Spurs at Mavs Game Two Previews: Spurs need more from their 'dogs'

[duncan228]

San Antonio at Dallas (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010042106)
Game info: 9:30 pm EDT Wed Apr 21, 2010
TV: TNT, FSSW

Spurs need more from their ‘dogs’ vs. Mavericks (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=txspursmavericks)
By Jaime Aron

The 12 guys on the San Antonio Spurs beyond Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have a new identity.

Just call them “the dogs.”

The nickname stems from something Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said following Game 1 of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks - and it certainly wasn’t a compliment.

“I think we’ve got to have a few more people step up and play worth a damn,” Popovich said following a 100-94 loss. “I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs.”

Popovich might’ve been letting off some steam. Or maybe he was trying to motivate them. Regardless, how they respond is a major storyline going into Game 2 on Wednesday night in Dallas.

“They’re pros,” Popovich said Tuesday. “I’m sure we’ll be a lot sharper tomorrow.”

Matt Bonner, a backup big man in San Antonio’s supporting cast, said he understands Popovich’s message.

“Just come out and be sharper,” Bonner said. “Not necessarily playing harder physically, but being more mentally sharp and making less careless mistakes.”

Popovich was most irate about the turnovers (17) and fouls (28). Then there were all the small numbers in the box score.

Richard Jefferson scored just four points in 32 minutes. George Hill, Keith Bogans and Roger Mason were all scoreless in a combined 43 minutes. As a foursome, they made 1 of 9 shots.

“It’s hard sometimes for them to produce a lot unless we put them in that position to score more,” Ginobili said. “So I don’t think it was only their fault. I think it was our fault, too, for not finding them in the right positions.”

San Antonio’s trio of stars had good reasons for not sharing more.

Ginobili started 8 of 10. Duncan was on his way to scoring 27 points, his most in two months. And Parker logged 34 minutes, his most in nearly two months, even though he’s still getting over a broken bone in his right hand that sidelined him for one of those months.

“It was just one of those games,” Parker said. “Sometimes it’s going to happen. … I’ll definitely try to do a better job to get everyone involved in the next game.”

Hill started at point guard in the opener, as he’s done since Parker was hurt. It remains to be seen whether he keeps that job in Game 2.

Hill played less than 18 minutes in the opener, but lingering soreness in his right ankle might not have been all that kept him on the bench. He was pulled for good early in the second half, right after Jason Kidd stole one of his passes in the backcourt.

Popovich said Tuesday that Hill would be a game-time decision. If he sits, Parker wouldn’t necessarily take his place. Rookie Garrett Temple could get the start because Popovich likes having Parker come in with his second unit.

Another likely change is how San Antonio handles Dirk Nowitzki.

Popovich gambled that he could get away with only one defender in the opener, then went through four guys before deciding to send help. By then, Nowitzki had most of his 36 points.

Dallas is expecting Popovich to use at least two and maybe three defenders on Nowitzki. So his supporting cast is on alert.

“If they’re going to double-team him, it’s up to us to penalize them for doing it,” Kidd said. “Hopefully we’re up to the challenge.”

As well as the Mavericks played in Game 1 - they trailed for less than one of the final 40 minutes - coach Rick Carlisle has a list of things that must improve for Dallas to sweep its first two home games.

For instance, he doesn’t want to see the Spurs turn seven offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points, or shoot 50 percent from the field. The Mavericks also can’t wait until the middle of the fourth quarter for Jason Terry, their second-leading scorer, to make his first basket, especially since they can’t expect Nowitzki to go 12 of 14 again.

“We are going to have to play better,” Carlisle said. “We competed well during most parts of the game, but we had some breakdowns, some situations where we weren’t engaged as we needed to be.”

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Tim Duncan SA 17.9
Dirk Nowitzki Dal 25.0

Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 10.1
Brendan Haywood Dal 9.3

Assists
Tony Parker SA 5.7
Jason Kidd Dal 9.1

*********************

Series Breakdown

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/playoffs/2010/sasdal

[Shank]

Expect to see a lot more of Dirk at the top of the key in anticipation of the double-team. He's become more adept at passing out of the situation if the defense dictates as much.

A number of the guys on the Spurs bench looked tentative Sunday night. Was it just stage fright or are they overwhelmed?

[MavDynasty]

imo if terry has another shitty game, im hoping for rick to split his minutes and JJ's minutes to give to Roddy.

