Monday 5/28

Utah v San Antonio (Spurs up 3-1) – In a game that should have been played Monday afternoon (Memorial Day), rather than prime time, SA used a 28 to 17 4th quarter to beat the Jazz in Salt Lake for the first time ever in the playoffs. Manu Ginobili was the big star for the Spurs scoring 16 of his 22 points in the final stanza. Included in those 16 points were 11 free throws (in 13 attempts). Manu’s 4th really was a microcosm of the entire quarter for SA. The Spurs were 19-25 from the line as a team in the 4th and made more total free throws (30) than field goals (28) on the game. Compare that to Utah going 1-2 from the stripe in the 4th quarter and you can see why their fans were pelting the court post game.

The Jazz had an opportunity to even the series up with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker both having slightly off nights, but Utah was unable to capitalize due to committing more total turnovers (17 to 11) and fouls (27 to 17) than SA. Deron Williams (27 points & 10 assists) and Carlos Boozer (18 points & 9 rebounds) once again did their part, but the supporting cast did not come through. The key move of the game turned out to be when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich decided to double D Wil and take the ball out of his hands to start the 4th. Memo Okur (7 points), Gordan Giricek (4), Matt Harpring (2) and Paul Millsap (2) all were unable to step up. The frustration of the whistles not going their way finally boiled over with :52 seconds left when the normally mild mannered Derek Fisher was ejected for semi-getting into it with Ginobili. Utah coach Jerry Sloan then followed suit and was promptly tossed for arguing with the refs.

I expect SA to close this one out on Wednesday, but with the way this post season has gone thus far, nothing is impossible.