The San Antonio Spurs are not going to win 50 games this season [url=www.bearscheapshop.com]Mike Glennon Jersey[/url] , nor have they been able to produce the game-to-game dominance in 2017-18 that has been commonplace during a two-decade run of NBA excellence.

But the Spurs still have a chance to make the playoffs for the 21st consecutive year. That goal, no, accomplishment, can be reached with a win in one of their final two games, the first of which is Monday against the Sacramento Kings at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The Spurs (46-34) took another step toward the postseason with a 116-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday behind 28 points from LaMarcus Aldridge and 17 from ageless (actually, 40-year-old) guard Manu Ginobili.

Ten of Ginobili’s points came in the fourth quarter, including eight straight in a 49-second stretch midway through the quarter that pushed the Spurs’ advantage to 101-89 and allowed San Antonio to cruise down the stretch.

“I was just feeling good,” Ginobili said about the decisive sequence. “A couple of shots went in, and I was feeling that type of rush and that type of excitement. Flow, they call it. So I was trying to use it.”

Ginobili hit all seven of his shots in the win, three of which came from behind the 3-point line. He was 4 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter.

“I’m very happy that it happened again today in an important moment,” Ginobili said. “It made me feel good, and it helped the team get a lead and then rest of the guys that were in there the last five minutes were amazing both defensively and offensively [url=www.ramscheapshop.com]Josh Reynolds Jersey[/url] , so very solid game.”

Point guard Dejounte Murray added 17 points for San Antonio, Rudy Gay scored 16 and Patty Mills had 13 for the Spurs.

The Spurs remained sixth in the Western Conference standings. If the playoffs started today, San Antonio and Portland would play each other in the first round.

“Our team defense was good, tough cover,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Our big guys were at the rim the way they needed to be. Our smalls chased really well, so I thought our team defense gave us the opportunity to win the basketball game.”

Monday’s game will be the regular-season home finale for the Spurs, who have won 32 of 40 games at AT&T Center this season, the third-best home record in the league.

The Kings have an opportunity to put a monkey wrench into all of the Spurs’ good feelings with an upset. Sacramento can draw on the momentum it built Friday with a 94-93 win at Memphis.

The Kings won when guard Bogdan Bogdanovic knocked down a 16-foot jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining. He then stole the inbounds pass to end the game.

Willie Cauley-Stein led the Kings with 18 points, Buddy Hield finished with 14, and De’Aaron Fox and Justin Jackson each scored 13. Bogdanovic had just eight points but made the game’s biggest shot.

“He’s struggled shooting the basketball, it didn’t seem like he had a lot of energy,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said about Bogdanovic. “And he’s got the purest heart ever — he’s just exhausted mentally and so he kind of lost focus. We got him some good looks.”

Bogdanovic said the games at this point of the season are a grind on his psyche and don’t give him the same feedback at the end.

“It’s more mental because we’re out of the playoffs,” Bogdanovic said. “But we’re still trying to win and still trying to play the right way. It’s tough [url=www.jaguarscheapshop.com]Myles Jack Jersey[/url] , but we’ll figure it out, and we want to finish the season strong.”

Kings forward Zach Randolph missed his eighth straight game, the last four for personal reasons. Monday’s game is the road finale this season for Sacramento.

San Antonio has won 13 straight games over Sacramento and has beaten the Kings 10 consecutive times at the AT&T Center.

A Kings win would allow Sacramento to avoid the season series sweep by San Antonio or the fourth consecutive year.

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zack Greinke is slowing down, which is not uncommon for a 34-year-old pitcher.

The only surprise is he is doing it on purpose.

The majors’ second highest-paid pitcher this season – he’s making $32 million — never hesitates to tinker with his pitch selection, and that’s been evident in recent games. Greinke is throwing a pitch that he’s never flashed before, a slower-than-slow curveball that arrives at the plate with a speed that barely exceeds that of a knuckleball.

So, when the Miami Marlins take on Greinke (7-5, 3.66 ERA) and the Diamondbacks on Thursday in the final contest of a four-game series at Marlins Park, they will be facing one of the majors’ most familiar pitchers yet one they’ve never quite seen before.

“It’s been working really good this year,” Greinke told reporters after he pitched six shutout innings in a 7-2 Diamondbacks victory Saturday in Pittsburgh. “I don’t know how long it will last for, but it’s been working good. I didn’t throw any harder curves, where I think the whole year, I’ve kind of done both. But my harder one gets hit usually. So [url=www.jaguarscheapshop.com]Lerentee McCray Jersey[/url] , I started throwing only the slow ones.”

Greinke opposes Marlins right-hander Trevor Richards (2-4, 4.91), who has won two of his last three decisions. Richards won 6-2 at Colorado on Saturday, permitting one run and three hits over six innings, striking out eight and walking two.

The Diamondbacks could not have received a much better performance Wednesday from left-hander Robbie Ray as they beat Miami 2-1 and improved to 7-2 on their 10-game road trip. Ray, out since April 29 with an oblique injury, allowed two hits over six shutout innings while making 83 pitches.

Daniel Descalso hit a key pinch-hit homer for the Diamondbacks in the eighth inning to make it 2-0, and reliever Yoshihisa Hirano tied a club record by making his 24th consecutive scoreless relief outing, throwing a scoreless seventh inning.

Arizona overcame a shaky ninth inning from closer Brad Boxberger, who gave up a solo homer to Starlin Castro before allowing the potential tying run reach second with one out before retiring the final two batters.

“Other than that, we didn’t get a lot going,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Starlin Castro’s always going to get his hits. Hopefully he can keep that rolling.”

The Diamondbacks can win the four-game series if they take the Thursday matinee behind Greinke, whose velocity is down the last few seasons — his four-seam fastball maxed out at 90.7 mph in Pittsburgh.

He once threw consistently in the mid-90s. But when he mixes in an eephus pitch-like curveball that doesn’t even reach 68 mph [url=www.pantherscheapshop.com]Mike Adams Jersey[/url] , it makes his fastball look all that much harder. And he threw 12 of them against the Pirates.

Still, after Pirates rookie Austin Meadows barely missed homering on Greinke’s final super-slow curveball of the day, the right-hander said, “It might have been running its course. So maybe 12 times was too many.”

Whatever Greinke is throwing up there, it’s working. He has won four of his last five decisions, and he’s helping keep the streaky Diamondbacks in first place.

They began the season 24-11, then dropped 15 of 17 to fall to .500 at 26-26 but have since won 20 of 28 and six of seven.

Greinke has been especially tough on the Marlins during his career, going 6-0 with a 3.53 ERA against them in 11 games (10 starts). He last faced them June 2, limiting them to one run on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking one while earning the victory in a 6-2 Diamondbacks win. Castro hits him well, going 9-of-25 with a home run and four doubles.

The first-place Diamondbacks return home following the contest to begin a three-game weekend series against the NL West rival San Francisco Giants.
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