Spurs-Pistons Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Feb 07 2013 5:49PM

Although Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have missed the majority of San Antonio's last 11 games, the Spurs have managed to win each one thanks to the strong play of Tony Parker and the supporting cast.

It certainly seems like the Spurs should be able to keep their win streak intact Friday night, when they visit the struggling Detroit Pistons.

The Spurs own the NBA's best record at 39-11 and are currently riding the 14th double-digit winning streak of coach Gregg Popovich's tenure. It's come despite Duncan (sprained left knee) missing six of the last eight games and Ginobili (hamstring) sidelined for six of 10. Both have played in the same game just once during the streak - the first win - and are listed as day-to-day for Friday.

Parker has simply continued to play some of the best basketball of his career, and has been particularly effective over the winning streak, averaging 23.2 points on 58.3 percent shooting with 9.3 assists. He scored 31 and added eight assists in a 104-94 win at Minnesota on Wednesday, the opener of a season-high nine-game road trip.

"We've gotten used to playing without them," said Parker, whose averages of 20.3 points, 7.6 assists and 53.2 field goal percentage are all the second-highest marks of his career. "Obviously I'd rather have them because it would be a lot easier to have Timmy and Manu, but it definitely helps the other guys."

Danny Green, who knocked down eight 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 28 points against the Timberwolves, is hitting 44.4 percent of his shots from long distance during the winning streak. Kawhi Leonard added 19 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday for his second straight double-double.

"The system doesn't change when guys are out," Popovich said. "If Tony was out, somebody else would play. We just run the same stuff, we don't change anything. I think they're pretty used to the execution no matter who's on the court."

Detroit (18-32) has lost seven of nine, with three of those defeats coming by three points or fewer. The latest was a 93-90 home loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Greg Monroe cut the Nets' lead to one with 10.4 seconds left, but Joe Johnson hit free throws after the Pistons' ensuing foul. Will Bynum's potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final moments came up short, resulting in the Pistons' sixth loss in nine games at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Detroit suffered a 98-97 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers three days earlier in a game they could have won on the final possession.

"There were many opportunities and controlled situations and we didn't do a very good job," coach Lawrence Frank said. "All those things add up. We had opportunities at the rim and didn't convert."

The Pistons were also plagued by yet another poor 3-point shooting performance, going 3 of 17. They're shooting just 28.9 percent from beyond the arc over the last nine games.

These teams haven't met since San Antonio's 99-95 win at Detroit last February, the Spurs' fifth victory in the last six matchups.

Spurs' streak ends in 119-109 loss to Pistons

By NOAH TRISTER
Posted Feb 08 2013 11:15PM

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) Gregg Popovich was explaining before the game how his San Antonio Spurs had managed to win 11 in a row despite injuries to Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

It was an impressive run, but it wasn't going to last forever.

"We'll probably lay an egg here sometime," the veteran coach cautioned. "Everybody does after a while. You never know what night that will be."

It turned out to be Friday for the Spurs, whose streak came to an end with a 119-109 loss to the Detroit Pistons. San Antonio fell behind by 21 points in the second quarter, and Detroit held on thanks to Greg Monroe's 26 points and 16 rebounds.

"They beat us to the boards, they beat us to loose balls and they just outplayed us. We're supposed to be good at defending at the 3-point line, but they sliced and diced us," Popovich said. "There are just nights you play like this."

The next concern for the Spurs was the massive snow storm affecting the New York-to-Boston corridor. They were expecting to stay in the Detroit area Friday night before trying to make it to Sunday night's game at Brooklyn.

San Antonio played without Duncan and Ginobili, and the Pistons equaled their highest score of the season. Detroit was without rookie big man Andre Drummond, who is expected to miss four to six weeks because of a stress fracture in his back.

"Obviously we feel very bad for Andre, but he's 19 and he'll recover," Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said. "You move forward, we get him healthy, and you go with who you got."

Tony Parker scored 31 points for San Antonio and Kawhi Leonard added 16. Brandon Knight had 24 for the Pistons, and Charlie Villanueva scored 21.

Monroe, the Pistons' starting center, needed little help inside against the Spurs - and Detroit built a sizeable lead in the first half thanks to terrific outside shooting.

San Antonio trailed by 17 after three quarters. The Spurs cut it to 108-101 on a 3-pointer by Leonard, but Knight answered with a 3 of his own.

Later, the Spurs were down by eight with the ball, but Leonard missed and Villanueva made a 3-pointer to make it 116-105.

The Pistons led 27-16 late in the first quarter after Jose Calderon sank a 3-pointer. It was 31-23 after one, and Detroit went 6 of 9 from beyond the arc in the second.

Kyle Singler's 18-footer made it 65-44, but San Antonio scored the last eight points of the half to give itself a reasonable chance at a comeback.

It was 81-72 with 3:55 left in the third, and the Spurs looked like they would enter the final quarter very much within striking distance. But this time it was Detroit that finished the period strong, going on a 10-3 run to lead 95-78.

