duncan228
04-20-2009, 12:40 PM
Mavs have confidence at the right time (http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/art_garcia/04/19/spurs.mavs.garcia/)
By Art Garcia, NBA.com
SAN ANTONIO -- Sift through the All-Stars and the injuries, the long-range bombers and lockdown specialists, the sixth men and the coaches. Also make it a point of going beyond execution, gameplans and fiery locker room speeches.
Success in the NBA, in the opinion of one former MVP, can be boiled down to a state of mind that's often fleeting but always dangerous.
"This league is about confidence," Dirk Nowitzki said Sunday. "You go through stretches of five or six games when you feel like you can't beat anybody. And then you go stretches like we have the last three weeks.
"At this point, we got confidence at the right time."
Nowitzki and the Mavericks had an extra kick in their giddy-up before beating their South Texas rivals in Game 1 of this Western Conference first-round series Saturday night. The Spurs, no slouches when it comes to self-belief, look to square the best-of-7 in Monday night's Game 2 back on their home floor.
The Mavericks landed the first blow despite playing right into San Antonio's hands. The Spurs wanted to pressure Nowitzki and Jason Terry, forcing the Dallas' role players to take on more responsibility. They did just that with J.J. Barea, Brandon Bass, Erick Dampier and Antoine Wright making timely contributions at both ends in the 105-97 victory.
Working the pick-and-roll with Nowitzki, the deceptively-quick Barea (13 points) was able to penetrate and finish. He presented San Antonio with some of the same problems Devin Harris did during the 2006 semifinals, which Dallas won in seven games.
"We've got to find a way to stay in front of him," Spurs veteran Michael Finley said of Barea.
Even when Barea didn't score, he pulled Tim Duncan away from the basket, allowing a number of easy put-backs for Dampier. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pointed to Dallas' 21 second-chance points as a key factor in the loss.
"Defensively, we need to do a better job," he said. "We can't let them score that many points and expect them to win."
Bass scored 10 of his 14 in the second quarter as Nowitzki sat foul trouble. Wright nailed a 3-point and converted a 3-point play in the Mavs' second-half charge. Add in the 25 points from Josh Howard, and it makes up for the rather pedestrian 31 that Nowitzki and Terry combined for.
"If you have seven of the nine guys in your rotation playing well, the odds of you winning that game are real good," said Finley, who scored 19 and nailed all five of his 3-point tries. "Those guys have been playing well, and that's why they've had success.
"A lot of people know about Dirk and Jason Terry, but they forget about the production of their bench. That's the reason they've been on this winning streak before the playoffs and that's the reason they went from non-playoff team to a sixth seed."
The Spurs certainly weren't hanging their heads after losing the opener. San Antonio has come back to win a series after dropping the first game five times in the Duncan era alone, including 2003 against Dallas.
Duncan had one of his best games in weeks with 27 points and nine rebounds Saturday. Tony Parker didn't have his typical outburst against Dallas, but still finished with 24 points and eight assists. Finley and Roger Mason Jr. made 9-of-12 3-pointers between them.
The Mavericks also didn't have much success with their running game. "Transition is a big part of their offensive arsenal," Finley said, "and we limited a team that banks on transition to four points. So from that standpoint that was a positive for us."
Dallas is expecting a number of adjustments from the Spurs in Game 2, as well as a good deal of adversity. This series is a long way from being over.
"Stuff is going to happen, they're going to make some shots, Parker is going to get into the lane," Nowitzki said. "That's just what they do because they're so good at it, but we've got to keep our poise. They're going to make a 10-0 run here and there. We're just going to take a timeout, calm everybody down and just play well together."
Again, it gets back to hitting the hardwood with confidence.
"We gained a lot of confidence the last couple of weeks," Nowitzki added. "We've been playing well and on the road winning in the Playoffs is big, but we don't want to give that advantage right back.
