San Antonio fined $250K
‘Resting players untimely’
NEW YORK, Dec 1, (RTRS): The San Antonio Spurs were fined $250,000 on Friday for sending top players home before a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat, the National Basketball Association said on Friday.
The Spurs, who have one of the oldest rosters in the league, sent four of their top players home to rest before Thursday’s game, which was the final game of a six-game road trip for San Antonio and their fourth game in five nights.
“The Spurs decided to make four of their top players unavailable for an early-season game that was the team’s only regular-season visit to Miami,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.
“The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under badly against Caja who showed great pride tonight,” added the coach who took over at Milan in 2011.
Forward Fernando San Emeterio led Caja with a game-high 17 points, Polish centre Maciej Lampe scored 14 and Heurtel added 11 to go with five rebounds.
Alba beat Poland’s Asseco Prokom Gdynia 67-64 after nearly throwing away an 11-point lead in the last quarter while Khimki romped to a 77-53 home rout of Italians Mapooro Cantu thanks to 14 points from Croatian guard Zoran Planinic and American centre Paul Davis. these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans.”
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decided to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green home rather than inserting them into the lineup against the defending NBA champion Heat.
Despite missing the top players, the Spurs nearly shocked the Heat, leading 98-93 with about two minutes to play, before Miami’s big guns led the team to a 105-100 victory.
The fine was not a surprise as Stern sent out a statement late on Thursday apologizing to NBA fans for Popovich’s decision and promising “substantial sanctions.”
San Antonio’s next game is at home on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Budget cuts have left Partizan with a modest but hard-working roster and they produced a heart-stopping victory over Lietuvos in a game where both teams played in fits and starts before a fervent 7,500 crowd in the Serbian capital.
Partizan led by eight points at the end of the third quarter but an 11-0 run hauled the visitors back into the match and forced a thrilling climax, only for their guard Renaldas Seibutis to narrowly miss the game-winning shot on the buzzer.
An eruption of joy followed in the Pionir Arena as the home players stayed on the court for 10 minutes to salute their passionate fans.
“Every EuroLeague win is important for this young team and although we are almost resigned to defeat against the likes of Barcelona, we have shown we can still stand our ground against anyone,” Partizan coach Dusko Vujosevic told a news conference.
“It is so important to advance into the top 16 because that means another 14 games against high-quality opposition.”
Partizan have suffered narrow defeats against six-times winners CSKA Moscow and double champions Barcelona but Latvian forward Davis Bertans made sure they were not on the receiving end this time with an effervescent 14-point performance.
The 20-year-old, provisionally selected by the Indiana Pacers in the 2011 NBA draft, buried four three-pointers from five attempts and most of them came when his team were reeling.
“The important thing is we are still in with a chance of reaching the top 16 and we are now looking forward to the final two games against Barcelona and Bamberg,” said Bertans.
“We played with a lot of energy which definitely came from the fans and they were so noisy I am surprised they didn’t bring the house down.”