# Game 1: San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers



## TheRoc5

http://www.nba.com/games/20071030/PORSAS/preview.html

Trail Blazers-Spurs Preview
By CHRIS ALTRUDA, STATS Editor
Posted Oct 29 2007 11:20PM



Spurs Home 
Trail Blazers Home 
2006-07 Stats at a GlanceThe San Antonio Spurs have done many things to warrant being called the team of the decade thus far. Winning consecutive NBA championships for the first time in franchise history would cement that status.

Tim Duncan and the Spurs begin their bid for a fourth title in six years and fifth in 10 on Tuesday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers, who begin their rebuilding process without its most important part - top overall draft pick Greg Oden.

The Spurs finished second to the Dallas Mavericks in the Midwest Division last season, but San Antonio went on an impressive run to the NBA Finals, where it swept LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games to cap a 16-4 postseason.

This season, the Spurs return essentially the same team as Duncan and Finals MVP Tony Parker will lead the effort to win back-to-back titles. San Antonio failed to repeat in both 2004 and 2006, losing in the conference semifinals both times.

"It helps having the same guys coming back this year,'' said Duncan, who averaged 20.0 points and 10.6 rebounds last season. "All in all, what it comes down to is we've got the guys that have been through it, that have been through the wars and know what it takes and what it's about. So that gives us an advantage.''

Parker, who averaged 24.5 points while shooting 56.8 percent in the Finals, claims he is in better shape after an offseason of weight training following his highly publicized marriage to actress Eva Longoria in his native France over the summer.

"I think as a team we understand what it means to defend a championship. So I think as long as everybody's motivated and we stay healthy, we'll have a good chance,'' said Parker, sporting a tattooed wedding band on his left ring finger. "I don't care about what people say. It's just for us. We have to do it for us.''

Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Brent Barry, Michael Finley and Jacque Vaughn - sporting a combined 65 years of experience - highlight the veteran presence returning for the Spurs, who fully understand the rigors of playing as the favorite.

"If you thought you were a marked team then, you're definitely a marked team now,'' said Finley, a 12-year veteran who finally won his first NBA title last season. "These teams are going to come out and bring out their best game and you have to be prepared both mentally and physically to have that type of 'X' on your back every night.''

While the Spurs have set the league standard, the Trail Blazers appeared ready for a resurgence after a fortuitous offseason. After failing to make the playoffs, Portland won the NBA Draft lottery and selected Oden - the highly regarded 7-foot center who helped Ohio State reach the NCAA tournament championship game in his only season after averaging 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks as a freshman - with the first overall pick.

The Blazers then engineered a draft-day trade, sending power forward Zach Randolph to the New York Knicks as part of a six-player deal that brought 24-year-old forward Channing Frye and veteran guard Steve Francis to Portland. They waived Francis in a commitment to youth, and with 2007 Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy expected to form a potent tandem with Oden, optimism was high in the Pacific Northwest.

But in September, Oden underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee after an exploratory procedure revealed damage. Already the face of the franchise, the 19-year-old center was crestfallen when he learned he would likely miss the entire season.

"Greg looked at me as he was coming out of his surgery, and he and his mom, Zoe, probably said 'sorry' 20 times,'' Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said in September.

"I could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. And as a leader and as leaders of this organization, my first thought was how lucky we were to have a guy that cares about the organization that much.''

Even without Oden, the Blazers have a strong nucleus. Roy averaged 16.8 points in 57 games after overcoming early heel injuries, and second-year point guard Jarrett Jack added 12.0 points and a team-high 5.3 assists in his first season as a starter.

Oden's absence will put more pressure on a young trio of frontcourt players - Frye, LaMarcus Aldridge and Martell Webster. Frye averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds last season, while Aldridge - the No. 2 pick in 2006 - contributed 9.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

The 20-year-old Webster, who averaged 7.0 points and 2.9 rebounds, may be the player coach Nate McMillan is counting on to make the biggest strides.

"He must show the coaching staff that his help to this team is just not the nights he shoots 50 percent," McMillan told the Blazers' official Web site.

San Antonio has won 10 straight games between the teams since a 107-99 loss Jan. 24, 2005. The Spurs also have reeled off eight straight home victories over the Blazers since a 95-76 loss on Nov. 9, 2002.


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## TheRoc5

I will be at the game so I wont be able to post in the game thread but it shouldnt matter to much because I am pretty sure I would be the only one in here haha

Spurs 103
Blazers 85

Manu 25 pts


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## Basel

I want Robert Horry to show that he can still play in this league. Hopefully he gets some decent time and does well for the Spurs. 

I've got the Spurs winning, 103-89.


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## mediocre man

This game could get ugly for Portland unless the refs really let Aldridge play tough defense. He is the only way Portland stays close IMO, and any ticky-tack fouls will really hurt the Blazers because we don't have a lot of depth.

