The Sports Xchange
05/08/2012 NBA Note – San Antonio Spurs Ginobili, Manu
G Manu Ginobili was 0-for-9 from three-point range before making back-to-back three pointers in the third quarter Monday. He scored 17 points in the 87-81 win, his first double-digit effort of the playoffs.
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NBA Note – Memphis Grizzlies Gay, Rudy
F Rudy Gay had one of the worst-looking 23-point performances you’ve ever seen, hitting just 8-for-25 shots including 1-of-6 threes. He’s shooting just 42.5 percent from the field on the series and has been lit up by whomever he’s guarding.
“I still believe this is a confident bunch of guys,” Gay said. “It’s about maintaining focus from beginning to end, without lapses.”
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NBA Note – Memphis Grizzlies Gasol, Marc
C Marc Gasol came of age in the playoffs last year when he averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds. It earned him a sizeable contract extension and he justified that extension this season by averaging 14.6 points and 8.9 during the regular season, when he was named to the Western Conference All-Star team.
But after the first four games this series, Gasol was averaging but 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, getting just seven field goal attempts per game. He had eight points and five rebounds on Monday, going just 1-of-4 from the field.
“All these games are physical,” Gasol said, “and the bar is set pretty high. It all depends on how much the officials let us get away with.”
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NBA Note – Los Angeles Clippers Paul, Chris
G Chris Paul scored eight points in overtime, helping the Clippers go up 3-1 in their series with Memphis. Paul finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
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NBA Note – Los Angeles Clippers Butler, Caron
F Caron Butler scored the Clippers’ first eight points of the game, helping keep the score close while the Clippers found their footing. Butler finished with 14 points.
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NBA Note – Los Angeles Clippers Evans, Reggie
F Reggie Evans continued to make a major impact on the series. Evans, playing only 25 minutes off the bench, grabbed eight rebounds — including four on the offensive end.
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NBA Note – Los Angeles Clippers Griffin, Blake
F Blake Griffin scored a team-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Griffin also hit 10-of-17 from the line while dishing out seven assists in the Clippers’ win.
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NBA Note – Utah Jazz Howard, Josh
F Josh Howard only played six minutes after being taken out of the starting lineup and replaced by Paul Millsap. Howard didn’t score and missed both shots.
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NBA Note – Utah Jazz Favors, Derrick
F Derrick Favors was inserted into the first five as Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin hoped a big starting lineup would help Utah get off to a better defensive start. The Jazz did, holding the Spurs to 22, but they only scored 19. Favors, as he did all series, was a defensive beast and had a couple of monster blocks. He also had a second-straight double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
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NBA Note – Utah Jazz Millsap, Paul
F Paul Millsap put a lot of the blame on the Jazz’s postseason failure on his own shoulders. But despite a miserable 4-for-17 night from the field – mostly from the small forward spot instead of his usual power forward position – Millsap hauled in 19 rebounds. He also had two blocks, but will likely most remember the turnover he had when the Jazz could’ve cut into a four-point Spurs lead with less than 30 seconds remaining.
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NBA Note – Utah Jazz Jefferson, Al
C Al Jefferson had the type of offensive explosion the Jazz had relied on all season, and his lay-up with 49.4 seconds to go cut a one-time 21-point Spurs lead down to four points. San Antonio ended up winning, but Big Al had his most effective game with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
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NBA Note – Utah Jazz Hayward, Gordon
G Gordon Hayward’s first experience in the NBA playoffs was a miserable one.
The second-year shooting guard didn’t even score in his final appearance of the 2011-12 campaign, going 0-for-7 and sitting on the bench while Utah made a last-ditch comeback effort.
After playing very well in the final two months of the season, Hayward ended up shooting just 18.2 percent in four playoff games. He missed 27 of 33 field-goal attempts and only went 1-for-12 from three-point range.
“It’s just frustrating, especially with the work that I put in, to come out and shoot like that. That’s unacceptable,” Hayward said. “You’ve got to be able to just knock down shots.”
The 22-year-old said he will use this struggle to feed his fire in the offseason.
“This series has just been a rough one for me personally,” he said, “but something that I’ll learn from and be ready on the next one.”
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NBA Note – San Antonio Spurs Duncan, Tim
F Tim Duncan ranks third in playoff games played, second in playoff minutes, second in points, first in rebounds and first in blocks among active players. He had 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks in Game 4.
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NBA Note – San Antonio Spurs Neal, Gary
G Gary Neal had 11 points and three rebounds in the clincher. He admitted the end of Game 4 wasn’t easy, as Utah had a 19-2 run to make things interesting. “We knew they weren’t going to stop playing,” Neal said. “The last five minutes they turned the pressure up and started to pick us up full court. We hung in there and got the win. We saw the Memphis-Clippers game and saw them (the Clippers) come back. We knew it was possible, we just had to stay the course.”
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