KG Brought Out the Uzis

San Antonio 90, Minnesota 88. Holy crap, I actually called a game right...well, sorta. The Spurs would not have won without Michael Finley stepping it up (21 pts), but I thought the reason he'd be the difference is because Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett would cancel each other out. But actually, KG made Timmy his bitch tonight. Garnett had 24 points, 21 boards, 6 assists and 4 blocks. Duncan shot 5-15 from the floor and only 3 of 7 from the line for 13 points. But the matchup was even more lopsided than the boxscore appears. KG smothered and intimidated Duncan defensively every time they were heads up. By the end of the game, Tim Duncan had that nervous, shameful look of someone who'd just been sodomized with a nightstick.

Fortunately for me, Garnett inexplicably spent a great portion of the 2nd quarter on the bench, during which the Spurs outscored the Wolves 25-8. I have no clue why Dwane Casey elected to hold KG out for so long, but I thank him.

Remember a few years ago when Shaq really, really struggled from the line, and whenever he stepped up for a free throw you could just see a look in his eyes that it was the last place on earth he wanted to be? Then he'd take about 20 seconds to shoot his free throw, gripping and regripping, double clutching the release, and finally shooting a line drive to the rim. Well that's exactly how Duncan looked tonight. I was fully expecting an airball from him at some point. He needs to fix that soon, or else teams will be employing the Punk-a-Dunc defense in the 4th qtr.

From the Department of Obvious Observations: The Spurs offense takes a major hit with Manu Ginobili out of the lineup. Manu is great at exploiting open lanes and using his elbows to get shots off in traffic. But with him out, the Spurs resort to dumping it inside to Duncan and then watching as Tim struggles to beat his man one-on-one. The only time the Spurs offense looked fluid tonight is when they ran a pick and roll w/ a combination of Parker/Finley or Parker/Horry. Unfortunately, they totally abaondoned that set in the 4th qtr. I don't think I'll be placing any more action on the Spurs until Manu is healthy.