[RECAP] San Antonio @ Boston - Preseason Game 1
Jan 2, 2016 15:39:00 GMT
New York and San Antonio like this
Post by San Antonio on Jan 2, 2016 15:39:00 GMT
EDITOR'S NOTE : I plan to do these after every sim, for one or two of the games. I need some participation points to start the season- so I decided to do one for a meaning less preseason matchup vs the Boston Celtics. We were both crazy enough to play our starters.
BOSTON -- Joel Embiid talks to himself in the third person when he gets on the court, saying stuff like "Come on, J.E." to get fired up. The young center can back you down with power or put his foot work to use and beat you with finesse. And he is making quite an impression on the rest of the San Antonio Spurs.
Embiid had 22 points and 10 rebounds in his first game as a Spur, since coming back to San Antonio in a trade with Seattle, and the Spurs shut down the Boston Celtics in the over time for a 120-114 victory Friday night.
"Not trying to go out there and score or rebound," Embiid said. "Just trying to go out there and just play my role and bring positive energy."
The 7-foot Embiid was a first-round pick in Ultimate creation draft, but he barely played up to his ability early in his career. Then the Spurs made a move to bring him back to San Antonio, and Embiid made the most of his chance for regular minutes, making a huge impact in training camp so far.
He is averaging 17.0 points and 8.3 rebounds in his last six games (pre-season), and coach Wes Unseld said Embiid will remain in the rotation even after the acquisition of Hot Rod Williams from Brazil.
"We're going to continue to find minutes for Joel," Unseld said. "There is no doubt about it. He's playing too well."
Hank Gathers scored 31 points as San Antonio won for first time this preseason. Marques Haynes had 16 points, seven assists and an impressive zero turnovers, and Hot Rod Williams added 8 points and seven rebounds.
Chris Paul had 26 points and nine assists for Boston, which has high hopes this season. Mirza Delibasic went 8-17 and finished with 19 points.
"We had some shots that didn't go in to start the fourth quarter and I thought we got discouraged and we let our energy get turned around the other way and it just kind of snowballed from there," Boston coach Aleksandar Nikolic said.
The Spurs blew a 8-point lead before pulling away from the Celtics in the final period. Embiid made two free throws, Haynes connected from deep and Stoudemire had a driving layup to close out a 13-6 run that made it 85-84 with 9:48 left.
"It was just extremely frustrating to miss all those shots," rookie Alonzo Mourning said. "And that just, missing those shots, I think our energy got a little low, and we just couldn't get good defensive stops."
CONSISTENT SCORING
Gathers has scored at least 20 points in 4 of the 6 games this pre-season. He is averaging 22.5 points per game.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Host Perth to open the season.
Spurs: Visit Vancouver to open the season.
