Playoff Shootaround

Spurs are still lacking a difference-maker on the wings

By John Hollinger, SI.com

All I can say is "Derek Anderson."

I know it's strange to say this about a guy who was largely a bystander in his own team's playoff game Saturday, but Derek Anderson is what the Spurs have been trying to replace for the last two seasons. Saturday's opener indicates San Antonio still has a ways to go before accomplishing the task.

Before we get started, don't mistake me: The Suns' win in Game 1 was an Oliver Miller-sized fluke. Two banked 3-pointers? Are you kidding me? What would have happened in the next overtime, Jake Voskuhl dribbling coast-to-coast to set up a Casey Jacobsen windmill jam?

8 Consecutive playoff games lost by Portland over the past four seasons. The Blazers' streak began with the infamous Game 7 collapse against the Lakers in the 2000 Western Conference finals. Points scored by the Utah Jazz in the second quarter of their 96-90 loss to Sacramento, the fewest they have scored all season. "He was just putting his head down, going to the basket and going to the foul line. It seemed every time he went into the air, he went to the foul line." -- A disbelieving Isiah Thomas on the Celtics' Paul Pierce, who took 21 foul shots in Boston's Game 1 win. How much did the assault charges in Toronto affect the Bucks' preparation -- or lack thereof -- for New Jersey in Game 1?

And even that wouldn't have been enough if the Spurs hadn't been practicing their Nick Anderson imitation at the line. I was waiting for an angst-ridden Penny Hardaway to turn and look away before the last one.

But all that misses the larger issue of how it reached that point in the first place. No. 1 isn't supposed to struggle this much against No. 8, even when No. 8 is pretty darn good and matches up well.

The reason San Antonio had so much trouble gets back to Anderson. The Spurs looked to be headed for a title two years ago, or at the very least an epic conference finals matchup against the Lakers, before Juwan Howard flapjacked Anderson and knocked him out for the playoffs.

Anderson forced a sign-and-trade to Portland that summer, which left the Spurs lacking the perimeter slasher to complement Tim Duncan and David Robinson. They've been searching for it ever since, and although San Antonio has spent the last 12 months upgrading its talent, the Spurs aren't there yet.

Twenty-year-old Tony Parker has had to fill that gap, and while he played well enough to be the Spurs' second-leading scorer, Phoenix's zones exposed a lot of his flaws. In particular, Parker's shot still comes and goes -- he made just 2-of-13 from the field and was 0-for-6 behind the 3-point line.

The comparison couldn't be more evident: Anderson shot 39.9 percent on trifectas in his year in the Alamo City, while no Spurs starter shot above 34 percent this year. That he could do it while also providing his forays to the basket only added to the threat.

That, in turn, is why on a night where David Robinson found the fountain of youth -- playing his most minutes since January, he made all eight shots from the field and several key stops down the stretch -- the Spurs still couldn't put away the Suns.

So while I still doubt the Spurs are in danger of losing this series -- presuming the bank is closed in Game 2 -- they're still looking for the next Derek Anderson. And that may be what prevents them from hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy this June.

	Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Stud: Paul Pierce, G, Celtics Pierce's late-season slump ended abruptly in the fourth quarter Saturday. All he did was set an NBA record by making all 21 of his free-throw attempts and scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter, giving the Celtics a game that looked irretrievably lost.		Noren Trotman/NBAE/Getty Images Dud: Gary Payton, G, Bucks Payton flew to Toronto after the game to surrender on assault charges with two teammates; he might as well have spent the last three nights there. Payton went the first 44 minutes without scoring and had more turnovers (5) than baskets (3).