[DPG21920]

Expect to see a lot more of Dirk at the top of the key in anticipation of the double-team. He's become more adept at passing out of the situation if the defense dictates as much.

A number of the guys on the Spurs bench looked tentative Sunday night. Was it just stage fright or are they overwhelmed?

They were overwhelmed. They had no confidence in what they were doing and unfortunately, for some of them, that is not unexpected.

[DesignatedT]

I think we continue to play dirk 1 on 1. the way kidd and butler shot the ball we cant leave them open and i don't expect terry to shoot that poorly against us all series. I don't see dirk shooting 12/14 again either.

[Libri]

San Antonio’s trio of stars had good reasons for not sharing more.Especially when Jefferson, Mason, Bogans and Bonner combined for 3-13 shooting.

[phxspurfan]

imo if terry has another shitty game, im hoping for rick to split his minutes and JJ's minutes to give to Roddy.

Yeah, where the hell was he? Did Roddy even play? At least if he played it would have been an 'exciting' kind of blown out by 20.

[dbestpro]

Bonner and Mason will continue to fire away and continue to miss. Blair will remain too short to be the tallest Spur on the court and RJ will still not know how to contribute without the ball in his hands. Our ability to get to the next level sadly rests squarely in the hands of Bonner, Mason, RJ and Pop. He continues to put players through the course of the game in a position where they will not succeed and wonders why?

[Flux451]

Expect to see a lot more of Dirk at the top of the key in anticipation of the double-team. He's become more adept at passing out of the situation if the defense dictates as much.

A number of the guys on the Spurs bench looked tentative Sunday night. Was it just stage fright or are they overwhelmed?

A bit of both. They didn't come out ready to play at a high intensity.
Stage fright from some players and overwhelmed by Dirk's dead-eye shooting.
The main reason for lose, by looking at boxscore was play contribution compared to minutes played. Mavs looked a lot better. Bogans and HIll didn't look good.

Look for Spurs to come out like gang busters. Look for Terry to be big though. It will come down to small stops and freethrows.

[duncan228]

Expect to see more of Spurs' Tony Parker (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/042110dnspomavsdate.391785d.html)
By Brandon George / The Dallas Morning News

Mavericks veteran point guard Jason Kidd said Tuesday that he expects to see more San Antonio adjustments in Game 2 tonight than increased double-teams on Dirk Nowitzki.

Specifically, Kidd expects to see more of Spurs point guard Tony Parker.

George Hill started at point guard for the Spurs in Game 1 on Sunday night but only played 18 minutes, finishing with no points and two turnovers.

Parker came off the bench to score 18 points and add four assists in 34 minutes. Parker, a reserve the last seven games, has not started since fracturing his right hand March 6 at Memphis.

"We expect him to probably start and play a lot more minutes," Kidd said. "He's just coming off of that injury and he's trying to get his conditioning back, but it is the playoffs now and they're going to put their best group out there."

Parker told the San Antonio Express-News that he has informed coach Gregg Popovich that he's fine with coming off the bench as long as he gets to play in the fourth quarter.

Hill is still nursing an injured right ankle and his availability tonight will be a game-time decision, Popovich said.

Without Parker's 18 points in Game 1, the Spurs only scored nine bench points. The Mavericks didn't fare much better as reserves Brendan Haywood and Jason Terry combined for 15 points.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said his reserves need to play better, especially if the Spurs ramp up their defense against Nowitzki.

"We're going to have to have everybody ready to contribute offensively," Carlisle said. "Balance has been a big part of the success we've had here the last couple of years."

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the play of a team's backups is always key in the playoffs.

"This series is going to hinge on whose second unit plays better," Cuban said. "They got a great second unit whether it's George Hill or Parker coming off the bench. That's a good, solid team that can win games on its own. Second units matter in this league."

Mavs look to fix Game 1 breakdowns: Carlisle said Tuesday that the Mavericks "competed well" for most of Sunday's 100-94 victory in Game 1, but he sees several areas in which they must improve.

Carlisle said the Mavericks can't allow the Spurs to shoot 50 percent again and that his team needs to limit San Antonio's second-chance points.

"We had some breakdowns and some situations where we weren't engaged as much as we should be," Carlisle said. "As the series goes on and the familiarity sort of gets more apparent with each team, it gets tougher. You can't have any of those letdowns or any of those breakdowns."

