Parker peaks as playoffs approach
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS— The whispers started early in the season: Tim Duncan was washed up, and Tony Parker had lost his edge too.
What began as a trickle of concern turned into a flood, as the Spurs dropped alarmingly close to being out of a playoff spot.
For some other teams in the league, a 20-14 mark in late December would have been cause for celebration. For the defending NBA champions, it felt like a sign of the apocalypse.
That their two biggest stars were old and battling nagging injuries didn’t help settle the nerves of rattled San Antonio fans. Parker missed 13 games in December with a hamstring injury. When he did come back, he wasn’t his usual driving, slashing self, and averaged just 11 points per game in January, and 12.5 in February. For a perennial all-star, there were a whole lot more singledigit scoring games than there usually are.
Duncan — as sure a bet to reach the Hall of Fame as anyone currently playing in the NBA — was also putting up numbers that were less than stellar. In 28 minutes per game, the 38-year-old big man has been averaging just over 14 points per game this season.
But the Spurs are finally starting to turn the corner. They have won six straight games after their 117-107 win over the Raptors on Tuesday, and Parker has dropped 55 points in the last two — 32 against Chicago on Sunday, and 23 versus Toronto.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said there is no point in panicking, as long as progress is being made.
“You just need to try to be the best team you can be by playoff time. No team can be perfect, so you just keep striving,” said Popovich before facing the Raptors.
Parker’s breakout game against the Bulls on Sunday was a welcome sight for his teammates.
“I do think he needed (a game) like this,” veteran Manu Ginobili told the San Antonio Express-News, “because he did struggle for a couple of weeks with confidence, not feeling that great about his game. He was already starting to pick it up . . . So we’re all very excited, for him and for us, because we really need him to score.”
Parker’s performance came at the same time Duncan hit a milestone he would probably rather forget — he went an entire game without sinking a single field goal, the first time that has happened in his storied career.
As important as it was to see Parker’s offence clicking again, the Spurs resurgence has come from an increased emphasis on defence, says backup guard Patty Mills.
“It all starts defensively, and I think we saw that last game against Chicago. We really amped it up defensively and focused on that end of the floor. We were able to get stops. Take care of that, everything else unfolds,” said Mills. “We wish we could come back and play the same way . . . we did last year, but it’s just not that way, and we’ve got to get back to that.”