Spurs-Bobcats Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Dec 08 2012 1:00AM

Since the Charlotte Bobcats matched their win total from last season's record-setting debacle, they've slipped right back into their losing habits.

Facing a surging San Antonio Spurs team likely won't cure their woes.

Charlotte looks to avoid a seventh consecutive loss Saturday night against San Antonio, which begins a four-game road trip.

The Bobcats finished the shortened 2011-12 season 7-59 and set the NBA record for futility with a .106 winning percentage, but it took them only 12 games to reach that win total this season after beating Washington on Nov. 24.

Charlotte (7-11), though, hasn't won since, dropping six straight following Friday's 108-93 loss at Milwaukee. Even the return of Gerald Henderson, who missed 13 games with a left foot sprain, hasn't been able to spark the struggling squad.

Henderson scored a team-high 19 points off the bench in his third game back for the Bobcats, who have dropped the last five by no more than six points after their streak began with a 45-point loss at Oklahoma City.

"We didn't come out with a lot of energy," Henderson said. "I think when you play a team like Milwaukee with really good guards, at home, you have to match that energy."

Kemba Walker hit 8 of 13 from the field and finished with 16 points while rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 11 points and 11 boards for the Bobcats, who trailed by as many as 26.

"We spotted them 33 points," coach Mike Dunlap said of the first quarter. "We're running uphill the rest of the way. We've got to do better."

Charlotte has lost 13 of 15 all-time meetings with San Antonio, which is coming off a 114-92 blowout of Houston on Friday.

The Spurs (16-4), whose only loss in their last nine games was a five-point defeat at Miami on Nov. 29 when coach Gregg Popovich rested Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green, shot 55.2 percent against the Rockets and never trailed.

Nobody played more than 26 minutes as six players scored in double figures.

"We weren't as consistent as we'd like to be, but we had a really good pace offensively and I got to play a lot of guys," Popovich said.

Parker scored a team-high 17 points and added seven assists, while Duncan finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Tiago Splitter added 15 points while Ginobili and Patrick Mills scored 12 apiece - part of a 59-point effort from the Spurs' bench.

Duncan said the blowout victory was needed given the trip ahead.

"Obviously with the game (Saturday), and this long flight tonight, we wanted to have as much rest as possible and not take Charlotte lightly," Duncan said. "It was good to keep our minutes down, good to give a lot of guys a lot of minutes and spread it around as much as possible. We need as much rest as possible."

Parker scored 15 points and Duncan added 14 in the Spurs' 102-72 win March 2 in the most recent meeting. The Bobcats last beat San Antonio 92-76 on Jan. 15, 2010, in Charlotte.

Spurs set 3-point mark in 132-102 win over Bobcats

By STEVE REED
Posted Dec 08 2012 10:23PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Charlotte Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap decided to pack the paint Saturday night and make the San Antonio Spurs beat them from the outside.

Danny Green and company did just that.

Green scored a season-high 23 points and the Spurs set a franchise record with 19 3-pointers to hand the Bobcats their seventh straight defeat, 132-102. Green was 7 of 9 from 3-point range and the Spurs shot 56 percent from behind the arc.

Tony Parker had 22 points and nine assists as the Spurs won for the ninth time in 10 games to push their record to 17-4.

Green and Parker were a combined 18 of 22 from the field.

"Tony was driving and the defense was collapsing on Timmy (Duncan), so there were a lot of open shots from the perimeter," Green said. "We were driving and kicking and moving the ball. It makes the game a lot easier when you're making shots. We haven't been shooting the ball as well lately from the outside so I don't blame them for trying to do that."

Dunlap said he decided to focus on the inside after the Spurs scored 60 points in the paint against the Houston Rockets.

The strategy backfired.

"We've been really good about moving the ball and we're really getting on the same page with that," said Duncan, who finished with 11 points. "When our guys get open shots they knock them down. So if they don't want to concede them in the paint, we will hurt them on the outside."

Parker scored 11 points in the third quarter and Green had eight as the Spurs pulled away and were never challenged after that point.

Manu Ginobili chipped in with 11 points and seven assists for the Spurs.

Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with 23 points and Gerald Henderson chipped in with 13.

It was San Antonio's first game with Joey Crawford officiating since a Halloween photo emerged earlier this week on the internet showing Duncan and Parker holding fake guns to the head of a bald man dressed up as Crawford.

Duncan said the captain's meeting before the game was normal as he shook Crawford's hand and said they "moved on" from there.

"I will never reference it with him," Duncan said. "It's not a situation that I ever expected would get out or never expected anybody to make a big deal out of, so I'm not going to."

Duncan and Crawford have had a confrontational past but there were no incidents Saturday night.

Duncan only played 23 minutes and was called for one foul. Parker was not called for any fouls.

The Spurs opened a 59-44 lead at halftime after hitting 63 percent (12 of 19) from 3-point range. Green was a big part of that, hitting 5 of 6.

The game was tied at 20 when Ginobili entered the game and quickly buried three 3-pointers in between a 3 from Green to help the Spurs open a double-digit lead.

San Antonio continued to build on that advantage and wasn't challenged again.

"We made a lot of 3s," Spurs coach Gregg Poppovich said. "You know, we had a phenomenal night from the 3-point line. When an NBA team does that it makes it pretty tough on an opponent. It's abnormal but it happened tonight so it made it tough on Charlotte."

Frustrated by the team's six-game losing streak, Dunlap benched center Brendan Haywood and Byron Mullens to start the game to send a message to his players.

Gana Diop and Bismack Biyombo started in their spots, leaving Charlotte without a true scoring presence in the frontcourt. Biyombo and Diop came in averaging a combined 4.8 points and, true to form, they combined for just four points on Saturday night.

