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Spurs rout Nuggets, tie series at 1-1
The Denver Nuggets have the home-court advantage. Maybe more importantly, the San Antonio Spurs have the momentum. The Spurs made nine of their first 10 shots and then outscored Denver by 20 points in the second quarter of their 104-76 victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday night. The win evened their first-round playoff series at 1-1.
"It has nothing to do with where we are or what the altitude is," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's about individual players performing well and players performing as a team. The team that does it best will win." The Nuggets are satisfied with a split in San Antonio and eager to get home, where they've lost only once since the All-Star break. "We have a home court that's pretty good," Denver coach George Karl said. "I think I have a basketball team that's going to respond with the pride that San Antonio showed tonight." The Spurs, who lost the opener Sunday after missing 17 straight shots down the stretch, went back to basics on offense — that is, they got the ball to Tim Duncan. On his first touch, Duncan drove on Kenyon Martin and hit a short bank shot. On the next trip down, he backed down Marcus Camby in the post and flipped in a jump hook. "They did an excellent job getting him the ball in a comfortable spot," Martin said. "He hit some shots today that he missed the other day." In other games, it was Chicago 113, Washington 103 and Phoenix 108, Memphis 103. The Bulls and Suns each lead their series 2-0. In games Thursday night, Miami is at New Jersey, Boston at Indiana and Dallas at Houston. The Heat and Rockets lead 2-0, while the Celtics and Pacers are tied 1-1. Establishing Duncan early created shots on the perimeter, and the Spurs made them. They hit their first four 3-pointers, two by Brent Barry, and held an 11-point lead less than eight minutes in. Tony Parker scored 12 points in the first period, matching his total for all of Game 1. He finished with 19 points. On Tuesday, Popovich said he wanted more out of Parker at both ends of the floor. Andre Miller scored a career playoff-high 31 points in Game 1 while being guarded mostly by Parker. "I tried to be more aggressive and pick him up full-court and not give him anything easy," Parker said. "The defense starts with me." Duncan had 24 points, while reserve Manu Ginobili added 17 points in 18 minutes. Barry, who started in Ginobili's place, made all four of his 3-pointers for 16 points. DerMarr Johnson led Denver with 12 points. Miller added 11 and Carmelo Anthony 10, while Camby had 12 rebounds. The Nuggets made three of their first four shots, then missed nine of their next 10 before a driving layup by Miller made it 23-12. Wesley Person hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to trim San Antonio's lead to 29-21, but the Nuggets followed with another dry spell while the Spurs piled up points. A 10-foot jump hook by Duncan restored the Spurs' double-digit lead with about 11 minutes left in the half. Less than four minutes later, a short runner by Parker made it 46-25. Parker later dished to Duncan for a dunk that extended San Antonio's lead to 30 points with 2:27 remaining. The Nuggets missed 13 of their 14 shots during the Spurs' 27-5 run. "The whole game was terrible," Camby said. "They got everything they wanted. It made for a long, tough night." Bulls 113, Wizards 103 The Bulls head to Washington with a 2-0 lead after Kirk Hinrich scored 21 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. Hinrich rebounded from a tough 8-for-23 shooting night in Chicago's 103-94 win in the opener Sunday night, hitting 12 of 15 shots and spearheading key runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the final quarter. Gilbert Arenas, held to nine points in the opener, picked up his game dramatically. He scored 39 — 16 in the final period — and helped the Wizards rally in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough. Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played at the MCI Center on Saturday and Monday. Suns 108, Grizzlies 103 The host Suns erased a five-point deficit with a 14-4 spurt over the final 4:04 to take a 2-0 lead. Game 3 is Friday night in Memphis. Amare Stoudemire, who scored just nine points in the series opener, had 34 points and 10 rebounds, including 18-of-22 shooting at the foul line. Shawn Marion, playing with a sprained right wrist, added 22 points for Phoenix, including a pair of 15-footers that tied the game, then put Phoenix ahead for good. He also grabbed 13 rebounds. Pau Gasol overpowered the smaller Suns most of the night for 28 points and 16 rebounds, both career playoff bests. Jason Williams scored 21, also a career playoff high, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.
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