Good luck to you guys this season......except tonight of course


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## truebluefan

mediocre man said:


> This game could get ugly for Portland unless the refs really let Aldridge play tough defense. He is the only way Portland stays close IMO, and any ticky-tack fouls will really hurt the Blazers because we don't have a lot of depth.
> 
> Good luck to you guys this season......except tonight of course


It may get ugly, I agree; however, I remember a young Celtics team that beat the world champion Bulls in the late 90's in the first game of the season. If SA comes in disinterested, Portland may pull off an upset.


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## Basel

Tip-off will occur shortly; good luck to you Spurs fans.


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## Basel

The ring ceremony is taking place right now; lucky San Antonio fans.


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## Basel

I love seeing Robert Horry get another thing; the man is one of my all-time favorites (and probably tied for #1 with Kobe and Nick Van Exel). I also love seeing Finley get his first. My prediction is that the Spurs will repeat. I told all my friends last season that the Spurs would win, and they all had Phoenix winning. Same scenario this year. 

Oh, and by the way, why did the announcer say Horry was #25? And why isn't he playing?!


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## truebluefan

ok ready to go!


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## truebluefan

I am interested in seeing the young Blazer team play.


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## FreeMason Jr.

Basel57 said:


> Oh, and by the way, why did the announcer say Horry was #25? And why isn't he playing?!


Horry once said that he'd let everyone know when he's going to retire by going back to the beginning. His first number was 25.

As for why he's not playing, I haven't the slightest clue.


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## truebluefan

LA with the short jumper


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## truebluefan

Duncan answers 2-2


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## truebluefan

Aldridge again! 4-2

Blazers were 4-3 in preaseason


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## truebluefan

Roy misses. So far portland has taken 3 jump shots.

Parker for 2


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## truebluefan

6-4 Blazer lead


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## truebluefan

Aldridge fouls Duncan. 

fta good 
fta good 6-6 tie


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## truebluefan

Roy is fouled by Bowen. 

Webster scores. 8-6


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## truebluefan

Parker is fouled. Jack with the foul. 

FTA good 
fta good 8-8 tie


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## truebluefan

nice move by Parker. 10-8 Spurs


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## truebluefan

Aldridge with the jump hook


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## truebluefan

Finley scores. 12-10


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## Basel

Good game thus far; Tony Parker is ridiculously quick with the basketball, and I think he's going to have his biggest season yet this year.


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## truebluefan

parker 6.  Aldridge 6

SA 57%. Portland 39%.


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## Basel

ezealen said:


> Horry once said that he'd let everyone know when he's going to retire by going back to the beginning. His first number was 25.
> 
> As for why he's not playing, I haven't the slightest clue.


Really? Interesting.


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## truebluefan

parker steals and scores with the layup


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## Basel

Ginobili enters for San Antonio.


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## Basel

TP already with 10 points.


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## Basel

Damn, that was a nice pass from Ginobili to Bonner.


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## AllEyezonTX

Yeah, I was surprised Horry wasn't suited. Those rings in HD are ridiculous


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## truebluefan

he didnt retire? Then it is a mystery. I dont know either


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## truebluefan

outlaw in and hits the jumper 19-14 SA


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## truebluefan

SA doing a nice job in not allowing Portland to run.


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## TM

this team never changes, escept for Tony Parker who somehow looks even fast.


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## truebluefan

Duncan scores in close. 

Blake answers with a 3


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## truebluefan

wow Fierce dunk! Elson


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## Basel

Francisco Elson (mask and all) with a NICE dunk.


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## truebluefan

Well so far the Spurs came to play.


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## TM

ELSON. keep the mask.


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## truebluefan

nice spin move by outlaw


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## truebluefan

ahhh Horry taking a leave of absence the first part of the season


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## truebluefan

elson with another dunk.


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## Basel

So I guess Horry took a leave of absence to start the season; undisclosed family reasons. I hope everything is okay with him.


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## truebluefan

outlaw scores again


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## Basel

Well, it was an entertaining first quarter in my opinion. 29-26 Spurs after the first.


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## AllEyezonTX

nice step-back by outlaw


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## truebluefan

after 1 29-26 Spurs

Blazers 50%
Spurs 55%

Parker 11
Outlaw 7


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## Basel

The Barkley/Wade commercials are hilarious.


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## AllEyezonTX

truebluefan said:


> after 1 29-26 Spurs
> 
> Blazers 50%
> Spurs 55%
> 
> Parker 11
> Outlaw 7


After 1

nachos - 1

Me - 1

:biggrin:


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## FreeMason Jr.

Basel57 said:


> So I guess Horry took a leave of absence to start the season; undisclosed family reasons. I hope everything is okay with him.


Expect him to return for the last play of game 7 in the NBA Finals.


