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 Spurs ready for whoever San Antonio awaits winner of Portland-Utah series
Posted: Thursday May 27, 1999 02:07 PM
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs know from experience never to discount the Utah Jazz. So as the Spurs watch from afar, insisting they have no preference in the Utah-Portland Western Conference semifinal series, their tales of the resiliency of the Jazz suggest the Spurs believe that series is far from over. "Until I see Portland ... I won't think anything but Utah," said Spurs forward Sean Elliott. "They're not dead yet. They're just not. They've been through it too many times to count them out." The Spurs, after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0, are awaiting an opponent in the conference finals. The Jazz defeated the Trail Blazers on Tuesday, but Portland still leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. The next game is Thursday in Portland. San Antonio held its first full practice Wednesday since ousting the Lakers three days earlier. The 2 1/2-hour session at a local college centered on improving the Spurs' game, not combating the still unknown opponent, said coach Gregg Popovich. "We just prepare as well as we can to make sure we're doing our things correctly, doing them as best as possible," he said. "Then when we find out who we're going to play, we can prepare on the court for that team." After practice, talk quickly turned to Utah and Portland. Spurs players said they watched Tuesday night's game with interest as well as empathy for the pounding the Trail Blazers suffered at the hands of Karl Malone and the Jazz. Brian Grant of the Blazers was bloodied by an elbow from Malone in the first quarter, one of several confrontations in the wild, physical game. "He let that take him out of his game," Spurs guard Mario Elie said of Grant. "That's Utah, man. Utah, that's how they beat you. They get into your head. And Portland, a young team, they're sort of rattled a little bit." The longer the Utah-Portland series goes, the more the Spurs get to rest, which is fine with Elie. "I never thought I'd be cheering for Utah," Elie said. "We're hoping those guys just keep slugging it out." But like other Spurs players, Elie doesn't care which team San Antonio plays next. "We've got the home court," he said. "They've got to come to our place. I think either team is going to be difficult." The top-seeded Spurs have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Western Conference finals are scheduled to start either Saturday or Monday, depending on when the Portland-Utah series ends. Because Utah has played so well in elimination games, some Spurs believe the Jazz -- San Antonio's longtime nemesis -- might be heading here. "It takes a lot to go into an elimination game and continue to battle. They have a lot of guts. That's why they've been to the finals two years in a row," Elliott said. The Jazz are 6-1 in their last seven playoff elimination games. Utah has ousted the Spurs from the postseason the last two times San Antonio has made the playoffs. The Jazz beat the Spurs 4-2 in the semifinals in 1996 and 4-1 in the semifinals two years later. David Robinson, knocked unconscious and hospitalized with a concussion last season after Malone elbowed him, chuckled but wouldn't say which team he'd prefer to face this weekend. "Aaaggghhh, aaaggghhh," Robinson said, walking off, holding his arms out and shaking his head. "Whoever."
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