Tony Parker pounds 31; San Antonio Spurs brush aside Washington Wizards 112 – 97 – NBA Recap
The San Antonio Spurs made short work of the Washington Wizards when the two sides met on Monday. Playing at the AT&T Center, the Spurs raced ahead in the first half and didn’t look troubled throughout the night as they marched to a 112 – 97 win.
Veteran point guard Tony Parker was once again the main man for San Antonio. Parker scored a game high 31 points and also dished out 7 assists. Tim Duncan added 14 points and hauled down 9 boards.
"Tony (Parker) is playing unbelievable. He's playing great. They have to respect Tony, and I'm the other guy." Tim said.
Parker was happy with his effort, but also spoke of how well the team played.
"I think we did a great job moving the ball," Parker said. "We took advantage of their defense and got wide-open shots for everyone."
DeJuan Blair had a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards while Tiago Splitter scored 17 coming off the bench.
Talented centre JaVale McGee was most prolific for the Washington Wizards; he collected a double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds, team high and game high respectively. Jordon Crawford scored 19 while Nick Young came off the bench for 18.
Live wire point guard John Wall struggled against Parker, scoring only 12, and he was disappointed with not only his effort, but that of the team.
"It's not just the guards," said John Wall. "It's not just the bigs. It's everything. No help side, no closing back on shooters, and they score whenever they want to, basically. Until we started playing defence in the second half, a young team like us, we
can't wait against a team like this."
The Wizards were quicker out of the blocks, going up 7 – 2, but the Spurs soon caught up with them. In fact, San Antonio imposed themselves as the first quarter went on and ended up with a 32 – 24 advantage.
Things got from bad to worse for the Wizards in the second segment. A devastating 15 – 2 run b y the Spurs left them reeling behind at 51 – 33. Washington were only able to eat away so much of the deficit, and were trailing at halftime 63 – 49.
Wizards were aggressive coming out of the break, and an 8 – 2 run brought the deficit down to single digits; 65 – 57. Spurs though immediately responded and restored their double digit cushion, which stayed for the duration of the third quarter. It ended
88 – 74.
Washington never really looked like threatening in the final 12 minutes, and San Antonio had a pretty easy right through. The lead dwindled to single digits on occasion, but the Spurs never looked worried, seeing out the game comfortably at 112 – 97.
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