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## truebluefan

AllEyezonTX said:


> After 1
> 
> nachos - 1
> 
> Me - 1
> 
> :biggrin:


:clap2::cheers:


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## truebluefan

Barry for 3. 32-26


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## Basel

ezealen said:


> Expect him to return for the last play of game 7 in the NBA Finals.


:lol:


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## Basel

Ginobili again with the NICE behind the back pass!


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## truebluefan

ginobbli for 3!

Outlaw dunks 39-30 Spurs


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## truebluefan

ezealen said:


> Expect him to return for the last play of game 7 in the NBA Finals.


No arguement from me.


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## AllEyezonTX

It's Manu's world, we should feel privileged to witness him rule


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## Basel

If this game is being led by the Spurs by double digits at the half, then I think the Spurs will just blow it open in the 2nd half. However, if Portland can keep it to single digits, then it's anyone's game (though I still don't see how the Spurs would possibly lose).


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## truebluefan

nice reverse by oberto


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## AllEyezonTX

and 1 - good move


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## truebluefan

Aldridge having a nice game so far
Webster steals and scores.

41-37 Spurs


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## truebluefan

Barry gets a 3


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## AllEyezonTX

thats what happens on NBA 2k8 when I run a 2-3 zone - *BANG* Brent Barry


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## truebluefan

Duncan scores and is fouled by Prysbilla. 

fta good 47-37


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## TiMVP2

how bout dem_spurs 210 deuce dime


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## Basel

Look at Timmy D! He's 3/3 on free throws!


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## AllEyezonTX

Barry leaks out - 2pts


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## truebluefan

orberto blocks, lobs a long pass to barry for the layup 49-37. Time out Blazers


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## Basel

And just like that, it's a 12-point game.

Brent Barry is having himself a nice little game with 9 points already off the bench.


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## truebluefan

Basel57 said:


> Look at Timmy D! He's 3/3 on free throws!


Yeah he struggled all last season.


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## FreeMason Jr.

truebluefan said:


> orberto blocks, lobs a long pass to barry for the layup 49-37. Time out Blazers


Looked like an obvious travel by Barry to me :biggrin:


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## Basel

truebluefan said:


> Yeah he struggled all last season.


Oh, I know. He's struggled for a while.


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## TiMVP2

we need to blow this one open!!


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## truebluefan

ezealen said:


> Looked like an obvious travel by Barry to me :biggrin:


everyone travels in the NBA. College doesnt let you do that.


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## AllEyezonTX

Is this Roy rookie year, he's off


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## truebluefan

Duncan scores down low.


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## FreeMason Jr.

truebluefan said:


> everyone travels in the NBA. College doesnt let you do that.


But does everyone take like 8 steps without dribbling?


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## Basel

Duncan will have a field day with Pryzbilla guarding him.


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## truebluefan

Aldridge gets his 11th point


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## truebluefan

Finley answers with a 2 of his own


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## truebluefan

Roy has struggled, no doubt about it


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## truebluefan

Duncan gets the offensive rebound and scores 55-39


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## HB

Ginobli has been unstoppable


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## Basel

Truebluefan, check your PMs.


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## AllEyezonTX

"Power 3" looks like a Iso play for Webster, he delivers the 2


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## truebluefan

Webster with the lay up 55-45 SA.

2:37


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## AllEyezonTX

classic Roy hustle play


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## truebluefan

Basel57 said:


> Truebluefan, check your PMs.


Do I have to?


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## CbobbyB

ughhhhhhhhhhh, i wish we would hurry up and win already


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## truebluefan

second charge by Ginobbli


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## Basel

truebluefan said:


> Do I have to?


Haha, nothing big.

Spurs up 59-49 at the half. Nice start to the season by the defending champs.


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## truebluefan

59-49 Spurs

halftime


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## AllEyezonTX

almost 60 @ the half, gotta luv that


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## truebluefan

spurs 52%
Blazers 50%

Aldridge, Orberto, Duncan all three with 13


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## truebluefan

:azdaja::lol:

Barkley picks the Nets to win the East.


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## Basel

The Spurs bench is playing well, having scored 27 points in the first half.


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## Pimped Out

Ginobili with five assists. He must have really liked playing point during the preseason. He's a better playmaker than Parker.

Lamarcus with only one rebound. thats disappointing.
And Roy, your 0-4 performance is not helping my fantasy team.


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## Basel

Ginobili has as many assists as the entire Blazers team right now.


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## truebluefan

Roy and Jack 0-8


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## truebluefan

Jack hits a 3.


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## Pimped Out

Jack finally hit a shot


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## streetballa

go spurs!!! but why aren't they showing this game in canada!


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## Pimped Out

Portland has already cut this to a five point game in just over a minute


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## truebluefan

ginobbli wide open for the reverse layup


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## Pimped Out

Duncan is a great passing PF


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## truebluefan

24 second violation. Woe! Good D by the Blazers


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## Basel

24-second violation on the Spurs; not something that usually happens to them.