"We knew it was a big game, but to me it's even a bigger game Monday. You don't want to just let the momentum swing right back and go home happy with a split. That's not what we want."
By Art Garcia, NBA.com
SAN ANTONIO -- Sift through the All-Stars and the injuries, the long-range bombers and lockdown specialists, the sixth men and the coaches. Also make it a point of going beyond execution, gameplans and fiery locker room speeches.
Success in the NBA, in the opinion of one former MVP, can be boiled down to a state of mind that's often fleeting but always dangerous.
"This league is about confidence," Dirk Nowitzki said Sunday. "You go through stretches of five or six games when you feel like you can't beat anybody. And then you go stretches like we have the last three weeks.
"At this point, we got confidence at the right time."
Nowitzki and the Mavericks had an extra kick in their giddy-up before beating their South Texas rivals in Game 1 of this Western Conference first-round series Saturday night. The Spurs, no slouches when it comes to self-belief, look to square the best-of-7 in Monday night's Game 2 back on their home floor.
The Mavericks landed the first blow despite playing right into San Antonio's hands. The Spurs wanted to pressure Nowitzki and Jason Terry, forcing the Dallas' role players to take on more responsibility. They did just that with J.J. Barea, Brandon Bass, Erick Dampier and Antoine Wright making timely contributions at both ends in the 105-97 victory.
Working the pick-and-roll with Nowitzki, the deceptively-quick Barea (13 points) was able to penetrate and finish. He presented San Antonio with some of the same problems Devin Harris did during the 2006 semifinals, which Dallas won in seven games.
"We've got to find a way to stay in front of him," Spurs veteran Michael Finley said of Barea.
Even when Barea didn't score, he pulled Tim Duncan away from the basket, allowing a number of easy put-backs for Dampier. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pointed to Dallas' 21 second-chance points as a key factor in the loss.
"Defensively, we need to do a better job," he said. "We can't let them score that many points and expect them to win."
Bass scored 10 of his 14 in the second quarter as Nowitzki sat foul trouble. Wright nailed a 3-point and converted a 3-point play in the Mavs' second-half charge. Add in the 25 points from Josh Howard, and it makes up for the rather pedestrian 31 that Nowitzki and Terry combined for.
"If you have seven of the nine guys in your rotation playing well, the odds of you winning that game are real good," said Finley, who scored 19 and nailed all five of his 3-point tries. "Those guys have been playing well, and that's why they've had success.
"A lot of people know about Dirk and Jason Terry, but they forget about the production of their bench. That's the reason they've been on this winning streak before the playoffs and that's the reason they went from non-playoff team to a sixth seed."
The Spurs certainly weren't hanging their heads after losing the opener. San Antonio has come back to win a series after dropping the first game five times in the Duncan era alone, including 2003 against Dallas.
Duncan had one of his best games in weeks with 27 points and nine rebounds Saturday. Tony Parker didn't have his typical outburst against Dallas, but still finished with 24 points and eight assists. Finley and Roger Mason Jr. made 9-of-12 3-pointers between them.
The Mavericks also didn't have much success with their running game. "Transition is a big part of their offensive arsenal," Finley said, "and we limited a team that banks on transition to four points. So from that standpoint that was a positive for us."
Dallas is expecting a number of adjustments from the Spurs in Game 2, as well as a good deal of adversity. This series is a long way from being over.
"Stuff is going to happen, they're going to make some shots, Parker is going to get into the lane," Nowitzki said. "That's just what they do because they're so good at it, but we've got to keep our poise. They're going to make a 10-0 run here and there. We're just going to take a timeout, calm everybody down and just play well together."
Again, it gets back to hitting the hardwood with confidence.
"We gained a lot of confidence the last couple of weeks," Nowitzki added. "We've been playing well and on the road winning in the Playoffs is big, but we don't want to give that advantage right back.
"We knew it was a big game, but to me it's even a bigger game Monday. You don't want to just let the momentum swing right back and go home happy with a split. That's not what we want."