Kidd expects an improved Jefferson in Game 2: Spurs forward Richard Jefferson struggled in Game 1, finishing with only four points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes.

Kidd knows Jefferson well. During his six-plus seasons on the New Jersey Nets, they were teammates.

"I think maybe the early foul trouble [in Game 1] might have taken away him being aggressive," Kidd said. "He's a talent. I expect him to have a better game in Game 2, to be aggressive and take the ball to the hole."

[duncan228]

Spurs' focus is defense after Nowitzki's Game 1 show (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/042110dnspospurslede.3b67434.html)
By Gaylon Kriza / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – Given that the late Wilt Chamberlain is not on the Dallas Mavericks' roster, and that he's the only NBA player to score more points in a game than the 94 San Antonio posted in Game 1, the Spurs remain fairly certain that Dirk Nowitzki can't win this first-round series single handedly.

Yet Nowitzki's performance Sunday, in which he scored 36 points on 12-of-14 shooting plus a 12-of-12 from the free throw line, leaves San Antonio with a dilemma in what traditionally has been its strongest area: defense.

"Dirk's one of those unique players with his size and length where a lot of times there's not much you can do," said Matt Bonner, one of several Spurs who failed to slow Nowitzki in Game 1. "You can do your best to pressure him and contest his shots, but he can still get his shot off. When he gets it going, it's really tough to do anything about it."

So with that in mind, one approach might be don't try anything special to slow Nowitzki, but concentrate on clamping down the rest of the Mavs.

"There's two ways to go – one's that train of thought where you shut everyone else down and you let the star player try and beat you single handedly," Bonner said. "Or you try and do a better job of team defense, and everybody shifting and helping and pitching in to try and slow him down."

Bonner wouldn't tip the Spurs' hand regarding which approach they'll try, but overall defensive improvement was the team's post-practice theme of the day Tuesday.

"Defensively, we've got a lot of stuff we can do better, and I think overall we can play with a lot more energy, a lot more physical and try to make things harder on Nowitzki and [Caron] Butler," Tony Parker said. "We scored 94 points – for a Spurs team, that's plenty. That's enough for us to win basketball games; we just have to stop them."

San Antonio's inability to do so, coupled with 17 turnovers, prompted coach Gregg Popovich to say after Game 1 that "I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs."

Was the message delivered at a high enough frequency where dogs and humans alike could receive it?

"Yeah. They're pros," Popovich said. "We were very sloppy the other night. And that shows when you foul as much as we did and put guys on the line as much as we did, and turn the ball over like we did. That's sloppy play. And so we can't be happy with that. I'm sure we'll be a lot sharper [tonight]."

Popovich also wouldn't elaborate on the Spurs' plans to contain Nowitzki, preferring to focus on what he doesn't want his team to do against him.

"What you can do is not foul him to death," Popovich said. "I thought sometimes we fouled him, sometimes we didn't. But you know what's going to happen in a game. You get calls one way or the other.

"He's great at selling it. He did a good job of shooting the basketball, getting in positions to get fouled, all that sort of thing. And we didn't play him very smart in that respect. We put him on the line more than we should have."


Gaylon Krizak is a freelance writer living in San Antonio.

[duncan228]

Game 2 preview: Spurs at Mavericks (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/042110dnspomavscap.3f47664.html)
Eddie Sefco / The Dallas Morning News

Scouting the Spurs

They will be trying to avoid a 2-0 hole, but even if they are in that position, it doesn't mean doom. They lost the first two games against New Orleans in 2008, but came back to win the series, 4-3. They also lost the first two games in the next series to the Lakers and went on to lose in five games. ... The big question is whether Tony Parker moves back into the starting lineup, but since coach Gregg Popovich is occasionally unorthodox, it would surprise nobody if he starts both George Hill and Tony Parker and returns Manu Ginobili to his sixth-man role. ... In Game 1, all Spurs not named Ginobili, Parker or Tim Duncan combined to shoot 10-of-26 from the field. ... Including the final game of the regular season against the Mavs, they have lost two in a row. They haven't lost three consecutive since January.

