Forums » Suggestions

know the team were facing. N

  • December 3, 2019 8:36 PM EST

    SAN ANTONIO -- Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs put together a dominant offensive performance on Sunday night. Karl Malone Jersey . The final result was a 10-game winning streak and another year with 50 victories. Ginobili scored 21 points and Tony Parker had 18, leading the Spurs to a 122-104 victory over the Utah Jazz. San Antonio (50-16) became the first NBA team to reach 50 wins, extending its league record of consecutive seasons with at least that many victories to 15. Not that it means all that much to the veteran Spurs, who are focused on winning another title. "I dont really care," coach Gregg Popovich said. "You all have to have things to write about, I guess. Its better than losing 50, I guess. Were thinking about other things and weve just had a great group of guys for a long time. Thats reason weve been able to win. Records and that sort of thing, streaks arent really on anybodys mind." The Spurs (50-16) shot a season-high 62.8 per cent from the field while improving to 4-0 against the last-place Jazz (22-45) this season. "You give them the credit," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They are a great ballclub. They know who they are. They take the right shots. They had 31 assists, so the ball moved around very well. The guys who came off (the bench), they made tough shots. Our guys competed, they are just better at what they do at this stage. You just have to give them a lot of credit." Derrick Favors had a career-high 28 points for the Jazz, who have lost four straight. Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Trey Burke had 13 points. Parker also had seven assists and Tim Duncan added 16 points and six rebounds for the Spurs. Along with Ginobili, the teams Big Three combined to shoot 22 for 32. "Were getting our rhythm," Parker said. "Manu looks good, he looks healthy. Timmy, his outside shot is coming around. Were all doing little stuff. Now we all just to have to stay healthy." Its the second double-digit winning streak of the Spurs, who won 11 in a row in November. "Were in a great situation and its great to win (50 games), but the main goal is to win a championship," Parker said. The Spurs featured their inside game early on, and then went to their sharp outside shooting. Tiago Splitter had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli each scored 12 and Kawhi Leonard had 11 points. San Antonio was shooting 65 per cent from the field with 6 minutes left, holding a 108-90 lead following dunks by Splitter and Belinelli and jumpers from Leonard and Duncan. "Regardless of personnel, they all pass the basketball, the ball never stops," Hayward said. "They hit the open man and defensively theyre all where theyre supposed to be at." San Antonios initial 12 points came in the paint, as well as 14 of its first 15. It finished with 56 points in the paint, compared to 52 for Utah. The Spurs had assists on five of their first six baskets, punctuated by a running dunk by Leonard off a feed from Danny Green for a 12-6 lead with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. "Offensively we were sharp today as we were in the last few games," Ginobili said. "We were not as good defensively today. We made too many mistakes. We let them score a lot of points in the paint. We knew they were going to do that. But overall, I think we cant complain. It was a good game." After falling behind 15-8, the front court of Favours, Richard Jefferson and Marvin Williams rallied Utah for its only lead of the game. The trio scored nine points in a 13-4 run, capped by a 13-foot turnaround jumper by Favours that put the Jazz ahead 21-19 with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. "This was a great night for me," Favors said. "My teammates did a good job of finding me in the post and in my spots, and I was hitting shots. Just one of those nights for me." After finding so much inside the paint early, the Spurs turned to their long-range shooting in the second quarter. San Antonio had five different players make a 3 while making all of their long-distance attempts in the second. Greens 3 from 26 feet gave the Spurs its largest lead of that half at 54-45 with 2 minutes remaining. "The first half we did a relatively good job up until the last four or five minutes of the half of keep them off the 3-point line," Corbin said. "But they had 30 points or so in the paint. So, we wanted to make an effort to try and keep them out of the paint, and we gave up 3-point shots. They made five right there and they just took off from there." NOTES: San Antonios previous shooting high was 57.5 per cent in a 126-96 victory over Cleveland on Nov. 23. ... The Spurs won 11 straight from Nov. 5 through Nov. 25, giving them a 13-1 record to open