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## Pimped Out

I wanna see lamarcus get some more touches


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## Basel

streetballa said:


> go spurs!!! but why aren't they showing this game in canada!


Really? That sucks.


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## truebluefan

Finley hits a 3. 64-54


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## Pimped Out

finley making it rain.
that looks too familiar from the last preseason game


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## truebluefan

Ahh Maurice Lucas! He was a hell of a power forward


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## truebluefan

oberto wide open for two.


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## Pimped Out

duncan starting to struggle from the line again. he just doesnt look comfortable.
thats too easy off an inbounds
aldridge has a nice stroke


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## truebluefan

Aldridge has a nice stroke to his game


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## truebluefan

Prysbilla has been in the league for 8 years. Is it me, or does he still look weak? He needs to be much stronger than he shows.


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## Pimped Out

the last couple times roy has got to the paint, he has just dumped it off to joel. He needs to try a bit harder to just finish those play


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## Pimped Out

Damn, lamarcus shows off his perimeter D on that play. he's long and athletic.


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## truebluefan

nice hook shoot by Finley


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## Pimped Out

Aldridge's arms look a lot stronger than a year ago


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## truebluefan

Aldridge scores in close. He now has 17.


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## Pimped Out

truebluefan said:


> Aldridge has a nice stroke to his game


he showed it from outside earlier, and now inside. he's got an all around game


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## Basel

Aldridge is leading all scorers in the game right now. He's definitely impressed the hell out of me tonight.


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## truebluefan

Aldridge hits again


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## truebluefan

Duncan answers 71-63


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## truebluefan

Pryzbilla slams it back in.


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## truebluefan

Duncan offensive rebound and dunks


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## truebluefan

Jack hits for two.


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## truebluefan

Aldridge with the fastbreak dunk 73-69


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## Basel

Only a 4-point game now...


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## truebluefan

do we have a game now?


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## TM

every time i turn back, duncan is making the exact same low post move, and somehow scoring every single time.


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## truebluefan

TM said:


> every time i turn back, duncan is making the exact same low post move, and somehow scoring every single time.


Sounds like a soap opera, doesnt it?


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## Pimped Out

TM said:


> every time i turn back, duncan is making the exact same low post move, and somehow scoring every single time.


turn back? what else could you possibly be watching?


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## Basel

truebluefan said:


> Sounds like a soap opera, doesnt it?


:lol:


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## truebluefan

Nice shot by Webster


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## truebluefan

Barry for 3!


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## truebluefan

Roy hits a 3. 77-74 Spurs


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## Pimped Out

i wonder how much playing time darius will be getting later in the year when he needs to compete with vaughn


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## Basel

This game better not go to overtime. I don't want to miss the beginning of Rockets/Lakers.


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## Pimped Out

The Red Rocket with a deuce


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## TM

Pimped Out said:


> turn back? what else could you possibly be watching?


The Unit. Don't mess with my weekly shows, man. Don't worry, I'm back for good, especially if they keep showing Eva.


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## truebluefan

Bonner hits for two. Webster answers with a 3.


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## truebluefan

81-77 after 3. Spurs


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## Basel

81-77 Spurs after three..


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## Basel

Darius Washington! Nice!


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## truebluefan

spurs starting to pull away 84-77


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## truebluefan

Webster with the 3 84-80


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## truebluefan

Ginobbli blows by everyone and dunks!


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## truebluefan

Ginobbli with the put back! 88-80


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## truebluefan

Nice shot by Blake


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## truebluefan

Duncan now has 20 90-84


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## truebluefan

Duncan scores again 92-84


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## Basel

Blazers need to get some points on these next few trips down the court; otherwise, the Spurs, who are obviously quite experienced, will make sure they pay dearly.


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## truebluefan

6:00 92-86 Blazers 

Parker scores 94-86


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## Basel

You knew TP was going to have to nail a tear-drop at some point in the game.


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## truebluefan

nice three by Webster. 94-89. Blazers wont go away!


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## truebluefan

bonner scores down low


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## Basel

Was the site down for anyone else?

102-96 Spurs with 52.6 left. Spurs ball.


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## truebluefan

yes it was for me.


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## truebluefan

:33 104-97 Sa


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## truebluefan

Wonder if Oden had played, if Portland had won?


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## Basel

Congrats to the Spurs for starting the season 1-0. Nice effort by Portland, but it was just wasn't enough on this night.


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## truebluefan

Spurs win 106-97


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## sonicFLAME6

game notes:
Bruce absolutely shut ROY down
Ginobili is going bald lol (bald spot on top of his head showing)
Good game by Aldridge, he has game
Good job Spurs


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## TiMVP2

undefeated. better than the rest. still champs.


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