Scouting the Mavericks

Rare were the games in the regular season when their bench was outscored. They averaged about five more points off the bench than opponents. But in Game 1, they got just 15 points from the reserves, while the Spurs scored 27. ... All five starters had at least five rebounds, led by a dozen from Erick Dampier and eight by Jason Kidd. ... Kidd missed a triple-double by two boards. He also had four steals. ... When Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler both are firing offensively, the Mavericks are unbeatable. They were 6-0 when both topped 20 points in the regular season and both did so in the series-opening win. ... Since the current playoff format came into existence, there have been 52 series between the No. 2 and No. 7 seed. The higher seed has won 48 of those series.

[duncan228]

Dirk Nowitzki will be seeing double, as in double-teams, in Game 2 (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/042110dnspocowlishaw.3f41484.html)
by Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News

It could be that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich simply has no answer for guarding Dirk Nowitzki. Or that if he does have a solution, it's wearing a bow tie in Bristol, Conn., talking NBA hoops with Hannah Storm.

Uh, that would be the recently retired Bruce Bowen.

But I'm guessing that's not the case. I don't think Popovich threw in the towel on the final regular-season game, killing any chance of playing Phoenix instead of Dallas in the opening round, only to prove that he has no clue how to stop Nowitzki.

That's why I suspect Game 2 will be different. The Mavericks will need more production from Jason Terry and J.J. Barea (combined five points in Game 1). They will need more efficient production from Caron Butler, who scored 22 points, but did it on 8-of-19 shooting from the field.

I'm not sure that all the jaded Mavericks fans who have come to expect outrageous shooting performances from Nowitzki realize just how good he was in Game 1. But I bet that Popovich does.

Nowitzki scored 36 points in Dallas' 100-94 victory, but we've seen him score in the mid-30s before. Dirk averaged 28.8 against the Spurs this season, but San Antonio always made him work for those points.

In the regular season, Nowitzki missed 62 shots to score those 115 points. He really wasn't that effective against the Spurs, given all the misfires.

In Game 1, Nowitzki scored 36 points and missed two shots.

That's as close to perfection as anyone gets in the NBA playoffs.

LeBron James, the King of the NBA (even if he has never won more than a scoring title), is averaging 32 a game against Chicago. He's missing nine shots a game. That's still very good, just not Game 1 Dirk-like.

Denver's Carmelo Anthony leads the playoffs with a 37-point average against Utah, but he's missing 12 shots a game. You really have to track a player's missed shots to gauge his work.

And no one has been as coolly efficient as Nowitzki was in Game 1.

But he saw almost no double-teams in that game, or when the Spurs did run a second defender at him, it was late. I don't think anyone should expect Popovich to match up Matt Bonner, Antonio McDyess or Keith Bogans on Dirk and say, "That's it, that's the best we've got."

There are any number of ways to break down an NBA game, but from the visitor's approach, Nowitzki could not have shot the ball any better and the Spurs lost by six.

That's why I don't think we begin to evaluate the Mavericks' trade with the Wizards for the postseason until tonight. For the regular season, no doubt it upgraded the team's defense and helped the team earn the No. 2 seed for the playoffs.

That's huge.

But now we need to see not just how Butler produces but how the other perimeter scorers figure into the mix. Fan favorite Roddy Beaubois didn't get into Game 1, and he may sit for 48 minutes again, but we know his speed would exact a lot of punishment on Tony Parker's or George Hill's legs.

The Mavericks can't really afford for Terry to miss his first six shots as he did in the opener. That became a nonissue only because Nowitzki was 12-for-14 from the floor and 12-for-12 from the line.

With a little more Spurs pressure on Dirk or a couple of less favorable bounces, his numbers almost have to slide. That's when Terry and Butler and Barea and even Shawn Marion, now viewed as a defensive stopper at this stage in his career, have to show they are viable scoring options.

We know that Jason Kidd will get them the basketball. We also know that Kidd's 3-point shooting is a weapon the Spurs have to recognize.

But it's probably best if that's not the Mavericks' first choice after Nowitzki.

Traditionally, Game 2s are when playoff series begin. How the Game 1 loser adjusts and how the Game 1 winner handles those changes decide what kind of series it's going to be.

When the ball comes out of a double-teamed Dirk's hands tonight, we will see just where the newest edition of Spurs-Mavericks is headed.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Come on Spurs :toast

Nuggets laid an egg and don't play till friday, so i am hoping the Spurs go into Friday tied 1-1 with the Mavs, that will make a great night of game 3 action.

