San Antonio 107, Sacramento 89
Ginobili, Spurs Rout Kings
http://www.nba.com/games/20040331/SACSAS/recap.html
SAN ANTONIO, March 31 (Ticker) -- Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio
Spurs had no problem shooting the ball against the Sacramento Kings.
Ginobili scored 29 points - 15 in the fourth quarter - on 11-of-16
shooting as the Spurs defeated the Western Conference-leading
Sacramento Kings, 107-89, to cap a perfect four-game homestand.
Ginobili was coming off a 21-point effort in a 101-93 triumph over
Cleveland on Monday.
"We had one player who was ridiculous," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
said of Ginobili. "I don't know how to describe it. He was off the
charts. When you're on, you're on. It was obvious everything he did
was golden."
Ginobili was so hot that he even hit a drifting, banked jumper from
just inside the arc with 3:56 remaining that made it 96-87 and appeared
to demoralize the Kings.
"I'm glad Pop said I was off the charts," Ginobili said. "I was taking
off-balance shots, especially in the second half. I kept making the shots
so I was trying to make it last forever."
"Defending Ginobili was tough on all of us tonight," said Kings forward
Chris Webber, who scored 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting. "He kept getting
in the paint, driving to the basket and then everybody has to help on him
. It takes everbody's game out of stride."
Tim Duncan added 19 points and Bruce Bowen 17 for San Antonio (50-25),
which shot 58 percent (42-of-73) as it remained 1 1/2 games behind
Minnesota (52-24) in the Midwest Division.
"We're actually better when I'm just another option," Duncan said. "They
move the ball around and I can get my shots here and there. We get a lot
of different guys playing well."
Sacramento (52-22) saw its lead for the best record in the conference
slip to one game over Minnesota and the Los Angeles Lakers (51-23).
San Antonio saw a 14-point lead early in the third quarter dwindle to
69-63 on a jumper by Peja Stojakovic with 2:31 left before Ginobili took
over. He scored six points in the rest of the period and six in the first
1:45 of the fourth to open an 85-71 edge, and Sacramento did not threaten
thereafter.
"He's a special player," Popovich said. "His size (6-6), he's a good
athlete, he's fearless. He plays to win. ... Actually, it's beyond a job
for him - it's a passion. I've seen him play with the Argentinian team
and he plays the same way. He's a monster."
Stojakovic scored 19 points and Doug Christie added 17 for the Kings, who
were opening a "Texas Triangle" road trip. They have lost three of their
last four games.
The Kings were without injured All-Star Brad Miller and leading Sixth Man
candidate Bobby Jackson.
"We have to raise our level of play," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "It's
all in our hands right now. We are still in front of this conference. We
can't bemoan our tough schedule, or bemoan guys we have out right now. We
have to accept the challenge and respond."
"We just have to suck it up," Christie said. "The shots they got tonight,
we can't allow Dallas to get tomorrow night. It's coming down to the wire
and you have to play championship-style basketball. Just playing better
is not good enough right now. We have to get the win."
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Ginobili leads Spurs past Kings
Published 8:13 p.m. PST Wednesday, March 31, 2004
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/
8705871p-9633446c.html
SAN ANTONIO -- Whether he was slashing inside or pulling up outside,
Manu Ginobili just couldn't miss.
San Antonio's reserve guard made his first nine shots in the second
half and finished with 29 points to lead the Spurs to a 107-89 win
over the Western Conference-leading Kings on Wednesday night.
The victory allowed the Spurs to remain 1 1/2 games behind Midwest
Division-leading Minnesota, which defeated Seattle on Wednesday. San
Antonio has seven games remaining, while the Timberwolves have six.
"I just let the game come to me and when I was open, I shot," said
Ginobili, who had only six points in the first half. "I feel like I'm
playing well right now."
He made all three of his shots in the third and his first six attempts
in the fourth, the last one an off-balance 23-foot bank shot that
stopped a late Kings rally.
"He was off the charts," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of
Ginobili. "It was obvious everything he did was golden."
Tim Duncan added 19 points for the Spurs, and Bruce Bowen had a season
-high 16 on 7-for-10 shooting. Hedo Turkoglu scored 14 points and Tony
Parker 12.
San Antonio shot a season-best 57.5 percent.
"They were hurting us off the dribble, they hurt us at the basket,"
Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "The three or four times we got in front
of Ginobili, he still hit the jumper."
Ginobili, who was also top scorer in Monday's win over Cleveland, said
the Spurs have been confounding their opponents by diversifying an
offense that had long centered on Duncan.
"The other team can't focus on just one guy because we have a lot of
players that can hit shots and beat you," he said.
Trailing by 12 after three quarters, Sacramento closed the gap to 94-87
on a 3-pointer by Peja Stojakovic with 4:21 left in the game.
Ginobili answered with his final basket of the night, the off-balance
bank shot, and the Spurs' defense limited the Kings to only one more
basket.
Stojakovic scored 19 points and Doug Christie contributed 17 for
Sacramento, which is 4-6 in its last 10 games. Chris Webber, Vlade Divac
and Mike Bibby all had 14.
The Kings played without top rebounder Brad Miller, who has bursitis in
his right elbow.
"We can use all the excuses in the world, but we have to have a sense of
urgency right now," Webber said. "You have to fight like you are fighting
for the eighth spot in the playoffs every night."
The Kings are now only one game up on the Los Angeles Lakers in the loss
column, with both teams having eight games to play. Sacramento will be
on the road for five of those games, starting with Dallas on Thursday.
"It's all in our hands now," Adelman said. "There is no hiding now."
Sacramento had five steals in the game's first six minutes, and they
went up 14-7 on Bibby's three-point play that started when he swiped
the ball from Duncan in the Spurs' end and took it the other way for
a layup and a foul.
San Antonio came back to take its first lead at 20-18 on Ginobili's
drive at 2:09 of the first.
The Spurs built a nine-point advantage early in the second before the
Kings cut the lead to 38-35 on a pair of free throws by Webber midway
through the period.
San Antonio then went on a 16-3 run, capped by a 19-foot bank shot by
Robert Horry, to post its biggest lead of the half at 54-38.
Bowen made six of his eight shots and Duncan went 5-for-6 in the first
half, each of them scoring 14 points.
Notes: Rasho Nesterovic tied his season high with seven blocks for the
Spurs. ... San Antonio's bench, led by Ginobili, outscored the Kings
reserves 42-11. ... Wednesday's game started the Texas triangle for the
Kings. They play in Dallas on Thursday and in Houston on Sunday. ...
Sacramento is 10-11 on the road versus Western Conference teams.
-- The Associated Press
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