
Via San Antonio Express-News
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Smith, having survived his own assignment from Brungardt while tending to his sprained right ankle, graduated from the sidelines to the court Tuesday. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, apparently satisfied with the results of Smith's workout, is expected to let him play tonight against Portland.
"I think I passed my test," Smith said after playing some fullcourt three-on-three. "I feel like I'm at 98, 99 percent. But I still can't jump."
Smith, of course, has been waging a losing battle with gravity long before he jammed his ankle against Chicago on March 14. Able to count his dunks this season on a single hand — if not a single finger — he has instead become the league's leading 3-point shooter.
While Smith still keeps in touch with Rasheed Wallace and other players from last season's team, it's a safe guess he no longer has Blazers president Bob Whitsitt's phone number on speed dial. Believing management had diminished his role by overstocking the team's roster, Smith asked for either a contract extension or a trade last summer.
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Spurs Mar 2002 Archive
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 26, 2002
The San Antonio Spurs assured their presence in the postseason with a 91-85 victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles, writes Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 25, 2002
During negotiations to re-sign Bowen, Riley called him the league's lowest-rated starting small forward in offense, and said his skills — energy, athleticism, leadership and defense — could be "found and taught.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 25, 2002
It really didn't hit us until after the Dallas game," David Robinson said.
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MSNBC Sports | Mar 25, 2002
March 25 — GAME: San Antonio Spurs (48-21) at Los Angeles Clippers (36-34).
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Dallas Morning News | Mar 22, 2002
The 105-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday that had the Mavericks clawing through the final seconds for a prayer to be answered at American Airlines Center wasn't perfect.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 22, 2002
Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News writes that the hard-charging Spurs scored another major victory last night.
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Star Telegram | Mar 21, 2002
The race for the top spot in the Western Conference has turned into a four-team horse race between the Mavericks, Sacramento, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 21, 2002
With Tim Duncan supplying 25 points, Bruce Bowen pressuring Kobe Bryant and nearly everyone else in a silver-and-black uniform playing solid team defense, Robinson helped hold down O'Neal as the Spurs routed the Lakers 108-90 in front of 30,775 at the Alamodome.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 20, 2002
Kobe Stopper? Bruce Bowen doesn't want to hear it.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 19, 2002
While the Spurs have not made too much movement up or down the board — aside from their recent jump over free-falling Minnesota — the distance between them and the rest of the West's best has steadily dwindled.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 18, 2002
The San Antonio Spurs have begun their bid for a WNBA franchise in their city, reports Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 18, 2002
Ferry may not be the best at making friends on the court, but he's earned some love in his own locker room.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 18, 2002
For all the enthusiasm their current nine-game winning streak has generated, and all the talk about achieving their "short-term goal" of catching Dallas for the Midwest Division title, the Spurs still figure, at some point, they will have to get around to beating the only Western Conference team they haven't beaten all season.
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Boston Herald | Mar 17, 2002
SAN ANTONIO - The Spurs will be leaving the Alamodome for a new arena next season and the Celtics might want to consider showing up to help on moving day.
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Boston Globe | Mar 17, 2002
AN ANTONIO - Since the Celtics have a habit of making dramatic late-game comebacks, the result of last night's matchup with San Antonio took a couple of minutes to register.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 15, 2002
While Robinson left with his pride and joy intact, the Spurs absorbed the Bulls' best punch and exited with a 91-86 victory.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 14, 2002
Now," Antonio Daniels said, "we're just playing.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 13, 2002
When Smith gets going, the Spurs usually get a win.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 12, 2002
Tim Duncan made his first nine shots and scored 21 points, but it was the late contributions of Antonio Daniels (19 points) and Malik Rose (18 points) that helped push the Spurs past the Nuggets 93-78 at the Pepsi Center for their sixth consecutive victory.
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Rocky Mountain News | Mar 12, 2002
Aaron J.
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 11, 2002
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San Antonio Express-News | Mar 11, 2002
They may someday grow into a force in the undersized Eastern Conference, but Saturday they would have been wise to take notes.
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Denver Post | Mar 11, 2002
Tonight the Nuggets take on the Spurs at the Pepsi Center.
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Miami Herald | Mar 10, 2002
Before the Spurs were crushed in four straight by the Lakers in the 2001 Western Conference Finals, fans had every reason to expect epic postseason battles between the teams for the next two or three years.
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| Mar 8, 2002
"He talked bad stuff after the first game," Parker said.
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| Mar 8, 2002
For now, they started another game in a fog, showing little interest in defense and none in ball movement, then spent the night trying to overcome themselves as much as the San Antonio Spurs.
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| Mar 7, 2002
Dwain Price of the Star Telegram reports that, according to a complicated statistical measuring stick compiled by the NBA, Nash produces in the final two minutes of a game better than anyone in the league.
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| Mar 7, 2002
In his past two games, Smith has totaled 34 points, only three of which have come from behind the arc.
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| Mar 6, 2002
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| Mar 6, 2002
They're all talking about the game that became the highest scoring in NBA history at the time — March 6, 1982.
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| Mar 6, 2002
David Robinson became the 27th player in league history to have at least 20,000 points for his career in last night's victory over Golden State, writes Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News.
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| Mar 5, 2002
For the Spurs, it has fast become an annual rite of spring.
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| Mar 4, 2002
Spurs officials won't comment whether Payton came up again before the trade deadline.
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| Mar 4, 2002
Bowen to appeal fine: The NBA hit Bruce Bowen with a $7,500 fine Sunday for his inadvertent kick to Timberwolves guard Wally Szczerbiak's face Friday.
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| Mar 4, 2002
Has it been that long since the Spurs took down New York in the NBA Finals?
"The way things have been going this year it seems even further away," Malik Rose said.
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| Mar 2, 2002
If only the Timberwolves had known that the end of their game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night was going to be a mirror image of the beginning of the game, they could have smashed, ditched or otherwise lost the mirror.
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| Mar 2, 2002
What feels worse, getting kicked in the face or kicked in the butt?
If you listen to Timberwolves guard Wally Szczerbiak — who felt both Friday night when San Antonio forward Bruce Bowen's left foot connected with his right cheek, then Minnesota lost 85-77 at Target Center — the answer's pretty simple:
"I had a big three to tie it, and a good look,'' Szczerbiak said, his face red, swollen and forgotten.
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| Mar 1, 2002
But when Lamond Murray fumbled the pass and shuffled the ball back Miller's way, the Cavaliers point guard had little choice.