Mavs-Spurs game 3 is on tv here in Australia.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Wed. Apr 21
San Antonio @ Dallas: Ken Mauer; Mike Callahan; James Capers

[Leetonidas]

Bonner and Mason will continue to fire away and continue to miss. Blair will remain too short to be the tallest Spur on the court and RJ will still not know how to contribute without the ball in his hands. Our ability to get to the next level sadly rests squarely in the hands of Bonner, Mason, RJ and Pop. He continues to put players through the course of the game in a position where they will not succeed and wonders why?

That's fucking retarded logic. Pop puts Mason and Bonner in a position they should be able to succeed in - shooting three pointers. They were both 40% from the arc last season so why they're failing so hard, Mason in particular, is kind of an enigma. It is not Popovich's fault that these chodes cannot hit a wide open look time after time. At least Bonner hustles out there but Mason is a worthless piece of shit.

As for Jefferson, he's had plenty of games now with 15+ points. It's up to him to figure out how he's going to keep doing that and he needs to keep rebounding and playing defense.

And let's not forget Mason is only playing because GH3 is injured.

[duncan228]

Mavs shoot for 2-0 series lead over Spurs (http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4305901)

Long-time rivals San Antonio and Dallas figured to play one of the more evenly-matched first round playoff series this year, and the teams didn't disappoint early with the Mavericks earning a hard-fought 100-94 Game 1 win.

Now, Rick Carlisle's club hopes to hold serve on its home floor as the teams prepare for Game 2 in the Western Conference quarterfinals tonight.

Dirk Nowitzki was a spectacular 12-of-14 from the field and hit all 12 of his free throws to finish with 36 points on Sunday, as the Mavericks downed the Spurs in Game 1 at American Airlines Center.

Jason Kidd fell just two rebounds shy of a triple-double, scoring 13 points with 11 assists and eight boards.

Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, both of whom were acquired in a February trade with Washington to bolster Dallas' hopes of winning a championship, added 22 and 10 points, respectively.

The additions paid off Sunday, as Jason Terry, who averaged 16.6 points during the regular season, didn't score until there was six minutes left in the game. He ended 2-of-9 for five points for the second-seeded Southwest Division champs, who are in the postseason for a franchise-record 10th straight season.

That's the second-longest streak in the NBA behind the rival Spurs, who are in the playoffs for an NBA-best 13th consecutive year.

"We got off to a really good start tonight but we have our work cut out for us. Tonight was just the beginning and it's going to be a tough series," Kidd said. "We were able to get out a little and run and really eliminate them from double-teaming Dirk or Caron. Everybody pitched in and it was a good win."

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili accounted for 27 and 26 points, respectively, for the Spurs, who also lost to the Mavs in five games in last year's quarterfinals.

Tony Parker added 18 points and Antonio McDyess 10 with eight rebounds. The seventh-seeded Spurs shot 50 percent from the floor but had 17 turnovers that led to 20 Dallas points.

"They played better than we did, they played very well," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "I was very disappointed in us not being very sharp. I think we've got to have a few more people step up and play worth a damn. I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs."

A tough critique considering Popovich's team was on the road against a higher seed but clearly directed at his role players. Richard Jefferson notched just four points in 32 minutes while George Hill, Keith Bogans and Roger Mason were all held scoreless.

"They're pros," Popovich said of his team on Tuesday. "I'm sure we will be a lot sharper (on Wednesday)."

Hill, who has been starting at point guard since Parker fractured his right hand on March 6 in Memphis, played just 18 minutes in the opener due to ineffectiveness and lingering soreness in his right ankle.

Parker could be back in the starting lineup tonight but told the San Antonio Express-News that he is fine with coming off the bench as long as he gets to play in the fourth quarter.

Either way the Mavs expect to see much more of the former All-Star.

"We expect [Parker] to probably start and play a lot more minutes," Kidd told the Dallas Morning News. "He's just coming off of that injury and he's trying to get his conditioning back, but it is the playoffs now and they're going to put their best group out there."

Game 3 of the series is set for Friday in San Antonio.

