Pacers Give San Antonio a Contest; Spurs Finish Off, Win 122-109

The San Antonio Spurs showed signs of their old selves in the Indiana Pacers’ season-opener against them. The Spurs showed a similar showing that we are accustomed to, consisted of players like Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.

“I think we’re going to see that a lot this year,” said Spurs guard Tony Parker, beginning the final season of his contract.

Tim Duncan helped deliver again, showing up with 23 points and twelve rebounds as the Spurs buried the Pacers towards a 122-109 victory. Ginobili had 22 points while Parker had 20.

San Antonio opened up to a double-digit lead, but blew it quickly as the Pacers started rolling. However, San Antonio would bounce back and deliver the victory to start off 1-0 for the season. Gregg Popovich was not very patient towards the time Indiana took over, but quickly cooled himself up when San Antonio started rolling.

“He was not really happy,” Parker said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

“We don’t want to give up 100-plus every night,” Duncan added.

The Pacers played very well, and we should leave it at that. I will have to be honest, but I wasn’t completely digging a win here for Indy. Sometimes as a fan, you need to be realistic and not too biased and optimistic all the time. I expected the Pacers to give the Spurs a contest at best, and they did. They almost got a victory, but then again, it was the Spurs and they know their way around a young team like Indy.

None the less, Roy Hibbert played exceptionally well, leading the Pacers with 28 points and nine rebounds. Danny Granger wasn’t much behind, having 26 points. Darren Collison, in his debut, added 19 points and seven assists.

“We went stagnant on offense,” Granger said. “We froze.”

The Pacers show promise this year, and quickly erased a ten-point deficit. It was all thanks to Hibbert, who was predicted in for a breakout year. And he is already showing early signs of that, going ten-of-17 in the game.

But it was the Spurs who came back, and thanks to Richard Jefferson and his three-pointer that added on to Mike Dunleavy’s missed free throw attempts to tie the game. The Spurs were pretty good overall from behind-the-arc. The Spurs, who are dropping themselves as one of the bests in the Western Conference, want to prove to people they are still the bests.

“All three played pretty well for the first game of the season,” Ginobili said. “And when that happens, everything becomes better.”

The Pacers looked like they have found their point guard for the future in Collison, who was also seven-of-13. Jim O’Brien said Collison played great, especially since he went against one of the best point guards in the game with Parker. Then there was credit for Hibbert as well.

“I really feel like I let the team down,” Hibbert said. “I let Tim get going in the fourth quarter and they solidified their run. Offensively I feel like I’m coming into my own, but defensively I need to get better.”

Josh McRoberts showed signs of impressiveness, having eleven points and six rebounds. Mike Dunleavy had eight points, and really helped out in the rebounding departments, going for seven boards. T.J. Ford added nine points and three steals. Rookie Paul George had four points, three rebounds, and two assists. The Pacers will travel to North Carolina and face the 0-1 Charlotte Bobcats tomorrow night.

Expect a live blog hopefully for that.

I like what the Pacers are doing this season. If they can get a solid win versus Charlotte, they look pretty good to go, in my opinion, for the regular season to start off.

Good game by Indy. Get the passion and pride on!