Monroe scored six points during that stretch. He ended up playing 40 minutes.

"Andre is out for a while now, so I expect I'll play a lot more minutes, but tonight was a good team win," Monroe said. "We beat a very good team tonight and we need to keep it rolling."

Duncan was shooting around on the court a couple hours before the opening tip, but he missed his second straight game with a sore left knee. Ginobili has missed three in a row with left hamstring tightness.

Duncan has played only twice in San Antonio's last nine games, but the Spurs were able keep winning anyway before falling into too big a hole Friday.

"They just shot the ball really well. They aren't known for being a great 3-point shooting team, but every time we'd get the game back to seven or eight points, they'd hit another one," Parker said. "They did that to us all night, and there wasn't anything we could do to stop them."

NOTES: Detroit went 10 of 22 from 3-point range. San Antonio was 10 of 24. ... Detroit also scored 119 points in a December loss to Atlanta, but that was in double overtime.

Notebook: Pistons 119, Spurs 109

Dana Gauruder, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:26 PM - Updated Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:26 PM

THE FACTS: Greg Monroe had 26 points and 16 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons ended the San Antonio Spurs' 11-game winning streak with a 119-109 victory at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday night. Brandon Knight had 24 points and Charlie Villanueva scored a season-high 21 points off the bench for the Pistons, who had lost seven of their last nine but tied their season high in points. Tony Parker's 31 points and eight assists led the Spurs, who hadn't lost since dropping a 101-98 decision at Memphis on Jan. 11.

QUOTABLE: "It's definitely big-time. It just shows how good of a team we can be. We've just got to continue to play like that, with the same energy, the same effort, the same focus. The first group came out with a lot of energy and the second group picked it up even more."

-- Knight on his team's upset victory

THE STAT: 45.5. Detroit was shooting 28.9 percent on 3-point attempts over the previous nine games. That didn't figure to get much better against the league's second-best 3-point defense but the Pistons blindsided the Spurs with 45.5 percent shooting from long range. Villanueva made half of the Pistons' 10 3-pointers and both he and Knight made clutch 3s in the final five minutes after the Spurs cut their deficit to single digits.

TURNING POINT: The Pistons were up 37-33 with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. Then, they went on a 28-11 run to take their biggest lead, 65-44. Villanueva made three 3-pointers during that stretch and Kyle Singler finished it off with a pull-up jumper. San Antonio never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "They shot the ball very well. Every time we came close -- eight or nine points -- they came up with a big three. Sometimes, that's going to happen in the NBA. It was just one of those nights when they were making shots. They're not known for 3-point shooting and they make a lot of threes."

-- Parker on his team's defensive troubles

HOT: Knight averaged just nine points in his previous three games while shooting 9-for-33 from the field. For the first time since moving to shooting guard after the acquisition of Jose Calderon, Knight showed what he could do playing off the ball. He made 10 of 21 shots, using his quickness to gain separation from the Spurs' guards.

NOT: Spurs center Tiago Splitter had 10 points and six rebounds but he couldn't contain Monroe's post moves or keep him off the backboards. Monroe tends to be more assertive when he feels he can overpower his man and he attacked Splitter at will.

ROOKIE WATCH: Pistons rookie center Andre Drummond was declared out for 4-6 weeks prior to the game because of a stress fracture to his fifth lumbar vertebra. Drummond, who missed the second half of the previous two games with back pain, will not require surgery and should make a full recovery through rest and rehabilitation. The injury was diagnosed during an MRI on Thursday. He is averaging 7.3 points and 7.5 rebounds.

NOTABLE: San Antonio played once again without two of its top players. Tim Duncan missed his sixth game in the last seven with a sore left knee, while Manu Ginobili sat out for the third straight game with a tight left hamstring. ... The Spurs are 1-1 on their current nine-game road trip. ... The Pistons' 65 first-half points was a season high for any half. Their previous high was 63 points against Cleveland on Feb. 1. ... San Antonio leads the all-time series 48-31. ... Detroit had a 49-33 rebounding advantage. ... San Antonio was forced to stay overnight in Detroit because of the East Coast blizzard. The Spurs are scheduled to play Brooklyn on Sunday. ... The Pistons are 28th in home attendance, ranking ahead of only New Orleans and Sacramento. In terms of capacity, Detroit is last by a wide margin. Its average of 14,095 is 63.9 percent of The Palace's capacity. Next lowest is the Kings, whose 13,214 average is 76.3 percent of Power Balance Pavilion's capacity. The Pistons drew 16,267 on Friday.

UP NEXT: For the Spurs, Sunday @ Brooklyn, Monday @ Chicago, Wednesday @ Cleveland. For the Pistons, Saturday @ Milwaukee, Monday vs. New Orleans, Wednesday vs. Washington.

• Spurs: Duncan, Joseph
• Pistons: Drummond

• Spurs: --
• Pistons: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
• Officials: #12 Violet Palmer, #49 Tom Washington, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 16267
• Duration: 2:08