The Post Up: Spurs Steal From The Clippers

by Holly MacKenzie

Good Morning!

The news of the day (at least in my Golden State-infused world), is that Stephen Jackson signed a 3-year extension with the Warriors yesterday. I had originally changed my facebook status to, “Holly is happy Stephen Jackson is locked up in Golden State for 3-years.”

Yeah, had to go back and change that one after thinking about it for a moment.

Very happy for Captain Jack and his extension.

Not so happy to see McGrady go down again last night. “Aggravating his knee” in the second half of the Houston victory over Oklahoma City, who knows what is up with Tracy. Wishing him well, from the Post Up, though.

Roger Mason’s big three to win the game for San Antonio was nice last night. Really pretty shot. I’m Tim Duncan!? Is that you?sure there are only three of you who saw the game, but those of you who did, it was nice, wasn’t it?

The Spurs are so funny to me. Take away Gin, take away Parker and sure they will stumble, but they will also find ways to win the games that they are supposed to.

K.G. suspended for the slap/hit/connection with Bogut’s face on Saturday night. I love K.G., but this was the right decision. After the Calderon taunt, he has been bursting at the seams with intensity, even more so than usual (which I didn’t think was possible, but hey, impossible is nothing, right?), and he definitely has a tendency to go overboard, if not reined in.

Consider this his time-out.

Andrei Kirilenko with back-to-back blocks on Shaquille O’Neal. Kind of makes me sad to see Shaq not have the lift that he used to have. Kind of makes me happy to see Kirilenko have his back.

I don’t really know what to think of the Suns at this point. One game they look good, the next their chemistry seems messed up. I like seeing Amare be the aggressor, I miss the run and gun game. I’m also not entirely sure that they know their thoughts on themselves right now, either. What are yours?

Houston 100 Oklahoma City 89

Things just get rougher for the Thunder as they dropped their eighth straight game last night. While the Rockets took the 100-89 victory over Oklahoma City, they did not leave unscathed as they lost Tracy McGrady to an aggravated knee in the second half and Ron Artest left the game in the final minute with what appeared to be an ankle sprain. McGrady did not return to the game, but it didn’t matter as the Rockets were up six at the half and extended that lead to as many as 19 points in the third. While OKC would come back in the fourth and cut the deficit to single digits with a 14-3 run, they would get no closer than eight as Ron Artest scored 17 points and hauled down 11 rebounds. Yao Ming added 19 points and 12 boards and Luis Scola scored 23. Kevin Durant had 29 points for the Thunder while Jeff Green scored 16 and Russell Westbrook added 14 off of the bench.

Utah 109 Phoenix 97

With Deron looking nice on the sidelines, the Utah Jazz were able to take down the Phoenix Suns last night, 109-97. The win kept them undefeated on their home floor, making their home winning streak the longest in the NBA. While they were without Williams, they had Andrei Kirilenko back and he made his impact felt, blocking consecutive shot attempts by Shaquille O’Neal in the fourth quarter as the Jazz used a 17-2 run to burst to close out what was a tight game. Carlos Boozer and CJ Miles each scored 21 points for the Jazz, with Boozer also grabbing 15 boards. Kirilenko had 19 points off of the bench and Paul Millsap added 11 points and 9 rebounds as well. Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for the Suns as Matt Barnes had 19 points and Steve Nash scored 14 to go with 8 assists.

San Antonio 86 LA Clippers 83

Having earned only one victory this season, the Clippers were looking to grab their second against a depleted San Antonio Spurs team. Of course, San Antonio did not envision this happening and although it came down to the final seconds, they were able to close out the Clippers and take another precious win. While the two teams battled throughout the first three quarters, the Spurs were able to go ahead by as many as 11 in the opening minutes of the final quarter thanks to a 9-2 burst to start, but the Clippers quickly came back in the final two minutes of the game, thanks to consecutive baskets from Chris Kaman and a three-pointer from Cuttino Mobley. With the game tied, it was Roger Mason Jr. who drained a three-pointer, with 8.6 on the clock. While the Clippers would get the ball back, Baron Davis would attempt a three that missed everything and the Spurs won their third straight. While Mason was big finishing with 21 points,Tim Duncan’s had a line of 20 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Michael Finley also added 19 points for the Spurs. Kaman had 17 points and 13 rebounds for LA while Mobley scored 18 and Baron Davis added 11 and 8 assists in the loss.