GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: DENVER (14-8) at SAN ANTONIO (17-5)

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">NBA DENVER 89
SAN ANTONIO 102 2:24 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">NBA DENVER 89
SAN ANTONIO 102 0:44 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">NBA DENVER 91
SAN ANTONIO 102 FINAL</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
DENVER 27 23 18 23 91
SAN ANTONIO 22 34 36 10 102 FINAL

HIGH SCORERS: DEN - ALLEN IVERSON 30, LINAS KLEIZA 16,
CARMELO ANTHONY 15
SAS - MICHAEL FINLEY 21, FABRICIO OBERTO 21,
BRENT BARRY 14</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
DENVER 91
SAN ANTONIO 102 FINAL</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
DENVER 91
SAN ANTONIO 102 FINAL</div>

 

By Brian Guerra
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


<div class="pre">SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto each</div>scored a season-high 21 points, and the Spurs eventually pulledaway for a 101-92 win over the Denver Nuggets Saturday night atthe AT&T Center.


The Spurs outscored the Nuggets 36-18 in the third quarter toturn an otherwise competitive game into a blowout.

Finley scored 14 of his points in the second quarter to help theSpurs grab control of the game. Oberto was 10-of-11 from thefield, and also had 13 rebounds and five assists.


Tim Duncan, who missed the last four games, played for the firsttime since spraining his ankle on December 2. He finished witheight points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.


The Spurs trailed by as many as nine in the second quarter, butfinished the half with a 14-7 run that pushed them to a 56-50lead at intermission.


Oberto, Finley and Brent Barry combined to score 40 of theSpurs' 56 first-half points.


Denver was without Kenyon Martin, who was suspended for one gameafter he hit New Orleans' Melvin Ely in the head with his elbowWednesday night.


Allen Iverson scored seven of his team-high 30 points in thefirst quarter, giving the Nuggets a 27-22 lead after one.Carmelo Anthony finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Jacque Vaughn, who finished with 10 points and six assists,started in place of the injured Tony Parker, who missed hissecond straight game with a sprained left ankle.


The Spurs were up by 26 with 10:56 left in the fourth, butDenver rallied late, cutting the score to 100-89 with 3:10 leftin the game.

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
DENVER 91
SAN ANTONIO 102 FINAL</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">DENVER (91) AT SAN ANTONIO (102)

DENVER

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

C ANTHONY F 35:44 7-15 0-0 4 5 9 4 4 1 5 15
L KLEIZA F 31:56 7-12 0-0 1 3 4 3 3 2 2 16
M CAMBY C 29:12 2-2 0-0 0 6 6 1 3 2 0 4
A IVERSON G 44:05 10-22 9-11 0 3 3 5 3 3 7 30
A CARTER G 31:32 4-8 2-2 0 1 1 4 2 0 2 10
J SMITH 13:20 2-5 2-2 0 2 2 2 2 1 1 7
E NAJERA 27:56 3-5 0-0 0 2 2 3 1 1 0 6
J MCCOY 2:03 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B JONES 15:42 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 1 0 3
Y DIAWARA 6:38 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
V WAFER 1:52 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
K MARTIN DNP - SUSPENDED BY LEAGUE

TOTALS 240:00 36-76 13-15 5 24 29 23 20 11 17 91
(.474) (.867) TEAM REBS: 6 TOTAL TO: 17 (21 PTS)

SAN ANTONIO

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

B BOWEN 33:45 2-5 1-2 0 2 2 1 2 2 0 7
T DUNCAN F 20:22 4-10 0-0 1 4 5 1 0 1 3 8
F OBERTO C 29:31 10-11 1-2 4 9 13 5 2 0 0 21
M FINLEY G 25:30 8-12 1-3 3 3 6 4 1 0 2 21
J VAUGHN G 33:44 4-9 2-2 1 2 3 6 2 0 2 10
E GINOBILI 27:47 4-11 1-1 0 4 4 7 2 1 4 11
F ELSON 11:33 2-5 2-2 0 3 3 1 1 0 1 6
R HORRY 6:17 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
B BARRY 27:29 5-11 1-1 1 3 4 3 2 0 2 14
D WASHINGTON JR 15:38 2-6 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 0 2 4
I UDOKA 8:24 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
M BONNER DNP - COACH'S DECISION

TOTALS 240:00 41-84 9-13 12 31 43 30 15 4 17 102
(.488) (.692) TEAM REBS: 11 TOTAL TO: 20 (17 PTS)

DENVER 27 23 18 23 - 91
SAN ANTONIO 22 34 36 10 - 102

BLOCKED SHOTS: DENVER - M CAMBY 5, J MCCOY, C ANTHONY, B JONES. SAN ANTONIO -
T DUNCAN, F OBERTO.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: DENVER 6-15 (.400), C ANTHONY 1-2, L KLEIZA 2-3,
A IVERSON 1-2, J SMITH 1-2, E NAJERA 0-2, B JONES 1-2, Y DIAWARA 0-
1, V WAFER 0-1. SAN ANTONIO 11-22 (.500), B BOWEN 2-3, M FINLEY 4-
5, E GINOBILI 2-5, R HORRY 0-3, B BARRY 3-6.
TECHNICAL FOULS: DENVER - COACH KARL, E NAJERA.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: EDDIE F. RUSH, KEVIN FEHR, PAT FRAHER.
A - 18,797. T - 2:05.</div>

 

