The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs’ seasons have often gone in contrasting directions since the turn of the millennium.
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The Spurs beat the Knicks 94-84 on Monday that gave Duncan a milestone victory. Porzingis lay on the court, writhing in pain as timeout was called.
Porzingis’ injury was deemed only a soft tissue injury, which is encouraging, but more will be known after further tests on Tuesday. “Right now I have a few stiffness in my neck and it doesn’t feel too good. So I do think about the legacy here”. Porzingis was smart, took good shots, and snatched 14 rebounds. The team said a concussion has been ruled out. The most recent and successful example has been Atlanta’s 60-win season previous year under Mike Budenholzer. “I was thinking about that”. If you’re talking about who might be the most statistically productive player on the bench, that’s probably going to be David West. I imagine West will lead the bench unit in scoring, rebounding and bone-crunching picks set. “With time it got a little better”.
Didn’t help the plight of the Knicks, though. “I saw KP down on the ground after that”. Every time San Antonio looked like they would pull away New York would make a basket to ignite the crowd and slow their momentum. And, while we’re at it, how about a standing ovation for the courage it took Aldridge to roll the dice on an organization that’s won five titles in 17 seasons?
Whether they’re the old Big Three of Manu Ginobli, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker (who have now won more games than Bird, McHale, and Parish) or the new blood of Leonard, Aldridge, and Danny Green, the Spurs have always had stars to fuel their unselfish, team-first system. (James is the 20th player overall to join the 25K points club.) Kobe Bryant had been the youngest player to hit 25,000 points, which he did as a 31-year-old. There were times we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be defensively. Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to register his first double-double of the season. “He’s getting closer”, said Fisher. Another Knick rookie, Jerian Grant, also stamped his name onto the game in the third, bringing life to the Garden with steals and a nice scoop layup around Aldridge in transition. I’ve loathed the Spurs ever since Robert Horry body checked Steve Nash into the scorer’s table during the 2007 playoffs, denying the Seven Seconds or Less Suns the championship they richly deserved.
NOTES: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said before the game he has one picture in his office: of Celtics great John Havlicek.
Although you wouldn’t know it from his performance, Tim Duncan is still working on figuring out his role, McDonald said. “I’m not sure what it is yet”. The Knicks ended the third quarter on an 8-2 run and trailed 70-65. “Then, when we did get back into it, you’ve got the Spurs making shots”. The Knicks stayed on the Spurs heels but a triple by Diaw at 6:45 made it an eight-point spread, 87-79.
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The Spurs led 64-54 after three quarters.
