Spurs savage Knicks to salvage third game of trip
Michael Finley scored 19 points and the San Antonio Spurs shot 56 percent Wednesday night in their 109-96 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have lost seven straight games.
Tony Parker added 18 points and 10 assists as the Spurs’ starting guards combined to make 15 of 22 shots against the Knicks’ dismal perimeter defense. Finley was 8-of-12 in another start in place of Manu Ginobili, and Parker was 7-for-10.
San Antonio was shooting 63 percent after three quarters and was easily on its way to bettering its season high of 56.3 percent against Boston on Nov. 11 before its reserves were only 8-of-21 in the final 12 minutes.
Tim Duncan played only 22 minutes and scored 13 points for the Spurs, who rebounded from consecutive losses and salvaged the final game of their three-game trip. They return home Friday to host Toronto before traveling to Detroit for their NBA Finals rematch with the Pistons on Christmas.
Larry Brown’s old team will certainly provide more of a test than his current one.
The Knicks trailed by as many as 32 points, and the only reason they avoided their worst loss of the season was because the Spurs’ starters were on the bench in the fourth quarter. New York trailed by 31 points after the third.
Jamal Crawford scored 16 points for New York, and Channing Frye and Stephon Marbury each added 14.
San Antonio got off to a quick start, a night after losing in overtime at Milwaukee. Finley scored nine points in the first 4 minutes as the Spurs opened a 13-4 lead, and that was essentially it. The Spurs shot 63 percent in the first quarter in building a 29-16 lead.
The Knicks used a brief flurry to close within five points in the second period, but the Spurs scored the next 11 points and had a double-digit lead the rest of the way. They finished the half on a 23-7 run and went to halftime with a 56-35 cushion after Finley’s 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go.
The Spurs shot 65 percent in the half and Finley scored 14 points.
The only fight the Knicks put up came from Antonio Davis, who fouled Parker with 8:18 left in the third quarter. The Spurs thought the foul was too hard, and as players from both teams huddled to talk about it, Davis gave Duncan a little shove as he was walking away.
By then, San Antonio already led by 23 points. The lead grew to 86-54 when Brent Barry made a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the quarter. Barry finished with 13 points.
