Tony Parker torches Utah Jazz again; Leads San Antonio Spurs to a 102-90 win in Game – 3: NBA Playoffs 2012 Recap
On Saturday night at the Energy Solutions Arena, Tony Parker led the way with 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the San Antonio Spurs take a commanding 3-0 in the first round series against the Utah Jazz.
Parker signed off on the night with a game high of 27 points leading the Spurs to a 102-90 win in game-3. Tim Duncan followed him up with 17 points, 13 of which came in the first half, and 6 boards. Danny Green was not far behind
with 14 points of his own on a 5-of-12 shooting night.
Stephen Jackson came off the bench to record 13 points in the ball game while Tiago Splitter, who was returning back from injury, played well for his 10 points. Manu Ginobili could only manage 6 points in the contest but did manage
to find other ways to make an impact. He recorded 10 assists on the night.
Even though the Jazz competed well in the first half and looked to have a new found spirit in the early goings, they just couldn’t hold off the Spurs at the death. Al Jefferson recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds on the night while
Devin Harris was also able to rack up 21 points, after failing to make much of an impact in the first two games.
Derrick Favors led the bench scoring for the home side by adding 15 points with 11 boards and Alec Burks also came off the bench to add 11 points in the game. Paul Millsap nearly missed a double-double with 9 points, 11 rebounds
and 5 blocked shots.
In the first quarter, Duncan got Spurs off and running by scoring 6 quick points to start the proceedings. However, the home side was up for it and opened their scoring account, courtesy of a Harris 3 pointer. This start was capped
off at the 2:21 mark by another trey from Harris to give the Jazz their first lead of the ball game, 23-22.
Garry Neal responded with a three pointer for the Spurs to snatch back the lead, which was maintained till the end of the period, 30-28.
Four quick points from Burks saw the proceeding start off in the second quarter; however the experienced Spurs side snatched back the lead again, courtesy of a Jackson triple. The scores remained close for the rest of the portion
but the Spurs led 52-50 at the half, courtesy of Matt Bonner`s first points on the night which came from beyond the arc.
There was not much to separate the two teams at the start of the second half with both sides converting possession into baskets very easily. At the 7:11 mark, the scores were level at 60, in the next minutes Green and Jackson knocked
down two triples and the Spurs put together a 10-3 run to finally get their noses in front.
This lead was quickly prolonged into double figures, however 4 points from the Jazz to close the quarter, saw the lead cut down to 7 before going into the fourth.
In the final quarter, Spurs scored 6 quick points to push the advantage back into double figures but the home side had fight still left in them. Utah responded strongly and cut the lead down to 5 with 8:25 to go.
That is when the experience of the Spurs started to show as Parker took over the ball game from there on. He managed to convert all of his 5 field goal attempts and knocked down all 6 of his free throws in the ensuing passage to
put the game beyond Utah`s reach.
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