duncan228
04-21-2009, 01:04 PM
Dallas Mavericks have home-court advantage, but there’s plenty to worry about (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/story/1328640.html)
By Randy Galloway
SAN ANTONIO — Get away with it once, and you’re lucky. But a second time? No way, with the same circumstance, could a win happen a second time here Monday night.
The Dallas Mavericks stole the first game of this playoff series despite an anemic scoring output from the duo of Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. Those offensive guns were limited to 31 combined points 48 hours earlier.
Let the Game 2 blowout win by the Spurs, 105-84, tell the main story. But allow the details of a 22-point San Antonio lead after three quarters serve as the nuts and bolts. At that point, Dirk and Jet had 24 combined points on 6-of-22 shooting.
With all the between-games talk of "adjustments" by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, there was one thing he wasn’t going to change. Take out Nowitzki and Terry again, and the Mavericks will eventually suffer.
Suffer they did in Game 2.
Yes, the Mavs got what they wanted to start this playoff series. A split on the road.
But even with home sweet home coming up next, starting Thursday night in downtown Dallas, there are clouds of concern building for the Mavericks.
If Dirk and Jet don’t get going, breaking the Pop defensive claw, there will be nothing sweet about home. Their numbers in the two games here were hideous. Nowitzki was a combined 10-of-29 (3-of-14 on Monday night); Terry a combined 10-of-23
The third scoring option, Josh Howard, went backward Monday night from his highly productive Game 1. He ended up this time 3-of-8.
Again, these are not the mighty Spurs of old. This is a limping team, minus a star in Manu Ginobili, and with Tim Duncan playing on gimpy knees. There was much local bashing of the Spurs after Game 1. Plenty of disgust from a spoiled fandom about it being a team that looked old, tired and slow in Game 1.
But old, tired and slow wasn’t the case this time.
Again, a road split to open a playoff series is a definite positive, but Pop knows defense. And although Nowitzki has burned Pop in past seasons, the coach obviously has a good formula in place this time, at least based on the first two games.
Mainly, the Spurs responded to a must-win situation in Game 2, and their energy right from the start Monday night indicated as much. The Mavericks were rope-a-doping, trying to survive the early Spurs storm they knew was coming.
That silver-and-black energy was a Game 2 given. There’s too much championship pedigree and too much pride for Parker-Duncan-Pop and Co. not to have an immediate response after having been jolted in this playoff series opener.
Tony Parker, in particular, took a verbal lashing across this city and across this country, and maybe even in the homeland of France, after being San Juaned on Saturday by the little man from the little island, J.J. Barea.
Parker, it figured, would come out like a hurricane. If you’re from Puerto Rico, like J.J., you know hurricanes.
So it was as Game 2 started. Parker was blowing and going. He had an incredible 19 first-quarter points after hitting nine of his first 10 shots. The Mavericks, as a team, went 6-of-15 in the quarter, for, yes, the same 19 points.
All that Parker damage came before Barea even got in the game. By the second quarter, the Mavs were down 21.
At that point, the choices were obvious for the visitors. Hold or fold.
The road win that was needed was in the bag. Was it time to go home or go hostile?
A rather bogus flagrant foul could be termed as hostile when Terry hip-checked Parker on his way to the basket in the second quarter, knocking down the Frenchman. Popovich, from the bench, had some choice words for Terry, something about momma and them.
By halftime, however, the Mavs were not dead. They had trimmed the intermission deficit to 11. Early in the third quarter it was down to nine. Hey, watch this. Suddenly, the Spurs fandom was very nervous.
Then, however, the Spurs reeled off 13 straight points, the lead was 22, and it got worse. By late in the third quarter, the only consolation for the Mavericks was the haven of home coming up in Game 3.
But there is also worry attached.
Where’s Dirk? Where’s Jet?
They were MIA in San Antonio. Somebody put out an APB, pronto.
By Randy Galloway
SAN ANTONIO — Get away with it once, and you’re lucky. But a second time? No way, with the same circumstance, could a win happen a second time here Monday night.
The Dallas Mavericks stole the first game of this playoff series despite an anemic scoring output from the duo of Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. Those offensive guns were limited to 31 combined points 48 hours earlier.
Let the Game 2 blowout win by the Spurs, 105-84, tell the main story. But allow the details of a 22-point San Antonio lead after three quarters serve as the nuts and bolts. At that point, Dirk and Jet had 24 combined points on 6-of-22 shooting.
With all the between-games talk of "adjustments" by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, there was one thing he wasn’t going to change. Take out Nowitzki and Terry again, and the Mavericks will eventually suffer.
Suffer they did in Game 2.
Yes, the Mavs got what they wanted to start this playoff series. A split on the road.
But even with home sweet home coming up next, starting Thursday night in downtown Dallas, there are clouds of concern building for the Mavericks.
If Dirk and Jet don’t get going, breaking the Pop defensive claw, there will be nothing sweet about home. Their numbers in the two games here were hideous. Nowitzki was a combined 10-of-29 (3-of-14 on Monday night); Terry a combined 10-of-23
The third scoring option, Josh Howard, went backward Monday night from his highly productive Game 1. He ended up this time 3-of-8.
Again, these are not the mighty Spurs of old. This is a limping team, minus a star in Manu Ginobili, and with Tim Duncan playing on gimpy knees. There was much local bashing of the Spurs after Game 1. Plenty of disgust from a spoiled fandom about it being a team that looked old, tired and slow in Game 1.
But old, tired and slow wasn’t the case this time.
Again, a road split to open a playoff series is a definite positive, but Pop knows defense. And although Nowitzki has burned Pop in past seasons, the coach obviously has a good formula in place this time, at least based on the first two games.
Mainly, the Spurs responded to a must-win situation in Game 2, and their energy right from the start Monday night indicated as much. The Mavericks were rope-a-doping, trying to survive the early Spurs storm they knew was coming.
That silver-and-black energy was a Game 2 given. There’s too much championship pedigree and too much pride for Parker-Duncan-Pop and Co. not to have an immediate response after having been jolted in this playoff series opener.
Tony Parker, in particular, took a verbal lashing across this city and across this country, and maybe even in the homeland of France, after being San Juaned on Saturday by the little man from the little island, J.J. Barea.
Parker, it figured, would come out like a hurricane. If you’re from Puerto Rico, like J.J., you know hurricanes.
So it was as Game 2 started. Parker was blowing and going. He had an incredible 19 first-quarter points after hitting nine of his first 10 shots. The Mavericks, as a team, went 6-of-15 in the quarter, for, yes, the same 19 points.
All that Parker damage came before Barea even got in the game. By the second quarter, the Mavs were down 21.
At that point, the choices were obvious for the visitors. Hold or fold.
The road win that was needed was in the bag. Was it time to go home or go hostile?
A rather bogus flagrant foul could be termed as hostile when Terry hip-checked Parker on his way to the basket in the second quarter, knocking down the Frenchman. Popovich, from the bench, had some choice words for Terry, something about momma and them.
By halftime, however, the Mavs were not dead. They had trimmed the intermission deficit to 11. Early in the third quarter it was down to nine. Hey, watch this. Suddenly, the Spurs fandom was very nervous.
Then, however, the Spurs reeled off 13 straight points, the lead was 22, and it got worse. By late in the third quarter, the only consolation for the Mavericks was the haven of home coming up in Game 3.
But there is also worry attached.
Where’s Dirk? Where’s Jet?
They were MIA in San Antonio. Somebody put out an APB, pronto.