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PostPosted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:01 am 
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SALT LAKE CITY - Now that Tim Duncan is playing well again, the last thing he wants to do is sit. Duncan told teammate Tony Parker he was "very convincing" when lobbying San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to keep him in the lineup, even if it was the Spurs fourth game in five nights and they were facing the team with the worst record in the Western Conference. Popovich usually rests his 37-year-old forward during stretches like this, but Duncan rewarded the club with another double-double. He had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs to their fourth straight victory Saturday night, 100-84 over the Utah Jazz. Sparked by his 23-point, 21-rebound performance against Atlanta on Dec. 2, Duncan has returned to vintage form after a slow start to the season. He is averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds over his last six games. "The first 20 games, its not really that hard to do much better," Duncan said. "Im still not shooting the ball well, but Im trying to play hard and find ways to contribute." Kawhi Leonard added 13 points to help the Spurs (19-4) coast comfortably past the Jazz (6-20) after a big first-half run. "We were never worried about Timmy. Ive been saying (it) since the beginning of the season," said Parker, who had 15 points. "Hes the last guy we ever need to worry about. But now hes getting aggressive and hes getting his shot back." From the beginning, the Jazz pressured Parker and dared Duncan to shoot open elbow jumpers. Duncan missed his first three outside shots. "He executed well, the shots just didnt go down. But he kept playing like he always does, so it was great," Popovich said. Trey Burke had 20 points and Gordon Hayward scored 18 for the Jazz, who shot 39 per cent from the field. The Jazz were coming off consecutive road wins, including a 103-93 victory Friday night in Denver. They had reached 100 points in three of the last four games but were no match for San Antonios smothering defence. "We didnt play with the pep we have had the last few games because of the back-to-back. But I thought the effort was there, just didnt have the same spark," coach Tyrone Corbin said. On the other end, the Spurs set a series of picks to allow penetration and then passes for open 3-pointers. If that failed, they went to their famously fundamental post player on the block. In just 28 minutes, Duncan showed much of his repertoire with bank shots, fallaways, hooks and tip-ins. "In the post, hes aggressive and making strong moves," said Parker, who was creative in getting Duncan the ball where he could gain confidence. San Antonio played its fourth consecutive game without the defensive influence of starting centre Tiago Splitter, who has a strained calf. The Spurs, per 100 possessions, score 14 more points than they give up when Splitter is on the floor. But they hardly missed him against the Jazz in the first of a four-game road trip for the Spurs, who are 10-2 away from home. "They are a veteran club. They know what to do, when to do it and how to do it. They showed us," Corbin said. On Nov. 15 in Utah, the Spurs needed a fourth-quarter rally to wipe away a seven-point deficit and win 91-82. Parker scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter of that one. After a dreadful start when Burke was out with a broken finger, the Jazz recovered enough to split their last 10 games. The rookie point guard was hot early and gave Parker a taste of his own medicine on a series of floaters and step-back jumpers in the first half. More than 6 minutes into the game, the Spurs had only six points. But over the remainder of the first half, they used an especially efficient offence to build a 55-40 lead at the break. The reserves, led by Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills, sparked a 21-6 run to help San Antonio gain control. "Our job is to come off the bench and bring that extra gear to turn it up a bit, intensity-wise. It starts on defence and if we can capitalize, it translates to good offence," Mills said. Belinelli and Manu Ginobili each had 11 points off the San Antonio bench, which contributed 47 points. The Spurs outrebounded the Jazz 55-42 and outscored Utah 50-36 in the paint. "They hit the glass really hard and they have a lot of big bodies, so we knew that was going to be a big part of us winning this game. But we had good focus from everybody and when the balls were there to be had, we just went and got them," Duncan said. Richard Jefferson made a 3-pointer to draw the Jazz within double digits for the only time in the second half at 61-52, but Duncan scored twice around a 3-pointer by Leonard and the Spurs were back in control. "It was a very good win against a young team that is starting to play better. We respect them and did a good job of playing horn to horn," Duncan said. NOTES: Utah C Rudy Gobert and G Ian Clark were assigned to the clubs D-League affiliate in Bakersfield. Both earned playing time earlier this season when the Jazz were dealing with multiple injuries. ... Belinelli made all three of his 3-point attempts to improve his NBA-leading mark to 56.5 per cent. ... Jeremy Evans matched his career high with 11 rebounds for Utah. . Oddly, the Jazz had a season-high 11 blocks to one for the Spurs. Cheap Drew Stanton Jersey . There were no real chances until Augsburg broke the deadlock through Raul Bobadilla in the 33rd minute. Frankfurt failed to clear a cross and Bobadilla slotted home from close range at the far post. Wholesale Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . Pressley missed all of last season with Cincinnati because of a knee injury, but the 5-foot-10, 249-pounder had been expected to fill a need on Clevelands roster. http://www.cheapcardinalsjerseyselite.com/. Marek Hamsik, who had earlier missed a penalty, headed Napoli in front in the 23rd minute and Pandev added a second goal five minutes from halftime. Alessandro Matri got Juventus back into the game just after the break but Pandev was on hand to score again in the 68th. Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Authentic .C. - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick headlines this years electees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys .com) - Roosevelt Jones had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead No.NEW ORLEANS -- George Hills confidence in the clutch, cultivated by a deep playoff run just last spring, was never more obvious than when he received a pass at the top of the 3-point arc inside the final minute. The moment Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday backed off Hill in order to defend against a possible pass or drive, Hill sprung into his shooting motion and drained a 3-pointer with 31.1 seconds left. The shot provided a four-point cushion, and Indiana went on to complete a 16-point, second-half comeback for its second victory in as many nights, 95-90 over New Orleans on Wednesday night. "Id seen Jrue back up just a little bit to try to play the passing lane and I had that rhythm," said Hill, who finished with 19 points. "Im a big believer in not being scared to make a play. Sometimes youre going to hit it and sometimes youre not and today I hit it." Hills performance was but one example of how the Pacers poise made the difference against a talented but young Pelicans squad that will need time to develop chemistry after several significant off-season moves, highlighted by draft-day trade that brought Holiday, a former Philadelphia All-Star, to the Big Easy. "They stayed consistent. They stayed true to their offence. They executed down the stretch," Holiday said of the Pacers. "They didnt hesitate or get nervous when they were down and I think that is something to learn from. Me personally, I think I could have executed better, got some of our teammates in the right places, gotten into better plays. Its about learning. You can learn from every loss." Holiday also admitted he did not expect Hill to pull up for his pivotal 3. "I should have been a little bit closer," Holiday said. "Hes hit big shots before. Hes definitely a guy we dont want to take that shot. " But New Orleans had other players to worry about, such as Paul George, who scored a game-high 32 points, one night after scoring 24 in Indianas home-opening victory over Orlando. Former New Orleans forward David West also helped Indiana spoil the home opener for the rebranded Pelicans by hitting four free throws in the final 1:06. He finished with 12 points and said he was not the least bit surprised by Indianas ability to orchestrate a methodical comeback on the road. "Thats how we won a lot of games last year. We trust our ppreparation, the work that we put in and trust ourselves in those key moments," West said.dddddddddddd"Weve got guys in this locker room that have confidence thats a mile-high, particularly late in the game. We believe whoevers got the ball is going to make the right play. We came up with another tough win. Were confident in games like this even when a team gets going on us early." Lance Stephenson scored 16 points, Roy Hibbert blocked five shots and Ian Mahinmi blocked four for Indiana, which had 12 blocks in all. Eric Gordon scored 25 points, Holiday added 24 and Anthony Davis had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The Pelicans led 85-81 after Holidays jumper, but Hibbert scored on a spin move in the paint while drawing centre Jason Smiths sixth foul, then made the free throw to make it 85-84. West then snagged the rebound of Holidays missed jumper and soon after hit the first of his late free throws, giving Indiana the lead for good. On New Orleans next possession, West helped defend Davis miss on a driving layup attempt, and Indiana followed with Hills 3. Trailing 52-36 after Smiths basket opened scoring in the third period, Indiana quickly closed the gap with a 10-0 run fueled by Hills layup and 3-pointer. Holiday snapped the run with free throws after he was fouled on a fast break. Still, George scored 11 in the period, after which he had 24 points, and the Pacers trailed 66-59. Indiana continued to chip away. Hills 3 pulled the Pacers to 76-74 halfway through the final period, then Georges pullup jumper tied it at 76. "We didnt give it away," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "They took the game. I just dont think we had an understanding of the moment in the fourth quarter." NOTES: The Pelicans announced shortly before tip-off that F Ryan Anderson, one of their best 3-point shooters, would miss one to three weeks because of a chip fracture in a toe on his right foot. ... New Orleans native Danny Granger was out for the Pacers with a strained left calf. ... Double technical fouls were called on Stephenson and Pelicans reserve C Greg Stiemsma for shoving one another in the paint after a Pacers tip-in during the second quarter. ... The Pelicans formally introduced their new Pelican mascot, named Pierre, a nod to Louisianas French colonial influences. Pierre replaces Hugo the Hornet. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '


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