 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|||||||||||
|
Nothing but neck Spurs' Game 5 collar job could make for a long offseasonPosted: Wednesday May 28, 2003 2:34 AM
SAN ANTONIO -- Blank stares. Slumped shoulders. Forced smiles. They were all on display in the Spurs' locker room Tuesday night after their 103-91 loss to the Mavs in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. After blowing a 19-point second-half lead, San Antonio found itself once again answering questions about its inability to close out opponents. "I can’t explain it," said Spurs forward Malik Rose, whose team has blown similar huge leads in five games this postseason. "I really don’t know what’s going on." San Antonio’s collapse against a Mavs team playing without star forward Dirk Nowitzki was reminiscent of Portland’s royal choke job against the Lakers in Game 7 three years ago. Playing with a chance to clinch a berth in the NBA Finals, before its home crowd, against a depleted Mavs team, the Spurs simply gave it away. "When we got a lead we did not play smart," center David Robinson said. "We need to play a solid 48 minutes." For much of the game, San Antonio looked like it was going to be able to close out the Mavs easily and get some rest for the Nets in the NBA Finals. San Antonio dominated Dallas over the opening 28 minutes, building a 70-53 lead with 7:47 to play. Then all the same old bugaboos that have plagued the Spurs suddenly started popping up again. Missed free throws. Turnovers. Choked jumpers. Taking full advantage of San Antonio’s largesse, the Mavs outscored the Spurs 50-21 the rest of the way. "I feel like the luckiest guy in the world," Mavs coach Don Nelson said. "We hung around. We kept trying. It didn’t look good. In the fourth quarter, they went cold." For the second straight game, Dallas refused to use Nowitzki’s absence as an excuse. They played hard all night, especially Michael Finley, who practically kept the Mavs in the game single-handedly in the third quarter. In a sign of their determination -- and San Antonio’s ineptness -- Finley and Nick Van Exel each managed to steal key inbounds passes while all alone in the backcourt in the second half. But ultimately, the Spurs killed themselves with their inability to make open shots. With Dallas ganging up on Duncan in a desperate attempt to take him out of the game, San Antonio got plenty of open looks. Stephen Jackson, Emanuel Ginobili, Tony Parker, Speedy Claxton and Rose weren’t able to cash in. With so many young, unproven players, it’s not surprising the Spurs might be prone to careless turnovers and mistakes down the stretch. But San Antonio’s tendency to miss wide open shots late in a game is not a good sign. At least not for a team with championship aspirations. Even Duncan admitted Tuesday that he could see his team tense up a bit down the stretch. "Yeah, a little bit," Duncan said. "Everybody does. It’s natural." It’s not natural, however, for an NBA champion to give away leads like candy. "We have a good number of guys that have not been in that situation before," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "[But] if you have half a brain, you realize how important a game like this is." The Spurs are still the team to beat. They still lead the series 3-2 and have the comfort of a potential Game 7 back home at SBC Center. But if they don't figure out a way to close out games pretty soon, they'll be facing really tough questions over a long offseason. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for SI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment |
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||||
