http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14239750p-15059726c.html
It's Whoa! at the Alamo
The Kings rebound from a ghastly loss by stunning the Spurs.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 6, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - Jason Hart didn't have to be in the San Antonio locker room to know what was going on inside it.
The Kings' point guard spent two seasons playing under Gregg Popovich. And if the Kings' 97-87 upset of the best in the West didn't rock the home team in their own AT&T Center, the Spurs' coach surely would.
"Right now, he's saying that if we meet them in the first round, that's motivation," Hart said. "If everything falls into plan, it's going to be an intense series, because we came here and did it. They're not going to take us lightly."
Hart said this in a jovial and full Kings locker room, where the theme was excitement in moderation as the Kings ignored the fact that this was a likely playoff preview. Their focus was on the immediate, how they had somehow rebounded from their worst loss of the season in Dallas the night before to take one more step toward securing the final playoff spot.
On the other side, the Popovich speech was followed by a mass exodus, with only Manu Ginobili, Nazr Mohammed and Michael Finley speaking to reporters who wondered how their fifth home loss of the season came to be.
The clouds in this playoff atmosphere were supposed to be gray, with the Kings forecasted for a thunderous reminder as to why the Spurs are the champs and the Kings were the so-called second-half Cinderellas. But it wound up being a lightning-in-a-bottle performance, with the Kings answering every Spurs thunderclap with one of their own.
They did it by recovering from an early five-point deficit, leading 26-22 after the first quarter when the champion's two-headed monster - Tim Duncan and Tony Parker - had a combined two points. The Kings, who forgot for a night how to play the defense that had become a staple, were on their way to holding the Spurs to 41.3 percent shooting (31 for 75), keeping Duncan and Ginobili to a combined 19 points and winning the rebounding battle for the first time in three games (42-35).
The Kings used a 27-8 run that spanned the first and second quarters to go ahead by 14 points before the next challenge. Technically speaking, it was an official mess.
With Kings coach Rick Adelman having already been assessed a technical foul in the first quarter, Popovich and Duncan were tagged with technicals while arguing a perceived foul on Duncan. Less than a minute later, Ron Artest jumped in circles while smiling in disagreement with his own non-call, and the fourth technical was called.
Chaos was everywhere. Except the Kings' huddle. When the Spurs cut the lead to seven with 3:51 remaining in the second, the Kings finished the half on a 12-6 run to lead 56-43. They won the third quarter, too, with Mike Bibby scoring 10 of his game-high 31 points, and the Spurs came no closer than 10 points in the fourth, when Parker scored eight of his 16 points.
"I've been saying it all year: If we help each other at both ends of the floor, we're going to give anybody a tough game," said Bibby, who made 9 of 21 shots, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. "We play like we did tonight and some of (our) games at home, I see us going pretty far in the playoffs, if we get there. But we play like we did (Tuesday) night, no chance."
There is a mini-reality check in the history of the Spurs in the tail end of back-to-back games. While the Kings came in with their own struggles (they are 7-9), the Spurs fell to 5-10 in such scenarios, with the average margin of defeat 11.9 points.
"(The Kings) are a very physical team," Ginobili said. "They play hard. They post up. It was a weird game. Their inside players shoot jumpers, and their outside players post up. We will use this game to know them better."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
It's Whoa! at the Alamo
The Kings rebound from a ghastly loss by stunning the Spurs.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 6, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - Jason Hart didn't have to be in the San Antonio locker room to know what was going on inside it.
The Kings' point guard spent two seasons playing under Gregg Popovich. And if the Kings' 97-87 upset of the best in the West didn't rock the home team in their own AT&T Center, the Spurs' coach surely would.
"Right now, he's saying that if we meet them in the first round, that's motivation," Hart said. "If everything falls into plan, it's going to be an intense series, because we came here and did it. They're not going to take us lightly."
Hart said this in a jovial and full Kings locker room, where the theme was excitement in moderation as the Kings ignored the fact that this was a likely playoff preview. Their focus was on the immediate, how they had somehow rebounded from their worst loss of the season in Dallas the night before to take one more step toward securing the final playoff spot.
On the other side, the Popovich speech was followed by a mass exodus, with only Manu Ginobili, Nazr Mohammed and Michael Finley speaking to reporters who wondered how their fifth home loss of the season came to be.
The clouds in this playoff atmosphere were supposed to be gray, with the Kings forecasted for a thunderous reminder as to why the Spurs are the champs and the Kings were the so-called second-half Cinderellas. But it wound up being a lightning-in-a-bottle performance, with the Kings answering every Spurs thunderclap with one of their own.
They did it by recovering from an early five-point deficit, leading 26-22 after the first quarter when the champion's two-headed monster - Tim Duncan and Tony Parker - had a combined two points. The Kings, who forgot for a night how to play the defense that had become a staple, were on their way to holding the Spurs to 41.3 percent shooting (31 for 75), keeping Duncan and Ginobili to a combined 19 points and winning the rebounding battle for the first time in three games (42-35).
The Kings used a 27-8 run that spanned the first and second quarters to go ahead by 14 points before the next challenge. Technically speaking, it was an official mess.
With Kings coach Rick Adelman having already been assessed a technical foul in the first quarter, Popovich and Duncan were tagged with technicals while arguing a perceived foul on Duncan. Less than a minute later, Ron Artest jumped in circles while smiling in disagreement with his own non-call, and the fourth technical was called.
Chaos was everywhere. Except the Kings' huddle. When the Spurs cut the lead to seven with 3:51 remaining in the second, the Kings finished the half on a 12-6 run to lead 56-43. They won the third quarter, too, with Mike Bibby scoring 10 of his game-high 31 points, and the Spurs came no closer than 10 points in the fourth, when Parker scored eight of his 16 points.
"I've been saying it all year: If we help each other at both ends of the floor, we're going to give anybody a tough game," said Bibby, who made 9 of 21 shots, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. "We play like we did tonight and some of (our) games at home, I see us going pretty far in the playoffs, if we get there. But we play like we did (Tuesday) night, no chance."
There is a mini-reality check in the history of the Spurs in the tail end of back-to-back games. While the Kings came in with their own struggles (they are 7-9), the Spurs fell to 5-10 in such scenarios, with the average margin of defeat 11.9 points.
"(The Kings) are a very physical team," Ginobili said. "They play hard. They post up. It was a weird game. Their inside players shoot jumpers, and their outside players post up. We will use this game to know them better."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
