Spurs dig in to take 2-0 Finals lead
SAN ANTONIO -- Well before things had gotten out of hand, Pistons coach Larry Brown talked of how difficult it had been to play the Spurs with little rest and even less prep time for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
He had two full days and no travel to prepare for Game 2 and it was even worse.
The Spurs put a chokehold on the Larry O'Brien Trophy last night, taking a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals with an authoritative, convincing 97-76 victory over the defending champion Pistons. The series now shifts to The Palace of Auburn Hills for at least the next two games where, presumably, things will go better for the Pistons. They couldn't get much worse. The Pistons had three technicals called -- and not one was on Rasheed Wallace.
''The way those guys are playing and the way they are executing, they just dominated two games," said Brown. ''I don't think we've been as aggressive as them, and defensively we've been real soft."
San Antonio led by 11 after one, by 16 at the half, by 16 again after three. After the Pistons pulled to within 8 with 7:14 remaining, the Spurs called time. Whatever coach Gregg Popovich said must have resonated, for the Spurs came out of the break and scored the game's next 13 points, all but 3 from the line. San Antonio managed a single field goal over the first 9 minutes of the quarter -- the fourth of Bruce Bowen's four treys -- and actually increased its lead.
''We knew we had another run in us," said Bowen. ''It was just a matter of executing."
The Spurs got balanced scoring with five players in double figures, led by Manu Ginobili (27 points), Tim Duncan (18), Bowen (15), Robert Horry (12), and Tony Parker (12). San Antonio knocked down 11 treys; Detroit had none. The Spurs had 34 free throws to Detroit's 16. Antonio McDyess had 15 points and Rip Hamilton had 14 to lead Detroit.
The Pistons face a tough task. Only two teams in the history of the NBA Finals, the 1969 Celtics and the 1977 Trail Blazers, managed to win after falling behind, 2-0. Detroit never led in this one and the 8-point differential was as close as it came over the game's final 34 minutes.
When Detroit threatened to make it a game, pulling to within 81-73 early in the fourth, the Spurs once again went to Ginobili. The crafty Argentine, who had 15 fourth-quarter points in Game 1, had 8 last night, all from the line, and all in the 13-0 San Antonio run. By the time he made his last freebie, the Spurs' lead was 94-73 with 3:44 to play and the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Virtually nothing went right for the Pistons in the first half. Virtually nothing went wrong for San Antonio. The result was a 16-point Spurs lead at intermission, 58-42, which thoroughly reflected the nature of the game. San Antonio came out smoking from the start and never let up, building leads of 18 points while shooting a scalding 58.8 percent. When they convert like that, and defend with their customary tenacity, the Spurs are unbeatable. It was like they were playing against the Suns without worrying about getting scored upon.
Duncan (14 first-half points) was again quietly at the forefront, but there were more than a few members of his supporting cast who stepped up in Oscar-like fashion. Ginobili scored the game's first basket, a trey 22 seconds into the action, and had 12 at the break. Parker was equally deadly, knifing through the lane, scoring 10. Bowen even made a couple of shots. The Spurs had 14 assists in the half. To give an idea of what that might mean, they had 12 in all of Game 1. And still won by 15.
How bad was it for the Pistons? Lindsey Hunter and Carlos Arroyo had as many points as Chauncey Billups, Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince -- 7. The Pistons appeared to have solved their rebounding woes from Game 1, but the Spurs split their supposed vaunted defense while limiting the aforementioned trio to 3-of-15 shooting.
Clearly, this was not what Brown envisioned. The Pistons have been a resilient lot all playoff season, making a habit of coming back from deficits. Twice during this playoffs they had been down by 10 or more after one quarter -- and won both games. They were down by 11 after one last night -- and by 16 at the break.
San Antonio opened an 11-2 lead before the game was four minutes old and was in control for the rest of the half. It was a 30-19 lead after one. After the Pistons pulled to within 32-25 early in the second, San Antonio erupted for a 15-4 run capped by a 3-pointer by Horry (9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals in 14 minutes) and then a jumper by Ginobili (4 of 4 from the field). That made it 47-29 and was the first of three 18-point leads for the Spurs.
Detroit cut into the deficit but couldn't get over the hump.
Said Ginobili, ''If we were in their situation, we would be very upset and not want to make any mistakes." 