The familar faces give Spurs 2-1 advantage (National views)

[duncan228]

http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/2010/news/features/art_garcia/04/24/spurs.mavs.game3/608_spurs_duncanparker.jpg
Tim Duncan and Tony Parker put together another classic Spurs performance during Game 3.

The familar faces give Spurs 2-1 advantage (http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/art_garcia/04/24/spurs.mavs.game3/index.html)
Art Garcia
NBA.com

For all the new faces in the Spurs-Mavericks rivalry, it always manages to get back to those old, familiar gunslingers. Sticking with what you know may be way both teams go for the rest of this series.

The Spurs just seem to know each other a little bit better.

San Antonio grinded out a 2-1 lead leaning on those Gregg Popovich has leaned on for so long. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and George Hill played at least 10 minutes into the fourth quarter. The first three have spent an NBA lifetime together, while Hill is two years into silver and black.

Together they scored every San Antonio point in the fourth quarter of the 94-90 cage match. Ginobili played the entire fourth and the last 4:48 of the third with a nasal fracture that required a trip to the locker room to stop the bleeding. Parker scored the first six on three long jumpers in an 8-0 run that turned Dallas' last lead into an 88-81 advantage that the Spurs didn't relinquish.

"We're playing the best basketball of the year so far," said Duncan, the team's leading scorer with 25. "We are paying our best at the right time. That's what we wanted to do all year long. It's frustrating all season to go through all of the ups and downs, but all in all you want to be playing your best at the right time of the year."

The Popovich-Duncan partnership is 13 years strong now, and San Antonio's system branches out from there. Parker has nine years in and Ginobili eight. Dirk Nowitzki has put in 12 seasons in Dallas, with Erick Dampier and Jason Terry with at least five years under their belts. Their coach Rick Carlisle, though, has manned the Mavericks sideline for just two years.

Sometimes it seems like everyone is still getting to know each other.

Carlisle went almost exclusively to those he knows best in the second half, though his rotation has left plenty of room for second-guessing. Five Mavericks played at least 10 minutes in the fourth, with the quartet of Nowitzki, Terry, Jason Kidd and J.J. Barea having spent both years with Carlisle.

The fifth could have easily been longtime Dallas center Erick Dampier had he not picked up a fifth foul after playing all of the third quarter and the first 1:43 of the fourth. Carlisle turned to Brendan Haywood and stuck with him to guard Duncan down the stretch.

But what about the jewel of the trade that shot Dallas into title-contending status? Caron Butler played as much as Garret Temple in the second half.

"It was a coach's decision," Carlisle said of Butler's absence. "I was going with the group that was going good. We needed penetration and that was it."

Handpicking Butler out of Washington, along with Haywood, in what was considered a Gasol-sized robbery sparked a 13-game win streak to put the Mavericks in position to finish with the No. 2 seed. Their edge over the seventh-seeded Spurs appears gone, as is the homecourt.

San Antonio can put a stranglehold on the series Sunday back at the AT&T Center. Dallas wasn't without its stars in Game 3. Nowitzki had another Herculean effort with 35 points, hitting some shots beyond description and physically taking others from Antonio McDyess, Duncan and whoever else crossed his path.

Terry racked up 17 points, but missed several decent looks in the fourth quarter. Barea, the replacement for Butler, scampered through the Spurs for 14 points. Kidd scored just seven, missing six of seven shots, and handed out just five assists, but Terry was quick to defend his point guard.

"He did his job," Terry said.

That leaves plenty to interpret as to who didn't. Butler appeared disengaged in the second half, straying away from the huddle during several timeouts. Haywood sounded somewhat defensive afterward. In a series that started with Popovich dog-cussing his team, Carlisle has steered clear of personal attacks. He didn't single any of the Mavs out after Game 2 and kept the same tact Friday.

Unlike Popovich, perhaps Carlisle doesn't point fingers out of loyalty. Or maybe he just doesn't have the same feel for all the personalities in his locker room as Pop does in his.

"I always tell everybody that's why it's so special here," Parker said, "because everybody is unselfish here and everybody puts their egos aside."

The Spurs' bonds may run deeper than their talent.

[duncan228]

Fast Breaks: Spurs-Mavs, Game 3 (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/04/24/spurs.mavs.game3/index.html)
Ian Thomsen
SI.com

Their Big Three drove the Spurs to a bloodied 94-90 win Friday over Dallas to stake the No. 7 seed to a surprising 2-1 lead in the series.

