SAN ANTONIO – Inevitably, no matter what Marcus Williams did, Devin Harris was going to become the Nets’ starting point guard. And Harris did.
Inevitably, no matter what the Nets’ early lead was last night, no matter how poorly San Antonio shot, the Spurs were going to run their winning streak to 10 games and beat the Nets for a second time in three days. And they did.
“It’s the little things that make them good, the simple things you’ve got to control, but they’re very adamant in doing,” said Harris. “Defensively they’re always tough. When their offense isn’t going they find other ways.”
So after the Nets rolled to a 24-17 first-quarter lead, the Spurs hauled out the defensive clamps. And Tim Duncan. Tony Parker battled foul trouble. Manu Ginobili shot like his hands were hot-glued together. So Duncan and defense were the game-long constants as the Spurs overcame their own woeful shooting and doused the Nets, 81-70, the Nets’ 12th loss in 14 road games.
“That’s why they’re the champs. Whether you make a run or not, they’re not going to wilt,” said Nets center Josh Boone, who bore much of the fury of Duncan’s 29 points and 12 rebounds.
After the Nets lost to the Spurs by 10 in the Meadowlands on Sunday, when Parker was a high-scoring blur, coach Lawrence Frank opted for Harris’ quickness in the first unit.
Harris (13 points, seven assists) struggled with his shot (5-of-17). The Nets shot 37.3 percent – still torrid compared to the Spurs’ 33.8.
“Think about this: They won the game shooting 33 percent. That just shows you how good they are,” Frank said.
The Nets’ seven-point first-quarter lead, built with all of Nenad Krstic’s six points and five of Vince Carter’s 19, evaporated in the second quarter when Duncan scored 13. The Nets, despite Parker’s cameo by Parker and Ginobili shooting 1-of-7, trailed 44-37 at the half. It didn’t get better.
The Nets scored 46 points after the first quarter. In the fourth, they missed 10 straight shots. And that was after a most disheartening close to the third. Ginobili poked the ball from Richard Jefferson (10 points) then raced to the ball while the Nets forward jogged after it, figuring he had the inside track. Ginobili’s speed earned him a breakaway dunk.
“It’s tough when you struggle a few games, and it’s tough to get right against the Spurs,” said Jefferson, one of several Nets and Frank who stressed the free-throw disparity (31 for the Spurs to the Nets’ 16).
The Nets (26-34), in Memphis tonight, gave good effort. Williams (16 points), displaced by Harris, was sound off a bench that lacked Bostjan Nachbar (hip-groin, and he’ll miss tonight). But they needed more. Playing the Spurs back to back is almost cruel.
“It’s like when you go to the dentist, and they say you have to get root canal. And then you have to go back and finish it up,” said Frank, who presented a laundry list of reasons behind the move of Harris into the first unit, including the matchup with Parker – plus the obvious.
“This is the direction we’re going to go,” Frank said.
Spurs 81 Nets 70