SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs kept insisting the playoffs were a new season and that their woeful finish to the regular season was not as grave as it appeared.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs kept insisting the playoffs were a new season and that their woeful finish to the regular season was not as grave as it appeared.
After 16 straight postseason appearances, San Antonio should know what it’s talking about.
Tony Parker had 28 points and seven assists and the Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-91 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 16 points each, Manu Ginobili added 13 points and Matt Bonner had 10 for San Antonio, which had lost three straight entering the series.
“I thought we played two pretty good games on the defensive end of the court back-to-back,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “That was our goal at the beginning of the season and we did it for most of the year, as I said, until maybe the last three weeks of the season it dissipated. We got it back for these two games.”
Dwight Howard and Steve Blake had 16 points each to lead Los Angeles. Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol added 13 points each, but no other player had more than nine as the Lakers shot 45 percent from the field.
Game 3 is Friday night in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles said a key to winning was shooting better, and they did – but so did San Antonio.
“They are just much more efficient than we are,” Los Angeles coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They are playing better than we are right now.”
The Spurs shot 51 percent from the field after shooting 38 percent in Game 1. San Antonio was 7 for 14 on 3-pointers, including 5 for 7 in the first half.
Parker had 15 points in the third quarter after going 1 for 6 in the first half. He scored 12 straight points on a series of layups and floating jumpers against Blake. Parker’s run gave the Spurs a 75-65 lead with 3 minutes left in the third.
“You see Tony tonight and that’s probably the best part of the whole game,” Duncan said. “He’s getting his rhythm back. He felt good tonight. He shot the ball well tonight. He looked like Tony of midseason tonight and that’s great for us.”
The Lakers shot 37 percent (9 for 24) in the first quarter, a slight improvement over their 7-for-20 performance (35 percent) in the opening quarter of Game 1.
Gasol posted early, tipping in a miss by Howard for the game’s opening basket and missing a 5-footer before Duncan blocked his 5-foot hook.
Gasol was 5-for-14 overall, including 1-for-6 in the second half.
“I didn’t get into a good rhythm out there,” Gasol said. “This first half was better, but in the second half I struggled with my shot. I can’t be short on my shots; fatigue kicked in a little bit and I’m fighting through some stuff myself physically. But at this point, we’re in fight mode; we’ll fight through whatever is on the table. Try to stay alive in this series and fight for our lives.”
The Lakers went to the perimeter following the block, resulting in consecutive 3s by Blake and World Peace for an 8-6 lead with 8:23 left in the first quarter.
Ginobili once again energized the Spurs, sparking runs of 13-4 and 10-3 to close the first and second quarters. He had 12 points in the first half and was 3 for 4 on 3-pointers.
“He’s playing very well right now,” D’Antoni said. “There’s not a whole lot of adjustments; we try to push him to his weak hand and try to get up in him, but at some point you just have to man up and just do the best you can.”
Ginobili had six points with two assists and a block in 6 minutes to bridge the first and second quarters.
He hit two 3s in the final minute of the second quarter, including one off his initial pass that bounced off DeJuan Blair’s head but eventually found its way back to him. He also fed a streaking Leonard for a dunk off a turnover.
“You have to give credit to them,” D’Antoni said. “When the ball hits somebody in the head, bounced around and went over to the 3, that didn’t help any. That’s why they are good. They are a better team.”
In the first quarter, Ginobili hit a step-back 3 and then drew the defense and fed Gary Neal for an open 3, which he made to give the Spurs a 28-23 lead at the close of the first quarter.
The Lakers went on a 9-2 run to close within 33-32 with 8 minutes left in the first half. Nash opened and closed the run with jumpers.
Nash continued to play after tweaking his hamstring, finishing with nine points in 31 minutes.
Bonner’s 3 on an open look with 7 minutes left in the first half drew a cry of frustration from Gasol, who shouted at the bench and pointed at Bonner over an apparent missed assignment.
“(Bonner) was a key player for us today,” Ginobili said. “He was very active defensively. Of course he’s giving Dwight a big advantage in size, strength and quickness, and I could keep going. But he did a great job getting around him, fronting him from behind.”
Howard had heated battles with Bonner and Duncan in the first half. After getting tied up midway through the second quarter, Duncan and Howard walked down the court glaring at each other with Howard jawing at Duncan.
“It is frustrating,” Howard said of the defensive pressure. “I just have to trust my teammates to make shots. On whatever they do defensively, I have to be aware of my arms and try not to get tangled up.”
Howard was later grabbed from behind by Bonner and his arm was pulled by Ginobili, but the Lakers All-Star still managed to bank in a layup, flexing his muscles after the shot. Howard even made the ensuing free throw, giving the Lakers a 44-43 lead with 3 minutes left in the first half.
Howard was 2-for-4 on free throws.
Bonner followed with a 3, however, to put the Spurs back on top at 46-44.
THUNDER 105, Rockets 102
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both scored 29 points, and Oklahoma City recovered after squandering a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter to take a 2-0 series lead.
Durant hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:28 to play, and the Thunder didn’t relinquish the lead after that. Durant missed a free throw with 1 second left, but Houston was out of timeouts and Carlos Delfino couldn’t connect on a desperation shot at the final buzzer.
James Harden scored 36 points and spearheaded a 21-2 comeback that wiped out the big deficit and put the Rockets up 95-91. But the top-seeded Thunder were able to respond and protect the home-court advantage they’d spent all season earning.
Game 3 is Saturday night in Houston.
The Thunder’s big lead melted away with nine straight empty possessions as the Rockets mixed in a zone defense. Oklahoma City came back to tie it before Harden knifed to the basket for a layup to give Houston its last lead, 97-95 with 2:42 to play. Durant answered right away with a deep 3 from the left wing, and the Thunder came up with back-to-back stops before Thabo Sefolosha’s 3 provided a little breathing room at 101-97.
PACERS 113, HAWKS 98
INDIANAPOLIS — Paul George followed his triple-double by scoring a playoff career-high 27 points to lead Indiana to a 2-0 series lead.
The Pacers have won four straight home games over the Hawks. It’s the first time Indiana has held a 2-0 series lead since the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals.
George, playing in his first game since being named the league’s Most Improved Player, was 11-of-21 from the field. He had eight rebounds, three assists and four steals, and he again played well defensively. George Hill had 22 points.
Atlanta was led by Devin Harris with 17 points. Jeff Teague and Josh Smith both had 16.
Game 3 is Saturday in Atlanta.
Indiana again took control late in the first quarter and never trailed again.