Spurs’ Popovich wins 700th on late dunk
December 19, 2009
SAN ANTONIO (AP)—Tim Duncan(notes) dunked over Roy Hibbert(notes) with 4.6 seconds left togive San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich his 700th career win with athrilling 100-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
San Antonio Spurs' Matt Bo… AP – Dec 19, 10:55 pm EST Indiana Pacers' Roy Hibber… AP – Dec 19, 10:53 pm EST
Indiana Pacers' Dahntay Jo… AP – Dec 19, 10:49 pm EST
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Duncan let out a roar after throwing down the last of his 19 points overHibbert, who blocked Duncan’s first attempt with time winding down before theSpurs’ perennial All-Star grabbed the ball back and went over Hibbert for thewinning score.
T.J. Ford(notes) missed a fadeaway jumper as time expired for the Pacers, who blewa 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Popovich is the 16th coach in NBA history to reach 700 wins and is amongseven active coaches to hit the milestone. But getting this one wasn’t easy.
Before watching helplessly as Duncan sprung for the winning dunk, Hibbertwon a one-on-one battle by leaping over Duncan with 1:12 left to tip-in a missedFord jumper and give Indiana a 99-98 lead.
It was the last of Hibbert’s 20 points, and the last basket for the Pacers.Ford missed a floater on Indiana’s next possession, setting up Duncan’s winningdunk.
Duncan also had 16 rebounds and scored eight of his points in the fourth.Tony Parker(notes) added 15 points and Keith Bogans(notes) had 14 for the Spurs.
Troy Murphy(notes) led the Pacers with 21 points. Indiana, which rallied from ahalftime deficit by ending the third quarter on a 21-8 burst, has not won in SanAntonio in seven years.
San Antonio continued feasting on losing teams while being mostly outplayedagainst clubs with winning records. All but two of San Antonio’s wins thisseason have come against teams with losing records, while the Spurs are 2-9against winning teams.
That said, the next three weeks bode well for the Spurs. Eight of SanAntonio’s next 12 opponents have losing records, leading up to their firstmeeting with the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 12.
Luther Head(notes) scored 14 points off the bench for Indiana, and Mike Dunleavyadded 11 points.
The win wasn’t all good news for the Spurs. Matt Bonner(notes) fractured the ringfinger in his shooting hand in the first half and did not return. Bonner, whoscored seven points and hit two shots after appearing to hurt his hand, was tobe re-evaluated Monday.
NOTES: Indiana F Jeff Foster(notes) left the game in the first quarter with a sorelower back and did not return. … San Antonio is 6-1 at home against EasternConference teams.
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