• A broken nose. Manu Ginobili was elbowed during a Dirk Nowitzki drive early in the third quarter. When he went to the locker room for treatment, he had four points on 1-for-5 shooting; after returning with a bandage across the bridge of his fractured nose, Ginobili would go 3-for-5 for 11 points in the fourth quarter while repeatedly driving the ball inside at the risk of another painful blow to the face. Ginobili's offensive push helped the Spurs recover from a 17-0 Mavericks run that had given Dallas a 68-59 lead late in the third quarter; within five minutes San Antonio was charging back to reclaim a 72-70 advantage in the fourth. "We gave up the lead too quickly,'' said Nowitzki, citing a pair of conventional three-point plays by Ginobili as the difference-makers.

"This is a guy who beats up bats,'' said Richard Jefferson of Ginobili, who every so often would return to the bench like a boxer between rounds to replace a nostril plug and clean up the blood. He embodied the heart of an old but stubborn team that appeared out of contention for much of this season, but is now can seize a 3-1 lead with a third straight win Sunday. "I had no doubts,'' said Tim Duncan of Ginobili's return. "He has a very strong nose on him. I thought it would take him a second and he'd be right back.''

• Nowitzki "held'' to 35 points. Through three quarters, he had 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting but, in the fourth, Nowitzki managed only four attempts and six points as Antonio McDyess and his helping teammates tightened their defense. "It's amazing, the physicality he's playing with,'' said Duncan of McDyess. Added coach Gregg Popovich: "I thought everybody was very active, the team defense was good. You're not going to keep Dirk from scoring, but we made it tough on him.''

"Down the stretch we had too many empty possessions,'' said Nowitzki. "They started doubling me and we didn't get too much out of the weak side.''

• Caron Butler and Shawn Marion benched. They combined for nine points on 12 shots in 31 minutes overall, with Marion limited to five minutes in the second half and Butler (two points and three turnovers) not playing at all after halftime. Coach Rick Carlisle stayed with backup guard Jose Barea (14 points and four assists) for the entire second half and used a three-guard lineup for most of that time. "I was going with a group that was going good,'' said Carlisle. "We needed penetration.''

No doubt Carlisle was frustrated by the Mavs' poor opening quarter for the second straight game. Dallas missed seven of its opening nine shots to go with five turnovers as the Spurs claimed a 14-6 lead. "If we battle like we did for the last three quarters, I like our chances Sunday,'' said Nowitzki. "We'd love to get a better start.''

• Duncan early and Tony Parker late. Duncan (25 points) had 23 through three quarters before giving way to Ginobili and Parker (23 points), who had nine in the fourth on 4-for-4 shooting over the final 2:34, including three straight jumpers of at least 17 feet to turn a 1-point deficit into an 86-81 Spurs lead. Altogether the Big Three combined for 63 points. "We are playing the best basketball of the year so far,'' said Duncan. "It's frustrating all season to go through all of the ups and downs, but all in all you want to be playing your best at the right of the year.''

• No threes. The Mavs were frustrated to lose on a night when the Spurs were held to 0-for-7 from the three-point line. "We want to take away how they spread the floor,'' said Nowitzki, "and we want to run them off the spots they like for shooting three-pointers.'' Popovich was looking forward to working on the Spurs' zone offense after the Mavs switched defenses to launch their 17-0 run. "We totally stopped playing,'' said Popovich. "It's as if there was a rule that said if they play zone, you don't have to be aggressive anymore.''

[duncan228]

Spurs edge Mavs in wild one (http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/spurs-mavericks-playoffs-game-three-nowitzki-042310)
Charley Rosen

This one was for men only. There were bodies flying, pushes coming to shoves, and even blood flowing as the San Antonio Spurs snuck past the Dallas Mavericks 94-90 to take a 2-1 lead in their playoff series.

Some players were ready, willing, and able, while others were AWOL.

The warrior category included:

Dirk Nowitzki, who was battered from pillar to post, but was still the Mavs’ only reliable scorer, shooting 13-for-23 for 35 points. For most of the game, Nowitzki was played straight-up, and here’s what happened when he was finally doubled:

• He drove, and despite being fouled hard, made the hoop and drew the foul.
• Passed to Jason Terry, who bagged a pair of 3-pointers.
• Passed to Jason Kidd, who missed a 3-pointer.
• Passed to J.J. Barea who missed a triple, and also had a layup blocked.

The only blemish in Nowitzki’s performance was the mid-range jumper he missed in the last minute of play.

Barea gave Dallas a huge lift with his jitterbug penetrations, his shooting — 6-for-13 for 14 points — and his laser kick-out passes. The only fly in his ointment was subpar defense, primarily against George Hill. Also, in playing 32 minutes, he simply ran out of gas in the endgame, but that’s Rick Carlisle’s fault, not Barea’s.

