Like a great prizefight, the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks duked it out for 12 full rounds on Friday night, with each team scoring points in bunches and connecting with punches that could have knocked out the opponent. Portland won their first 26 home games in 1977-78.
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NY made a final run in the last 5 1/2 minutes, cutting the Spurs’ lead to one point on an alley-oop dunk by Kristaps Porzingis with 32.3 seconds to play. His 10-foot floater put the Spurs up 100-97 with 33 seconds left. Carmelo Anthony attracted a couple of defenders before finding Jose Calderon for a 3-pointer that missed as time expired in a 100-99 loss. We had to play much better to get this win. “These types of games teach you how much it takes, that you really have to completely empty yourself in order to be the best”. Sometimes you still come up short.
The loss didn’t just light a fire under Fisher, it sparked the team to win it’s next three games, all against Eastern Conference Playoff teams.
“There’s other things you can do, defending, rebounding, finding guys out there, ” Anthony said. “So I tried to make it crowded and then close out on Jose as good as I could”. Which it was because Calderon had a great look from three, and is a great shooter.
With Ginobili running toward him and closing fast to contest the shot, Calderon got off a clean shot that looked good until it bounced off the rim. “We did a lot of good things out there tonight that we have to continue to grow from”.
Regaining the lead by half-time, the Spurs kept their pressure to keep the Knicks at bay as they took the game at the Madison Square Garden. He tallied a game-high 28 points with a variety of shots and pulled down 11 rebounds. After the game, Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich was asked about the Spurs’ advantage in the paint, and he said it’s something the team wants to keep emphasizing. “He’s got drive, he’s got intelligence, he’s got skills and he competes”.
In that game, the Knicks had a slight lead after the first quarter but could not stop the Spurs from bouncing back in the second. Ginobili said: “Once that ball left his hand it was going straight in”.
The Knicks were all over the place in the end of the second quarter, one athletic play after another for a team that has often been labeled too slow or prodding.
NEW YORK – Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic each scored 20 points to lead Orlando over Brooklyn, which has lost nine straight home games. Draymond Green had his seventh triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
WASHINGTON – DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 35 points as Toronto continued its regular-season dominance over Washington.
Forward Kevin Love added 20 points and 9 rebounds. It also was his 14th double-double.
Ian Mahinmi scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked a career-high four shots as the Indiana Pacers overcame a season-high 24 turnovers to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 91-86 at the Smoothie King Center.
Fisher immediately came onto the court to console Anthony, presumably to let him know that he made the right play.
Heat 103, Suns 95: Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, and Miami beat Phoenix for the 11th straight time.
Middleton and Michael Carter-Williams have upped their production over the last five games for the Bucks. Middleton has averaged 23.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.4 three-pointers during that stretch, while Carter-Williams has put up 13.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks.
MILWAUKEE – A Khris Middleton layup with 9.1 seconds left and missed jumper by Deron Williams sealed Milwaukee’s victory over Dallas at the Bradley Center.
Aldridge, Parker and Manu Ginobili each had 16 points for San Antonio, which was won seven straight.
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The victory extended the Cavaliers’ winning streak to six games as Cleveland moved to 2-0 on their season-long, six-game road trip.
