Bump and grind
Ginobili, Spurs fight off Jazz, crowd to take 3-1 lead
Posted: Tuesday May 29, 2007 1:14AM; Updated: Tuesday May 29, 2007 1:39AM
Ginobili, Spurs fight off Jazz, crowd to take 3-1 lead
Posted: Tuesday May 29, 2007 1:14AM; Updated: Tuesday May 29, 2007 1:39AM
SALT LAKE CITY -- For awhile this felt a lot like a European playoff game in one of those Greek or Spanish arenas where the fans never shut up and every basket is greeted as a tragedy or a miracle. Manu Ginobili learned to play in this kind of setting, and he looked entirely comfortable while bulling his way to the foul line for 15 fourth-quarter points to turn a tight Game 4 into a 91-79 Spurs rout.
San Antonio takes a 3-1 lead back home, where Utah hasn't won since 1999. Much the same as the Suns felt in the previous round, the Jazz will have a hard time deciding how to overcome the ruthless display the Spurs put on Monday.
Their 41 free-throw attempts were twice as many as the Jazz (20) earned, which led to a lot of complaining from the 19,911 here as well as five Utah technicals, culminating in the late fourth-quarter ejections of coach Jerry Sloan and guard Derek Fisher, who by the way was held without a three-point attempt in 38 minutes.
"I thought our guys played their hearts out,'' said Sloan, who refused to discuss the officiating. "I thought they competed about as much as you could ask of guys to compete.''
That had been Sloan's mantra throughout the series -- that he wanted his young team to fight. Their next step now is to realize from the Spurs how to maintain a high level of execution while playing all-out.
"That's what they've got to learn every time they step on the floor,'' Sloan said. "Obviously you need to learn how to stick with what you are trying to do and not have the turnovers and not have the fouls that put them on the free-throw line, regardless of circumstances.''
A lingering case of the stomach flu and the Spurs' upgraded intensity helped to limit -- which is surely not the right word -- Deron Williams to 27 points and 10 assists. The Spurs began trapping him to force the ball out of his hands, and the Jazz responded with 10 sloppy turnovers in the second half. "`We changed defenses three or four times just to give him different looks, get him thinking about it,'' said Tim Duncan.
The Jazz were proudly exchanging body blows with the Spurs through the early rounds, but Utah couldn't sustain it -- while in the meantime Ginobili was escalating his attacks. Duncan recovered from a woeful Game 3 to soften up Utah's defensive midsection with 19 points (to go with nine rebounds and five blocks) in conjunction with an 11-point, 11-board performance from Fabricio Oberto. And yet it was still tough going around the basket with Andrei Kirilenko (four blocks) coming to life before Ginobili found his rhythm.
"Fans were going nuts and they looked inspired,'' said Ginobili, who finished with 22 points while going just 4 of 10 from the field. "I am very proud of what we did in the fourth quarter because it was looking ugly for us, and we really stepped up and did a great job.''
Just when the Jazz had limited Duncan while holding Tony Parker to a 6-of-19 (17 points, two assists) night, here came Ginobili fighting his way through the heart of their defense to go 11 of 13 from the line in the final period -- while the entire Jazz roster was 1-for-2 in that time. "I don't think I did too much to get into their skin in the first three quarters,'' he acknowledged. "Then I hit a three early in the fourth quarter, and I started feeling better.''
The Jazz couldn't feel worse about it. "I'm sure a lot of people are counting us out of the series,'' said Carlos Boozer (18 points and nine rebounds). "We have a much better feel for this team after playing them four games.'' And that might be their biggest problem.
San Antonio takes a 3-1 lead back home, where Utah hasn't won since 1999. Much the same as the Suns felt in the previous round, the Jazz will have a hard time deciding how to overcome the ruthless display the Spurs put on Monday.
Their 41 free-throw attempts were twice as many as the Jazz (20) earned, which led to a lot of complaining from the 19,911 here as well as five Utah technicals, culminating in the late fourth-quarter ejections of coach Jerry Sloan and guard Derek Fisher, who by the way was held without a three-point attempt in 38 minutes.
"I thought our guys played their hearts out,'' said Sloan, who refused to discuss the officiating. "I thought they competed about as much as you could ask of guys to compete.''
That had been Sloan's mantra throughout the series -- that he wanted his young team to fight. Their next step now is to realize from the Spurs how to maintain a high level of execution while playing all-out.
"That's what they've got to learn every time they step on the floor,'' Sloan said. "Obviously you need to learn how to stick with what you are trying to do and not have the turnovers and not have the fouls that put them on the free-throw line, regardless of circumstances.''
A lingering case of the stomach flu and the Spurs' upgraded intensity helped to limit -- which is surely not the right word -- Deron Williams to 27 points and 10 assists. The Spurs began trapping him to force the ball out of his hands, and the Jazz responded with 10 sloppy turnovers in the second half. "`We changed defenses three or four times just to give him different looks, get him thinking about it,'' said Tim Duncan.
The Jazz were proudly exchanging body blows with the Spurs through the early rounds, but Utah couldn't sustain it -- while in the meantime Ginobili was escalating his attacks. Duncan recovered from a woeful Game 3 to soften up Utah's defensive midsection with 19 points (to go with nine rebounds and five blocks) in conjunction with an 11-point, 11-board performance from Fabricio Oberto. And yet it was still tough going around the basket with Andrei Kirilenko (four blocks) coming to life before Ginobili found his rhythm.
"Fans were going nuts and they looked inspired,'' said Ginobili, who finished with 22 points while going just 4 of 10 from the field. "I am very proud of what we did in the fourth quarter because it was looking ugly for us, and we really stepped up and did a great job.''
Just when the Jazz had limited Duncan while holding Tony Parker to a 6-of-19 (17 points, two assists) night, here came Ginobili fighting his way through the heart of their defense to go 11 of 13 from the line in the final period -- while the entire Jazz roster was 1-for-2 in that time. "I don't think I did too much to get into their skin in the first three quarters,'' he acknowledged. "Then I hit a three early in the fourth quarter, and I started feeling better.''
The Jazz couldn't feel worse about it. "I'm sure a lot of people are counting us out of the series,'' said Carlos Boozer (18 points and nine rebounds). "We have a much better feel for this team after playing them four games.'' And that might be their biggest problem.
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