NBA: DENVER at SAN ANTONIO

<div class="pre">DENVER (91)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
C Anthony 35:44 7-15 0-0 4-9 4 4 15
L Kleiza 31:56 7-12 0-0 1-4 3 3 16
M Camby 29:12 2-2 0-0 0-6 1 3 4
A Iverson 44:05 10-22 9-11 0-3 5 3 30
A Carter 31:32 4-8 2-2 0-1 4 2 10
J Smith 13:20 2-5 2-2 0-2 2 2 7
E Najera 27:56 3-5 0-0 0-2 3 1 6
J McCoy 2:03 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
B Jones 15:42 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 2 3
Y Diawara 6:38 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
V Wafer 1:52 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
K Martin DNP - SUSPENDED BY LEAGUE

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 36-76 13-15 5-29 23 20 91
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.474, FT-.867. 3-Point Goals:
6-15, .400 (C Anthony 1-2, L Kleiza 2-3, A
Iverson 1-2, J Smith 1-2, E Najera 0-2, B
Jones 1-2, Y Diawara 0-1, V Wafer 0-1). Team
Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots:8 (M Camby 5, J
McCoy, C Anthony, B Jones). Turnovers:17 (A
Iverson 7, C Anthony 5, A Carter 2, L Kleiza
2, J Smith). Steals: 11 (A Iverson 3, M Camby
2, L Kleiza 2, E Najera, J Smith, C Anthony,
B Jones).


SAN ANTONIO (102)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
B Bowen 33:45 2-5 1-2 0-2 1 2 7
T Duncan 20:22 4-10 0-0 1-5 1 0 8
F Oberto 29:31 10-11 1-2 4-13 5 2 21
M Finley 25:30 8-12 1-3 3-6 4 1 21
J Vaughn 33:44 4-9 2-2 1-3 6 2 10
E Ginobili 27:47 4-11 1-1 0-4 7 2 11
F Elson 11:33 2-5 2-2 0-3 1 1 6
R Horry 6:17 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
B Barry 27:29 5-11 1-1 1-4 3 2 14
D Washington Jr 15:38 2-6 0-0 1-2 1 2 4
I Udoka 8:24 0-1 0-0 1-1 1 0 0
M Bonner DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 41-84 9-13 12-43 30 15 102
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.488, FT-.692. 3-Point Goals:
11-22, .500 (B Bowen 2-3, M Finley 4-5, E
Ginobili 2-5, R Horry 0-3, B Barry 3-6). Team
Rebounds: 11. Blocked Shots:2 (T Duncan, F
Oberto). Turnovers:17 (E Ginobili 4, T Duncan
3, B Barry 2, M Finley 2, D Washington Jr 2,
J Vaughn 2, I Udoka, F Elson). Steals: 4 (B
Bowen 2, T Duncan, E Ginobili).

-------------------------------------------
DENVER 27 23 18 23 - 91
SAN ANTONIO 22 34 36 10 - 102
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: Denver - 2 (COACH Karl,
10:50 1st; E Najera, 1:23 3rd).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 18,797. T: 2:05.
Officials: Eddie F. Rush, Kevin Fehr, Pat
Fraher.</div>

 

By Brian Guerra
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) - Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto eachscored a season-high 21 points, and the Spurs eventually pulledaway for a 101-92 win over the Denver Nuggets Saturday night atthe AT&T Center.


The Spurs outscored the Nuggets 36-18 in the third quarter toturn an otherwise competitive game into a blowout. Finley scored14 of his points in the second quarter to help the Spurs grabcontrol of the game.


"I just made a couple of open shots," Finley said. "My teammatescreated a lot of good opportunities for me, and I just made themost of it."


Oberto had a highly efficient night, shooting 10-of-11 from thefield. He also had 13 rebounds, five assists, and no turnovers.

"We didn't expect him to come out shooting the way he didtonight," Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said of Oberto. "Hewas taking advantage of what we were giving him. We were leavinghim open, and he was knocking down the mid-range shot andgetting some easy baskets around the rim."


Tim Duncan, who missed the last four games, played for the firsttime since spraining his ankle on December 2 and he liked whathe saw from Oberto.


"Fab was unbelievable. He was great," Duncan said. "He's such asolid part of what we do, and he had a good game tonight,finding the open spots and making the right plays."

Though Duncan didn't have a statistically impressive night - he<div class="pre">finished with eight points and five rebounds in 20 minutes his</div>presence alone was reason enough to be happy.


"It was great to have him back," Spurs coach Gregg Popovichsaid. "Just having him on the court is a confidence builder forus."


The Spurs trailed by as many as nine in the second quarter, butfinished the half with a 14-7 run that pushed them to a 56-50lead at intermission. Oberto, Finley and Brent Barry combined toscore 40 of the Spurs' 56 first-half points.


Denver was without Kenyon Martin, who was suspended for one gameafter he hit New Orleans' Melvin Ely in the head with his elbowWednesday night.


Allen Iverson scored seven of his team-high 30 points in thefirst quarter, giving the Nuggets a 27-22 lead after one.Anthony finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Jacque Vaughn, who finished with 10 points and six assists,started in place of the injured Tony Parker, who missed hissecond straight game with a sprained left ankle.


The Spurs were up by 26 with 10:56 left in the fourth, butDenver rallied late, cutting the score to 100-89 with 3:10 leftin the game.


The win kept the Spurs, who outrebounded the Nuggets 43-29,undefeated at home this year.


"Nobody else has won here," Nuggets coach George Karl said."(The Spurs) are a good team. They're a special team. They're achampionship team."