[duncan228]

San Antonio at Dallas, 9:30 p.m. ET (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/chris_mannix/04/21/talking.points/index.html)
Chris Mannix
SI.com

Paging Richard Jefferson. The pressure is clearly on the Spurs' $14.2 million offseason acquisition to make an impact in Game 2. Gregg Popovich didn't single out Jefferson, but it seemed his comments that some players "played like dogs" in Game 1 was aimed at Jefferson, who scored just four points in 32 minutes. Jefferson's struggles with San Antonio's offense have been a topic all year; his game just hasn't molded into the Spurs' read-and-react system. But Jefferson does have 79 playoff games and two NBA Finals appearances on his résumé. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him bounce back.

George Hill is another story. As much as the Spurs can't afford to cough up 17 turnovers or give up 13 offensive rebounds like they did in Game 1, they cannot lose the point-guard matchup in this series. Hill's performance on Sunday (zero points, zero assists in 18 uneventful minutes) was a dud. Some of that has to be attributed to a lingering ankle injury that could keep Hill out of the lineup in Game 2. San Antonio's offense functioned much more fluidly with Tony Parker in the lineup, but with Popovich preferring to keep Parker with the second unit, Hill (if healthy enough to play) will once again get the start. And he needs to deliver, especially with Jason Kidd (13 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals) looking like his 2001 self in the opener.

Prediction: Spurs steal one in Big D.

[duncan228]

Three to Watch: Mess in Texas (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-threetowatchmessinte)
SportingNews

Dealing with Dirk

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich decided to defend Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki straight up for the first three quarters of Game 1 on Sunday. The result: 32 points, 11-of-13 shooting from the field.

The Spurs finally sent more defenders Nowitzki’s way in the fourth quarter, when he was limited to four points and one shot. At that point, though, Nowitzki was happy to play distributor, with the Mavs leading the rest of the way.

So how does Popovich expect the Spurs to defend him tonight? With a rather revolutionary approach, according to the San Antonio Express-News. "They’ll double-team me with three guys," Nowitzki said.

It’s not who starts but who finishes

Spurs guard George Hill has a bum ankle and will be a game-time decision for Game 2. If Hill doesn’t play, that doesn’t automatically mean Tony Parker will slide back into his starting position, however.

Parker has started almost every game of his career, but right now Popovich likes him coming in to give the second unit a boost.

Obviously, if rookie Garrett Temple is in the starting lineup tonight Parker still would get the majority of the playing time—he played 34 minutes coming off the bench Sunday.

[duncan228]

Big brother hasn't been a bully lately (http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/columns/story?columnist=caplan_jeff&id=5120405)
Tide has turned in Texas rivalry, but Mavs still come up short in championships
By Jeff Caplan
ESPNDallas.com

Over the past six postseasons, the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Hornets and Denver Nuggets have sent the Dallas Mavericks home for the summer.

The San Antonio Spurs? Please. That was so early 2000s. Once upon a time, the Mavs used to refer to the Spurs as their big brothers because of the South Texas arm twisting, and owner Mark Cuban even instructed president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson to construct a roster specifically to take down the mighty Spurs.

"That's old news," Cuban said. "That's not a knock on the Spurs, but there's eight or nine teams [in the West that are contenders] so you can't construct a roster just to play one team. You just have to put together the best team you can."

Both Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki, the hero of Game 1 with 36 points in this fifth Mavs-Spurs playoff installment of the Nowitzki-Tim Duncan era, consider this Dallas team, freshly reinforced with Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, to be the best of the bunch. Better even than the 2006 team that ended in seven games the Spurs' stranglehold over the Mavs franchise and launched Dallas to its first NBA Finals appearance.

OK, so everyone knows how that ended (see Miami) and that the Spurs returned to the NBA Finals in 2007 to claim their fourth championship in the Duncan era, further chafing the hard-working folks in the Mavs' front office and keeping the brain-trust wheels perpetually turning.

"We've never sipped from the cup before," Nelson said. "We have not done that, and so if that doesn't motivate you, you're in the wrong business."

Part of the beat-San-Antonio plan of the past included trading for center Erick Dampier in 2004 and signing 7-footer DeSagana Diop in 2005 for a two-on-one approach to defending Duncan. In Game 1 on Sunday, Dallas got a 15-point, 18-rebound performance from its current center tandem of Dampier and Haywood. The Mavs have won their past two playoff series against San Antonio, and going back to their first-round victory last season, they've won five of their past six playoff games against the Spurs.

Butler came through with 22 points in Game 1, the kind of performance the Spurs surely envisioned from Richard Jefferson, their big offseason acquisition attempt to keep up in the West. Jefferson scored four points in 32 minutes as his season-long disappearance continued.

