Tony Parker helps San Antonio Spurs beat Atlanta Hawks 97-90
Tony Parker scored a game-high 26 points as the San Antonio Spurs overcame the Atlanta Hawks 97-90 at the Philips Arena on Tuesday night. Parker also grabbed four assists and five rebounds in the victory.
The victory snapped San Antonio's four-game road losing streak, who currently lead the Western Conference with 59 victories. They are now three games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference standings.
Guard Manu Ginobili added 18 points and four assists while forward Tim Duncan had 17 points and six rebounds in the victory. George Hill came off the bench with 13 points for the Spurs, who won their second straight game following their worst losing streak of six games.
Joe Johnson chipped in with a team-high 21 points for the Hawks, who lost their second consecutive game. Jamal Crawford racked up 20 points while Kirk Hinrich finished with 13 points and six assists in the defeat.
Centre-forward Al Horford contributed 12 points, a game-high nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks for Atlanta. The Hawks played the game without forward Josh Smith, who has not returned to the court since suffering a knee injury in the Hawks’ 100-90 defeat to the Denver Nuggets on 28th February at Pepsi Centre.
Centre Jason Collins also left the games late in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return. The absence of two key players compounded Atlanta's problems in handling Parker and Ginobili, who rocked the Philips Arena with their breath-taking drives to the basket.
Hawks coach Larry Drew praised Ginobili and Parker's performance after the game. He said, “Both guys did a great job of breaking the defence down and getting into the paint. We did not do a good job of containing the ball.”
Match Analysis
The Hawks played well in the first three quarters, shooting 51 percent from the field, but the Spurs crushed them in final stanza behind a 12-point spurt from Ginobili. Atlanta got off to a very fast start as they shot 50 percent from the field in the opening quarter and carried a 21-16 lead into the second.
San Antonio trimmed the deficit to 24-22 early in the second quarter. The Hawks, on the other hand, continued to play offensively and extended their lead to as many as seven points midway through the quarter. However, the Spurs responded with four unanswered points in the last 46 seconds of the quarter to end the first half down by just three points at 46-43.
San Antonio got right back into the game when they tied the game at 54 points with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Spurs converted the three-point half time deficit into a 66-65 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
San Antonio extended their lead to 92-82 with three minutes to go in the fourth. The Hawks made a marginal comeback as they cut their deficit to five with one minute left to play. However, the Spurs went on a 4-2 run in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
Tags: