Gang who couldn't shoot straight

After brutal Game 4, Spurs confident worst is behind them

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- There was no room-service creme brulee to throw off Tony Parker's shot this time, just the long arms of Kerry Kittles.

Stephen Jackson's problem was letting frustration from the previous game carry over. Malik Rose joked that he was rattled by no one trying to stop his jumpers.

Whatever their reasons, the results were the same: Miss after miss after miss. In Game 4 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night, that trio of San Antonio Spurs went a combined 2-for-30 in a 77-76 loss to the New Jersey Nets that tied the series at two games each.

But Parker, Jackson and Rose weren't the only ones stinking it up. The entire San Antonio team made just 28.9 percent of its shots, the worst in a playoff game in team history and the third-worst by any team in a Finals game.

Considering the top two stinkers came against each other, the Spurs had the most offensive offensive showing by any team since April 7, 1955, when Syracuse shot 27.5 percent and Fort Wayne hit just 28.0 percent.

"Pretty ugly," said reserve guard Steve Kerr, who played one minute and didn't take a shot.

While New Jersey's defense deserves some credit, San Antonio did plenty wrong -- from missing open shots to failing to finish near the basket, from poor shot selection to sometimes nonexistent ball movement.

Maybe if one of two players were off, the Spurs could've weathered it. But not even Tim Duncan had the antidote for the brick-a-thon.

Duncan vowed that things will change by Game 5 Friday night.

"I guarantee those guys will make shots," Duncan said. "They will attack a little differently. ... Those shots will fall. Things will be different."

As the Spurs returned to practice Thursday, players were handling the fallout in their own unique ways.

Rose, who was 0-for-9 and didn't play the second half, tried being jovial, saying the Nets' best defense was "leaving me open."

Jackson struggled to contain his anger, which is mostly aimed at himself. He went 1-for-9 on the heels of a 2-for-7 game, all after going 11-for-25 the first two games.

"Right now, I really want to hurt someone," he said. "That's how much frustration I have from the way I'm playing. Today, I can't wait to get out of here to get my peace of mind."

Then there's trilingual Manu Ginobili, who said he was bidding the game farewell, adios and arrivederci.

"It's hard to shoot worse, even if we wanted to," said Ginobili, who went 3-for-10, missing a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that could've forced overtime. "Tony, Jack and everyone else are going to do great and the shots are going to begin falling. It's not a big deal."

Parker was shut down once Jason Kidd turned over defensive duties to Kittles, who has at least three inches on the Spurs point guard. Parker went from averaging 21 points the first three games to scoring three on 1-of-12 shooting.

"I just tried to stay between him and the basket," Kittles said. "Although he's quick, he had a tougher time shooting those floaters with a guy my length guarding him. ... Tony wasn't really all that aggressive."

Backup Speedy Claxton replaced Parker with San Antonio down by 12, then returned to the bench with the Spurs up by three. Coach Gregg Popovich said he wrestled with the decision of which point guard to use, but settled on Parker because "we wanted to show that confidence in him."

Parker also had a bad night in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, going scoreless by missing all five of his shots.

In that game, though, he was battling an upset stomach caused by a bad hotel dessert. And the Spurs won anyway, even with fellow starter Bruce Bowen also not scoring. San Antonio pulled it out because other players stepped up, like Kerr, who hit four 3-pointers.

"My role is usually to sit but to play if something crazy happens, like food poisoning," Kerr said. "Unfortunately, nobody got sick last night."

The only solace for the Spurs is that both losses this series came down to a final shot. New Jersey won Games 2 and 4 by a total of three points.

"You put one basket in from myself, Tony and Jack, and we win the game," said Bowen, who was 2-for-9. "It was a tough night -- and with that tough night we still had an opportunity to win. We know we can do things so much better."

 

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