duncan228
04-27-2010, 12:29 AM
Mavericks were probably doomed from the start (http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/26/2144111/mavericks-were-probably-doomed.html)
By Jan Hubbard
Mavericks fans are deep into a major funk and need nothing additional to worsen their depression.
So they probably will not be entertained by this not-so-fun fact:
Since joining the Spurs for the 1997-98 season, Tim Duncan has never lost a first-round series with a healthy team.
The Spurs were defeated by the Suns in the 2000 playoffs, but Duncan was sidelined with a left knee injury.
Because of a stress fracture in his right leg, Manu Ginobili did not play in the Spurs' first-round loss to the Mavericks last season.
In each of Duncan's other 10 seasons, the Spurs won at least two series. And in four of those years, they played in the NBA Finals and won them all.
It should also be noted that Duncan averaged 25.7 points in the first three games of the current first-round series with the Mavericks and had only four points in Game 4.
The Spurs still won.
Duncan doesn't figure to have another stinker.
Any of you Mavericks faithful feeling better?
That's not to say that Game 5 looks bleak for the Mavericks. They will probably win because of the home court, the passion of fans, a desperate sense of survival and Mark Cuban's laser baseline glare.
But the series definitely has a River Walk smell to it, and as we know, those fumes are sweet in San Antonio and foul in Cuban's kingdom.
Here's another unfortunate reality for the Mavericks: The winner of this series very well could win not only the next round, but the round after that and the round after that.
That is correct. The Spurs-Mavericks winner could win the NBA title -- not easily, of course, but it's certainly realistic.
Consider what was happening before games late Monday. Start with the West, where the eighth seed (Oklahoma City) is tied 2-2, the seventh seed (San Antonio) has a 3-1 lead, the sixth seed (Portland) was 2-2 despite missing its best player (Brandon Roy) for three games and the fifth seed (Utah) also led 3-1.
The four teams with home-court advantage -- the Lakers, Mavericks, Suns and Nuggets, respectively -- were either tied or in trouble.
There are no superpowers -- and that includes the East, where the Cavaliers lost a game to a Bulls team that barely made the playoffs. The Celtics have already lost one game to the one-man team (Dwyane Wade) from Miami, and the Hawks have lost to a Bucks team that was missing its starting center (Andrew Bogut) because of injury.
As stated in this space 11 days ago, a Spurs victory would not be an upset.
Yes, it's unusual for a seventh-seeded team to win, but not many seventh seeds have won four titles and have Tim Duncan. The Spurs also finished only five games behind the Mavericks in the regular season -- and that's despite missing Tony Parker for a month with a hand injury.
In a close series it is vital for the Mavericks to win when they hold the big three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker to a combined 31 points as they did in Game 4.
But there's all sorts of weirdness in this series. A basketball savvy friend of mine asked on Monday, what is it about San Antonio that makes Mavericks coaches crazy?
Ten days after the Mavericks traded for Jason Kidd in 2008, former coach Avery Johnson benched Kidd for the last 34.5 seconds of a game the Mavericks trailed the Spurs by two points at the time. Dallas went on to lose.
And now besides the $30 million-$40 million in obligations that he took on in the Washington trade, Cuban also gave Shawn Marion a five-year deal for almost $40 million.
In Game 3, Butler did not play in the second half and played 14:48 in the game. Marion played 16:34. Thirty-one minutes total?
On Sunday night, Marion left the game with more than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and did not return.
Rick Carlisle obviously was doing what he thinks is best, but if he is trying to make a point that the players aren't playing hard enough, is Game 3 and 4 of the playoffs the right time? Don't you go down swinging with your best players on the floor?
You can be sure the Spurs will have their best players on the floor at crunch time in Game 5 at American Airlines Center tonight.
And none have been better than Tim Duncan, who is focused on winning the 11th first-round series of his career and proving there is no such thing as a Spurs upset victory.
By Jan Hubbard
Mavericks fans are deep into a major funk and need nothing additional to worsen their depression.
So they probably will not be entertained by this not-so-fun fact:
Since joining the Spurs for the 1997-98 season, Tim Duncan has never lost a first-round series with a healthy team.
The Spurs were defeated by the Suns in the 2000 playoffs, but Duncan was sidelined with a left knee injury.
Because of a stress fracture in his right leg, Manu Ginobili did not play in the Spurs' first-round loss to the Mavericks last season.
In each of Duncan's other 10 seasons, the Spurs won at least two series. And in four of those years, they played in the NBA Finals and won them all.
It should also be noted that Duncan averaged 25.7 points in the first three games of the current first-round series with the Mavericks and had only four points in Game 4.
The Spurs still won.
Duncan doesn't figure to have another stinker.
Any of you Mavericks faithful feeling better?
That's not to say that Game 5 looks bleak for the Mavericks. They will probably win because of the home court, the passion of fans, a desperate sense of survival and Mark Cuban's laser baseline glare.
But the series definitely has a River Walk smell to it, and as we know, those fumes are sweet in San Antonio and foul in Cuban's kingdom.
Here's another unfortunate reality for the Mavericks: The winner of this series very well could win not only the next round, but the round after that and the round after that.
That is correct. The Spurs-Mavericks winner could win the NBA title -- not easily, of course, but it's certainly realistic.
Consider what was happening before games late Monday. Start with the West, where the eighth seed (Oklahoma City) is tied 2-2, the seventh seed (San Antonio) has a 3-1 lead, the sixth seed (Portland) was 2-2 despite missing its best player (Brandon Roy) for three games and the fifth seed (Utah) also led 3-1.
The four teams with home-court advantage -- the Lakers, Mavericks, Suns and Nuggets, respectively -- were either tied or in trouble.
There are no superpowers -- and that includes the East, where the Cavaliers lost a game to a Bulls team that barely made the playoffs. The Celtics have already lost one game to the one-man team (Dwyane Wade) from Miami, and the Hawks have lost to a Bucks team that was missing its starting center (Andrew Bogut) because of injury.
As stated in this space 11 days ago, a Spurs victory would not be an upset.
Yes, it's unusual for a seventh-seeded team to win, but not many seventh seeds have won four titles and have Tim Duncan. The Spurs also finished only five games behind the Mavericks in the regular season -- and that's despite missing Tony Parker for a month with a hand injury.
In a close series it is vital for the Mavericks to win when they hold the big three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker to a combined 31 points as they did in Game 4.
But there's all sorts of weirdness in this series. A basketball savvy friend of mine asked on Monday, what is it about San Antonio that makes Mavericks coaches crazy?
Ten days after the Mavericks traded for Jason Kidd in 2008, former coach Avery Johnson benched Kidd for the last 34.5 seconds of a game the Mavericks trailed the Spurs by two points at the time. Dallas went on to lose.
And now besides the $30 million-$40 million in obligations that he took on in the Washington trade, Cuban also gave Shawn Marion a five-year deal for almost $40 million.
In Game 3, Butler did not play in the second half and played 14:48 in the game. Marion played 16:34. Thirty-one minutes total?
On Sunday night, Marion left the game with more than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and did not return.
Rick Carlisle obviously was doing what he thinks is best, but if he is trying to make a point that the players aren't playing hard enough, is Game 3 and 4 of the playoffs the right time? Don't you go down swinging with your best players on the floor?
You can be sure the Spurs will have their best players on the floor at crunch time in Game 5 at American Airlines Center tonight.
And none have been better than Tim Duncan, who is focused on winning the 11th first-round series of his career and proving there is no such thing as a Spurs upset victory.