"It was to let everybody know that there is some live chairs," Dunlap said. "When you're going through this process it's important to live to the standard of how you want guys to play, and for us that's (playing) extremely hard."

The Bobcats have lost seven straight after a 7-5 start and their schedule isn't going to get any easier next week as they host Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers before traveling to Atlanta.

Dunlap said he'll use the loss as a learning experience.

"We can take clips from this game in terms of where the Spurs are at. They have their core players and four championship rings," Dunlap said. "Their coach has been there for longer than most of us can recall, so their culture is already set whether that's hitting quality shots or how they selected their team. Their core is intact so there is modeling there that we can use."

NOTES: Charlotte received a scare in the second quarter when rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist injured his tailbone. But he returned to the game in the third quarter after receiving treatment in the training room. ... Duncan had a season-low two rebounds, but then again the Spurs didn't miss much in the time he was in.

Notebook: Spurs 132, Bobcats 102

Derek S. Smith, For NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:49 PM - Updated Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:49 PM

THE FACTS: Danny Green scored 23 points and Tony Parker added 22 points as the San Antonio Spurs blitzed the Charlotte Bobcats 132-102 Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Arena. Green scored 21 of his 23 from behind the arc as San Antonio picked up its fourth straight victory. Kemba Walker led the reeling Bobcats, who are losers of seven straight, with 23 points.

QUOTABLE: "It was good to come out and play well in North Carolina. My last couple of games, I haven't been able to find a rhythm since coming back from injury. I'm still trying to get that rhythm and confidence and tonight helped a lot. We were able to play well together and also got everyone some rest which helps on this road trip."

-- Spurs forward Danny Green

THE STAT: San Antonio (17-4) set a franchise record connecting on 19 3-point baskets, eclipsing their previous record of 17 which was also set against Charlotte. The Spurs were 19-for-34 (55 percent) from behind the arc. The dozen 3-pointers made in the first half were the most by any NBA team in a first half this season. San Antonio was also 7-for-10 in the first quarter from long range after going just 3-for-31 in their previous three contests. The Spurs had eight different players connect from behind the arc.

TURNING POINT: The Spurs closed out the first quarter with a 3-point barrage and a 12-2 run which all but put the game out of reach. San Antonio went 4-for-5 from the 3-point line in the final 3:30 of the first quarter, including nine of Manu Ginobili's 11 points

QUOTABLE II: "We were fortunate. We made a lot of 3s. We had a phenomenal night from the 3-point line, and when an NBA team does that it makes it pretty tough on the opponent. It's abnormal, but it happened tonight, so it made it tough on Charlotte."

-- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

HOT: Green and Ginobili had the hot hand Saturday. The duo combined to shoot 18-for-22 from the floor and 8-for-10 from behind the arc, totaling 45 points in just 50 minutes of total time on the court. There were a total of seven Spurs in double figures on the night.

NOT: The Bobcats' defense had no answer for the Spurs offense Saturday. Charlotte (7-12) allowed San Antonio to have their way offensively. The Spurs shot 55.6 percent for the game and connected on 50 of its 90 field goal attempts, which included 38 assists. In fact, those 38 assists was a total greater than the number of field goals made by Charlotte.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Charlotte's Gerald Henderson is making strides in his return to action after missing a month with a sprained left foot. The Bobcats guard scored 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting in almost 26 minutes of action. Henderson is averaging 16.7 points in his last three contests, and has seen his minutes steadily increase.

INSIDE THE ARENA: NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip was in attendance at Saturday's game. Grammy nominated artist J. Cole was seated courtside at Time Warner Cable Arena. The matchup of the night in the arena wasn't between Charlotte and San Antonio, but between referee Joey Crawford and the duo of Tim Duncan and Parker. This was the first game in which Crawford refereed against the Spurs since a photo from Halloween posted by Parker and featuring a Crawford-look-a-like went viral. For the game, Charlotte was whistled for 16 fouls and shot 31 free throws, while San Antonio was whistled for 22 fouls and shot 15 free throws.

BAD MOVE: Change in the lineup. Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap removed Byron Mullens and Brendan Haywood from the starting lineup Saturday and replaced them with Bismack Biyombo and DeSagana Diop. While the change most likely didn't impact the outcome, the results were not impressive. The new starters combined for four points on 1-for-4 shooting and 10 rebounds.

ROOKIE WATCH: Nando de Colo came off the bench and netted 10 points. He added a career-best six assists, career-best eight rebounds and one blocked shot in the win. Jeffery Taylor also scored 10 points for Charlotte in his 17th career start. It was his eighth double-figure game in the last 11.

NOTABLE: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist suffered a tailbone contusion late in the second quarter. He received ice treatment during halftime and was able to return to action. He finished the game with eight points, six assists, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Walker scored 20-plus points for the third time in the last four games for the Bobcats, and the sixth time this season. San Antonio had a season-high 38 assists on 50 made baskets. The 132 points scored tonight was also a season best for the Spurs. Each of the 12 Spurs in uniform scored against Charlotte. San Antonio is now 4-1 in the second night of a back-to-back, and is also 10-2 on the road this season. They also became the first team in the league to reach 17 wins on the year.

UP NEXT: For the Spurs, Monday @ Houston, Wednesday @ Utah, Thursday @ Portland. For the Bobcats, Monday vs. Golden State, Wednesday vs. Clippers, Thursday @ Atlanta.

• Spurs: Jackson, Leonard
• Bobcats: Thomas

• Spurs: --
• Bobcats: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #42 Eric Lewis, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 17321
• Duration: 2:04