"Offense thrills; defense kills." The Spurs depended more on the kill than the thrill in defeating the Timberwolves, unless you count the third close one in as many games against Minnesota as a thriller.
This week was NBA Fit Week - all home teams wore the bright blue warmup tops. Gary Neal lived up to the "fit" label tonight with 4 of 5 shooting from the field and 13 points.
Manu turned in another star performance, this time turning it on in the second quarter, scoring 14 of his 21 points. In the photo below, he gives Kevin Love some room on the opening tip.
Yeah, there were those four turnovers, but Manu balanced it out with four steals. In this photo, he sizes up Corey Brewer as I was saying to the person next to me: "Watch - he's gonna steal the inbounds pass." And he did just that. I loved it because Brewer had done a bit of "show-boating" (the kind I only though Kobe did in our house), after sinking a three in the first quarter.
RJ contributed 13 points on 6 of 12 from the field, including this pretty reverse layup in the second half.
Matt Bonner was one rebound away from a double-double, throwing down 11 points. In this photo, he and McDyess keep one away from Kevin Love, who pulled down 17 rebounds.
Antonio McDyess was key in the win, playing 25 minutes, most of it late in the game, scoring 6 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Coach Pop lauded his defense on Kevin Love as well - the old warrior can still play the game! Now go ice those knees, Antonio!
I don't know if Tim's shot went in - but look at McDyess at work, positioning himself against Ridnour and Milicic to be ready to bring down the rebound.
And now some just for fun photos -
On the way to the game, I snapped this sign on top of a beer joint near the AT&T Center - sure hope they have to add another year to it after this season!
And Basketball Jesus was in attendance again.