Each time Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is asked about the Mavs' trade that has worked out so favorably, he shrugs, and says, "I thought it was a good trade ... and it's worked out to be true."

While Butler made the most of his Mavs playoff debut, Jefferson had the unenviable task of guarding Nowitzki on the baseline and helplessly watching as the 7-footer arched a step-back jumper over Jefferson's outstretched arm and swished it for a crushing 93-84 lead to seal the all-important home opener.

"That was definitely a big win for us," Nowitzki said. "But really, that win means nothing if we lose on Wednesday. So we have to come out with the same focus."

After the Mavs finished their second day of practice before Wednesday's Game 2, Cuban focused on reminding everyone just how delightfully acrimonious this rivalry remains.

"I hate the Spurs," Cuban said while smiling.

Cuban, also known for his sideline scowl in bad times, will smile wide if his Mavs put their big brothers in a 2-0 headlock going to San Antonio. The No. 7 seed Spurs have issues to solve, like reducing sloppy turnovers and minimizing fouls that put the NBA's best free throw shooting team on the line 34 times.

And they will wait to see if second-year guard George Hill is physically capable of being a factor in the series. He tried to play in Game 1 with a sprained right ankle, but Popovich kept him on the bench for most of the second half after a scoreless first half. Without steady scoring from Jefferson or the marginalized Roger Mason Jr., the Spurs figure to be in trouble.

All that is moot, though, if the Spurs can't figure out how to deal with their oldest nemesis. Nowitzki, the lone Mavs player who was there in 2001 and 2003 when this great postseason rivalry grew legs, has repeatedly torched them in postseason meetings ever since.

"You know the way they play and the way they grind things out over the years; they're going to keep coming," Nowitzki said. "It's going to be a tough, long, grind-it-out series, and we've got to be ready for it."

[duncan228]

Jet: This is our house (http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/jet-this-is-our-house.html)
Eddie Sefko/Dallas Morning News

Jason Terry expects a monster effort out of the San Antonio Spurs tonight in Game 2 and he believes the Mavericks are prepared to dodge whatever haymaker the Spurs throw at them.

"They're a championship ball club,'' Terry said after the Mavericks shot around. "They're not going to come in here and lay down by any means. We're going to have to take this game. We're going to have to come out and be the aggressor. With the way Pop (Gregg Popovich) talked after last game, he's challenged them and they're going to come out aggressive.

"This is our house and we got to continue to make a statement in these playoffs.''

Terry, by the way, has officially ditched the protective masked he wore after breaking facial bones in March.

"No mask,'' he said. "I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't get hit or anything, but no mask.''

Terry added that he believes the Mavericks can play much better tonight than they did in Game 1 and that there is truth in the old NBA saying that the next playoff game is always more important than the one before.

"Because it's the next game and that's the one we got to win,'' Terry said. "We're at home and we want to protect our home court. We had an OK performance in Game 1, watching the film. Your wins are never as good as you think they are and your losses sometimes are never as bad, especially in a playoff series. So being able to watch film and break it down for two days really helped us to make our adjustments.''

[duncan228]

Rick Carlisle says the Mavericks have to pick it up a notch for Game 2 (http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/rick-carlisle-says-the-mavericks-have-to.html)
Todd Archer/Dallas Morning News

Even though the Mavericks won Game 1 against San Antonio, 100-94, they have spent the last couple of days going over all the things they did wrong. San Antonio shot 50 percent from the field and the Mavericks turned the ball over 15 times.

"Overall, we need to bring the level of our game up a notch for Game 2 because Game 2 is always going to be one of the tougher games in the series," coach Rick Carlisle said.

Why is Game 2 so important?

"Well one team has lost and that team's always going to have a great sense of urgency and you've got to fight," Carlisle said. "If you're the team that won, you've got to continue to be aggressive and you're going to have to bring it up a notch because you know the other team is going to. It's a challenge in any series in any sport."

[Capt Bringdown]

Our ability to get to the next level sadly rests squarely in the hands of Bonner, Mason, RJ and Pop.

Agreed, when your playoff hopes hinge on the likes of Bonner, Mason and RJ...well, why bother?

Also, watching the Lakers/OKC game yesterday, it's sadly apparent how far we have fallen off.
Even our big 3 ain't gonna cut it anymore. We don't really have a superstar anymore.