San Antonio at Orlando

[Real Deal]

TIME: 7:00 PM ET

TV: NBALP

[Real Deal]

ORLANDO, Fla. -- It took a while, but the San Antonio Spurs have finally found success on the road this season.

 

They had to work a little longer than normal to realize it, though.

 

After dropping their first five games away from Texas to begin year, the Spurs put the ball in the hands of one of their stars late in the game Wednesday night to help them grind out an 85-83 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic.

 

Tony Parker, who has helped carry the team with Manu Ginobili sidelined, scored 25 points, including 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, to help preserve the win.

 

"We wanted to come here and try to play well and have an opportunity to win the game," Parker said. "I'm happy it bounced our way finally."

 

Tim Duncan said the effort was just good enough and came at the right time for a team that was coming off blowing a 17-point lead in a 22-point loss to Miami.

 

"It took every minute of that game and we couldn't make shots at the right time, but we continued to make stops, continued to push," he said.

 

The loss snapped a season-best five-game win streak for the Magic, which also lost the only game of their lone back-to-back-to-back stretch of the season.

 

Dwight Howard led the Magic with 24 points and 25 rebounds, with Ryan Anderson adding 17 and Von Wafer 15 off the bench. But it wasn't enough for them to overcome a dismal shooting night.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120118_SA@ORL

[Built Ford Tough]

It was really fun to watch the Duncan/Dwight battle, even if Duncan, at his age, was severely overmatched physically against the in his prime Howard. Despite the huge physical advantage Dwight had over Duncan, I thought Timmy still played him really well. He struggled keeping him off of the glass but other than that he did a great job of using his smarts and veteran savy to contain Howard as best as you could expect.

 

Parker went off in that 4th, though. He seemed to be coasting for much of the game but something changed in the 4th. I don't know it Pop said something to him or he just flipped a switch himself, but he was playing like a completely different player. No Magic player could defend him.

 

Leonard did a nice job of defending Nelson and Redick when he was matched up on them. He really is a good defensive player for a rookie and, if he keeps it up, has the potential to become one of the best defenders in the league in his prime.

 

Tough break for the Magic at the end of OT. Anderson gets a great look at the basket from three but just couldn't knock it down. Then they get the offensive rebound and Redick makes a great pump fake to free himself up for the open look but in the process of doing so, he messed up his footwork which required him to take a dribble in order to get his feet set. Unfortunately for the Magic, there wasn't enough time for him to take that dribble and the clock expired before he was able to get the shot off, a shot that you knew before it even left his hands was going to do in.

 

 

The weirdest moment of the game was definitely Glenn Davis' technical. Did anybody see him run up to the ref and pull his own shorts down when arguing the foul called against him on a Jefferson oop? One of the most bizzare things I have seen in a long, long time.

[Finch23]

For the majority of the game both teams looked exhausted. Shots were flat and players were lazy on defense. BFT summed it up about Duncan, he played about as well as anyone could against Dwight. He played tough throughout the whole game which was nice to see on a B2B.

 

Richard Jefferson and Matt Bonner were once again useless (aside from Jeffersons hook in OT). They played below average defense (normal), but they went into full playoff mode where they couldn't make any wide open shots!

 

As for Leonard, this is the first time he was alsed to guard a PG, and he did a pretty good job. I have hyped him all season so far, but he has easily been the best rookie since Manu. He has shown that he can guard positions 1-4. Sky is the limit for this kid defensively, his offense is coming around as well!