the season. ... Jazz G John Lucas III (sprained right ankle) was in uniform, but did not play after being listed as a game-time decision. ... Jefferson, a former Spurs player, was resoundingly booed during pregame introductions. DeMarcus Cousins Lakers Jersey . Diego Costa headed in Gabis corner seven minutes from time to secure victory ahead of the return match in Madrid on March 11. "We know that at Madrid it will be another game, which will also be important and very difficult," Milan coach Clarence Seedorf said. Ron Artest Lakers Jersey . JOHNS, N.MONTREAL -- The Montreal Impact smell blood. The clubs final group stage match in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night will come against a New York Red Bulls team that is already eliminated from contention for the quarter-finals. And the Red Bulls will likely sit out most of their best players to save them for a Major League Soccer match on Sunday that has playoff implications. It is a glittering chance for the Impact to finish the group stage with a perfect 4-0-0 record and perhaps earn one of the top four seeds for the quarter-finals. But coach Frank Klopas cautioned this week that the Impact cant expect to walk into Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., and take the three points without any effort, even if New York opts to use mostly reserve players. The game they played here against us (a 1-0 Montreal win on Sept. 17), they played some guys that are not in their starting group, but theres a lot for all those guys to play for, said Klopas. Its the end of the season, and maybe its an opportunity to impress their coach. They have a lot to prove. Theyre playing for contracts. But regardless of who we play, we have to focus on ourselves. And its another opportunity to get a win on the road. Its not MLS, but it counts. On the downside, the Impact will be without arguably their two best players, as midfielder Ignacio Piatti is nursing tendinitis in a knee and striker Marco Di Vaio has a one-game suspension. Otherwise, they expect to field a strong lineup. The Impact have had a miserable MLS season, sitting last in the Eastern Conference thanks largely to a 0-12-5 record away from home. But they won the Canadian Championship, which put them into the Champions League group stage, where they already have an away win over CD FAS of El Salvador. Montreal clinched a quarter-final spot when the Red Bulls (1-1-1) were held to a draw by CD FAS. And the club has its 3-2 away win in San Salvador on Aug. 20 to build on. Now we can do it again, said midfielder Maxim Tissot. Itll be big for us to get momentum for next year. Weve been playing better. Maybe its because we dont have the stress of trying to make thhe playoffs, but weve been moving the ball better. Kyle Kuzma Lakers Jersey. The fifth-place Red Bulls have made the MLS playoffs, but a win Sunday in Kansas City can move them into third place and avoid the fourth versus fifth knockout game. Or it could give them home field advantage if they come fourth and have to play the knock-out match against either Kansas City or Columbus. To finish with four wins would give Montreal a chance to play the quarter-final return leg at home. Theoretically, it would also give them a weaker opponent, although all eight teams in the quarter-finals should be tough. Tissot said Montreal hopes to draw a fellow MLS side. The quarter-finals will be played between Feb. 24 and March 5, when MLS teams are still in training camp but clubs from Mexico and Central America will be in mid-season. Id prefer to play a team from MLS, Tissot said. That may not be best for the league, but it may be best for us because well know the team were facing. No matter who we play, we have to be ready. But we want as much on our side as possible. MLS clubs D.C. United and the Portland Timbers are also 3-0-0 headed into their final group stage match. Montreal reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2009. That year, they beat Santos Laguna 2-0 at home before more than 55,000 at Olympic Stadium only to collapse in the second half of a 5-2 defeat in the return leg in Mexico. Now theyve earned another shot. Its big for the club, said Tissot, a Gatineau, Que. native who was playing youth soccer at that time. Well want to get our revenge. We lost in a pretty difficult way. I think (president) Joey Saputo and (general manager) Nick De Santis still remember. (Assistant GM) Matt Jordan played in that game, so he remembers. Well want to win for them especially. The Impact wont be in next years Champions League. That spot has already gone to the Vancouver Whitecaps. A rule change for this year only gives the 2015 CONCACAF spot to the Canadian team that finished highest in MLS standings. Normally, it goes to the club that wins the Canadian Championship trophy, the Voyageurs Cup. ' ' '