Jason Terry, but only until the last five minutes of the game. Before that, he nailed four big shots from beyond the arc and executed several screen-and-rolls to perfection, thereby forcing the Spurs to make disadvantageous switches.

Tim Duncan was taken out of the offense whenever Dallas jumped into a 2-3 zone, but he was still THE man in the middle — 11-for-18 shooting, four assists (but five turnovers) and 25 points. He scored on post-up moves, drop-in passes from alert teammates, and was on the receiving end of screen-and-rolls that the Mavs still couldn’t defend.

George Hill’s numbers weren’t outstanding — 6-for-16 shooting, one assist, one steal, one block, 17 points — but he was explosive at both ends of the court. Hill also made Dallas pay dearly for giving Barea so much daylight by blowing past him several times. And just about all of Hill’s scores were critical ones.

Tony Parker drove to the hoop with his habitual aplomb, putting up 13 points on his drives. But it was TP’s clutch jump-shooting in the closing minutes of the game that secured the victory. His stat line featured 10-for-16 shooting for 23 points.

Manu Ginobili made the mistake of fouling Nowitzki’s elbow with his nose and had to retreat to the locker room for emergency repairs. In his absence, the Mavs temporarily took control of the game. But upon Ginobili’s return, he proceeded to drive headlong into the middle, challenging the Mavs’ bigs, and coming away with three layups and two free throws that helped turn the tide.

Those players who never really showed up include the following:

Caron Butler, who had an abysmal first half — 1-for-3 shooting, three turnovers, two points — and never got off the bench after the intermission.

Jason Kidd did come up with five assists to go with zero turnovers, but he had little presence on offense. This was primarily because he left his jumper in Dallas, evidenced by 1-for-6 shooting. Moreover, he played below-average defense.

Jason Terry made one meaningless 3-pointer in the final minute of play when the game was already lost. Otherwise, in the last five minutes when the outcome was still in doubt, he missed all three of his shots. No surprise here. Furthermore, no matter when he plays and how many shots he makes, Terry can’t guard anybody.

Shawn Marion had a lively 90 seconds in the first quarter, but thereafter was nowhere to be found — 3-for-9 shooting, zero assists, two turnovers, seven points.

Erick Dampier and Brendan Haywood totaled eight rebounds and four points in a combined total of 45 minutes. In addition, they were both roasted by Duncan.

Richard Jefferson reverted to his no-show game plan — 2-for-3 shooting, three assists, six points, and no discernible defense in 31 minutes.

Matt Bonner bit on every one of Nowitzki’s head fakes and missed all three of his shots.

Here’s what Dallas needs to do to even the series:

• Permanently bench Marion.

• Run several plays for Butler and hope that his psyche isn’t irrevocably bruised by his DNP in the second half.

• Instead of playing the posted Duncan behind or three-quartering him from the top (thereby forcing him baseline), the Mavs must quickly double him on his first dribble. Make TD pick the ball up and then see if he can execute the right passes.

• Play Duncan loosely when he turns-and-faces on the wing and let him unload his highly overrated bank-shots.

• Have Barea try to force whomever he’s guarding into help areas.

• Since the Spurs were doubling Nowitzki from the top, rotating the weak-side wing-defender to the passer, and then moving the weak-side big out to cover the shooter on the weak-side wing, the Mavs have to change up their strategy by occasionally sending the guy who passed the ball to Nowitzki on a forceful dive cut into the paint.

• Get Nowitzki the ball when he’s on the move to make two-timing him more difficult.

• Make shots in the clutch. Discounting a couple of meaningless buckets scored as the clock was running out and the game was out of reach, the Mavs shot 3-for-15 in the fourth quarter.

• Figure out how to properly defend the Spurs’ screen-and-roll.

• Try fronting Duncan in the low-post, making sure to have a weak-side helper at the ready.

• Initiate more body contact.

Here’s what the Spurs need to do in order to take complete control of the series:

• Figure out how to combat the Mavs 2-3 zone.

• Try zoning the zoners.

• Stay down on Nowitzki’s perpetual head- and ball-fakes.

• Overplay Nowitzki so that he can’t easily take his left hand to the basket.

• Have coach Gregg Popovich insult Jefferson again.

[SpursTillTheEnd]

way to much to read tonight someone break it down in a few words

[lurker23]

way to much to read tonight someone break it down in a few words

Spurs win! Fiesta Saturday, Game 4 Sunday.