Manu Ginobili Hits Game Winner (VIDEO)

Spurs and Warriors went to double overtime and Manu ended with a game winner.

Spurs Look To Go 2-0 In This Stretch Without Tony Parker

 

No Parker. No problem. For now. It was the Pistons after all, the same Pistons that defeated  the Spurs by 10 points weeks prior, WITH Parker at the helm. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, the first game of this 13 (maybe 14) game stretch without Parker would be the easiest, and the 114-75 score proves it. Perhaps the Spurs really are that good (they are), and perhaps the Pistons really are that bad (they are), but regardless, this game was not a measure of either team’s strengths. Tonight’s game against the Bulls will be a more accurate measure of the Spurs without their MVP candidate Tony Parker.

It’ll take 3 guards taking up the point at different parts of the games without Parker. Last game Corey Joseph acquired the start and accounted for 8 points and 4 assists in 18 minutes of play. Patty Mills played for 16 while getting 6 points and 4 assists and Gary Neal, who Coach Pop said before the game wouldn’t play, played 8 minutes and scored 7 points and dropped 3 dimes. Now, it’s not the points scored from these three players that is the noteworthy item, together they scored 21 points which is Parker’s average, but it’s the assists made that is the important factor. Tony is the playmaker, one of the best in the league if not THE best, and that is what the Spurs will miss the most from him. His smart decision-making and his ability to penetrate and pass off the ball to the outside man is key to many a Spurs win. Without him, the rest of the Spurs need to make up for that loss of playmaking ability, and to do that the ball needs to be passed.

The Spurs were successful in doing this with 35 assists on 45 made field goals, and at least for this game, the Spurs were able to make up for the loss of Parker. Will it carry on throughout this long stretch with Parker? Maybe, maybe not. Lest you forget, they still have an All-Star in Tim Duncan and an incredibly creative and explosive player in Manu Ginobili. If the Spurs maintain their level of play, as showcased on Sunday’s win over the Pistons, the Spurs should hold up quite well until Parker returns and might even be able to maintain the #1 seed in the West. The true test starts tonight, against the 34-26 Chicago Bulls who will play with an injured roster. The Spurs did defeat the Bulls earlier in the season without their Big Three playing, and won 103-89. With Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili playing this time around, the Spurs should be able to win tonight based on the outcome of that aforementioned game from 3 weeks ago, even without Tony Parker. Anything can happen in the NBA, so we’ll wait to see if the Spurs can pull out this win and go 2-0 in this stretch without Tony Parker.

Spurs Aim to Keep Winning Without Tony Parker

It was bound to happen. We were waiting for it to happen. It happened. Tony Parker was playing too well, attracting MVP buzz, and the Spurs were gliding to their third consecutive #1 seed in the West. Injuries had happened to Manu Ginobili, but we were used to that. Tim Duncan suffered a horrible scare when he landed awkwardly, but we were spared any serious injury. Tony was playing the best basketball of his career, so of course he got hurt against an irrelevant Sacramento Kings team. It was bound to happen.

The legitimate MVP candidate, Tony Parker, was averaging 21.0 points and 7.6 assists this season, and was the leader who charged the Spurs to their current 46-14 record, best in the league. The Spurs are known to still win despite injury to their star players, they did so in stunning fashion with Duncan and Ginobili for most of their Rodeo Road Trip where they ended it with a 7-2 record. Spurs can play and hold their own without Danny Green, Stephen Jackson, hell, the Spurs’ bench almost defeated the Heat starters back in November. But now Tony Parker is expected to miss 4 weeks due to his injury, a sprained ankle, and now the Spurs’ ability to win despite injury will be put through its ultimate test.

Sure the Spurs blew out the Kings 130-102, but it was a meaningless game to us Spurs fans for two reasons: the win was against a non-playoff team near the bottom of the bunch, and more importantly, we lost our best player in Tony Parker to injury. We awaited with bated breath to hear of any news from the locker room about Parker’s physical state. It looked bad. He had to be carried off from the court to the locker room while preventing any weight to be applied to his left ankle. Whereas Spurs fans stood in silence as Tim Duncan held his knee weeks before after an awkward landing, Spurs fans saw their season in jeopardy as Tony Parker stayed seated on the court holding his left ankle. We were prevented the season loss of our future Hall Of Famer Tim Duncan with just a minor knee injury and were awarded with his return just weeks later. Now Spurs fans hope they are awarded the same with Tony Parker.

Tony Parker was most likely not going to win MVP with a man by the name of LeBron James still in the NBA and also due to the fact that the Spurs get no love from the NBA. But there was hope, and a possibility. But now with all of that out the window, Spurs fans now have only one thing focused in their sights: the championship, and in the end, the only trophy that matters. If Tony were to sit out the full 4 weeks, and nothing more nor less, he would miss 12 games, including tonight’s against the Detroit Pistons. 12 games is quite a number of games, considering that we are nearing the end of the regular season and Oklahoma City, who are just 2 games back in the loss column, vying for our #1 seed. The good news is 10 of those games will be at home, and 5 of the 12 will be against non-playoff games. The bad news? 7 of those 12 will be against playoff teams, including the aforementioned Thunder that will be played on the Spurs homecourt next week. That game will prove to be vital in maintaining our #1 seed. Ending the stretch of those 12 games are games against the Warriors, Jazz, Rockets, Nuggets, and the third seed Clippers. This is all under the assumption Tony does miss exactly 4 weeks, doesn’t return early, and returns in time for the Heat game at home on March 31. Including the Heat game, those 13 games will prove to be a tough stretch for the Spurs without their star guard at the helm or at full strength (for the Miami game), but if the Spurs hold on and maintain that #1 seed by the time Tony Parker returns, the Spurs will only be better and you’ll sense a fear of the Spurs around the league.

The Spurs look to start their longest streak without Tony Parker in the past 3 seasons with a win tonight against Detroit in San Antonio. Now, more than ever, the Spurs’ bench has to show why they’re the deepest bench in the association, and who knows, it might be what Patty Mills, Gary Neal, or even Corey Joseph need to make that jump to the next level.