Spurs Brazil
12-31-2010, 09:29 AM
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-101231/daily-dime
Even Without Dirk, Spurs-Mavs Delivers
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
DALLAS -- You can put Dirk Nowitzki in a suit, stuff Manu Ginobili's sinuses with a mystery ailment that saps all the volume out of his voice and stumble onto a bizarre fourth quarter in which the home team gets as much from Alexis Ajinca as resident closer Jason Terry.
And you know what?
You'd still be reasonably entertained.
With these two teams?
You can't help but get sucked in by the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, heading into crunch time for the umpteenth time, no matter who or what was missing from the traditional mix that has delivered down-to-the-wire finishes like Thursday's night for ages.
"I understand it more now that it's my second year here," San Antonio's Richard Jefferson said after the Spurs secured a 99-93 escape on the Dirk-less Mavs' home floor.
"The more you're around the more you understand that these teams really don't like each other. But it's more like respect than dislike because of all the battles over the years."
The reality, though, is that the zillionth battle these teams have generated in the 2000s could only be so captivating without Dirk Nowitzki. You were eventually going to remember that a game that could and should have shoved the NBA's most underappreciated rivalry back into the national conversation, where it belongs, lost its cachet when Nowitzki tweaked his knee Monday night in Oklahoma City.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich summed it up as only he can when someone finally convinced him that Nowitzki was not going to risk playing on that sprained right knee.
"That's why," Pop said, "tonight sucks big time."
Suspicious as that might sound, given that beating one of your main rivals after losing at home to Dallas on Nov. 26 sure doesn't sound like a bad thing, there was some logic embedded in Popovich's claim.
With Nowitzki active, this would have been a certifiable Texas steel-cager for the two teams that A) arrived for work holding the top two records in the league and B) have given the Lakers something to think about in a deeper-than-expected West. This would have been a game, played out in the glare of a TNT Thursday, to gauge the Spurs' progress playing at a faster pace and with more of an offensive bent against the Mavs' growing emphasis on D.
Yet as soon as Nowitzki was ruled out, after tests in the morning determined that even Saturday's game in Milwaukee is a maybe, there would be no need to bust out the measuring stick.
"Because Dirk's not there," Popovich explained. "You win ... fine. You lose, you feel like s---.
"It's like a win-win [for Dallas]. If we win, in a way, we won't give a crap. If you think about it, what exactly does [this win] mean? If you lose, you really feel like crap because they don't have all their guys.
"It's a lousy situation. I hate it."
The only solace, especially for the neutrals in the live or TV audience, is that the aesthetics didn't suck.
San Antonio's Gary Neal continued his Cinderella rise from European obscurity by splashing home five 3-pointers and finishing with 21 points in just less than 22 minutes off the bench. Ginobili played through a nasty head cold that legitimately rendered him unable to speak -- "It's not quite laryngitis," Pop said, "but it's something" -- to throw in four 3s of his own. And that Tim Duncan fellow, coming off a whopping seven points combined in his previous two games, mustered three straight scores during a crucial stretch in the third quarter after the makeshift Mavs had drawn within one of the 28-4 Spurs.
The hosts had their moments, too. Ajinca got the minutes that usually go to $55 million backup center Brendan Haywood and responded with a sequence early in the fourth quarter that lifted every one of his teammates -- including Nowitzki -- off the bench, rejecting Matt Bonner's drive at one end and floating in a hook shot of sorts at the other. Jason Kidd rumbled for his 106th career triple-double (12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds) but trumped all those numbers when he chased down the fastbreaking Tony Parker in the first quarter for a flying, LeBron-style swat that, after a scramble, led to a 3-pointer from Nowitzki stand-in Brian Cardinal. Caron Butler, meanwhile, delivered his first 30-point game as a Mav.
The Mavs (24-7) might even have been the successful escapees, after falling behind by 16 points in the first half and getting absolutely pounded on the boards (50-35), if not for Terry's woes.
A string of big fourth quarters this season has spawned Terry's new practice of raising four fingers to the sky before every final period starts, but he was 1-for-14 from the floor before finally getting two 3s to drop in the final minute.
"With Dirk out," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, "our margin for error is extremely slim."
With Dirk out, America lost out on a potential Game of the Season contender before they even threw the ball up.
"We don't take too much out of the win," Popovich said. "A lot of things I think we did pretty sloppily. We're thrilled to get a win on the road -- anybody would be -- but we didn't show very much. We didn't improve as a team, that's for sure."
Even Without Dirk, Spurs-Mavs Delivers
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
DALLAS -- You can put Dirk Nowitzki in a suit, stuff Manu Ginobili's sinuses with a mystery ailment that saps all the volume out of his voice and stumble onto a bizarre fourth quarter in which the home team gets as much from Alexis Ajinca as resident closer Jason Terry.
And you know what?
You'd still be reasonably entertained.
With these two teams?
You can't help but get sucked in by the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, heading into crunch time for the umpteenth time, no matter who or what was missing from the traditional mix that has delivered down-to-the-wire finishes like Thursday's night for ages.
"I understand it more now that it's my second year here," San Antonio's Richard Jefferson said after the Spurs secured a 99-93 escape on the Dirk-less Mavs' home floor.
"The more you're around the more you understand that these teams really don't like each other. But it's more like respect than dislike because of all the battles over the years."
The reality, though, is that the zillionth battle these teams have generated in the 2000s could only be so captivating without Dirk Nowitzki. You were eventually going to remember that a game that could and should have shoved the NBA's most underappreciated rivalry back into the national conversation, where it belongs, lost its cachet when Nowitzki tweaked his knee Monday night in Oklahoma City.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich summed it up as only he can when someone finally convinced him that Nowitzki was not going to risk playing on that sprained right knee.
"That's why," Pop said, "tonight sucks big time."
Suspicious as that might sound, given that beating one of your main rivals after losing at home to Dallas on Nov. 26 sure doesn't sound like a bad thing, there was some logic embedded in Popovich's claim.
With Nowitzki active, this would have been a certifiable Texas steel-cager for the two teams that A) arrived for work holding the top two records in the league and B) have given the Lakers something to think about in a deeper-than-expected West. This would have been a game, played out in the glare of a TNT Thursday, to gauge the Spurs' progress playing at a faster pace and with more of an offensive bent against the Mavs' growing emphasis on D.
Yet as soon as Nowitzki was ruled out, after tests in the morning determined that even Saturday's game in Milwaukee is a maybe, there would be no need to bust out the measuring stick.
"Because Dirk's not there," Popovich explained. "You win ... fine. You lose, you feel like s---.
"It's like a win-win [for Dallas]. If we win, in a way, we won't give a crap. If you think about it, what exactly does [this win] mean? If you lose, you really feel like crap because they don't have all their guys.
"It's a lousy situation. I hate it."
The only solace, especially for the neutrals in the live or TV audience, is that the aesthetics didn't suck.
San Antonio's Gary Neal continued his Cinderella rise from European obscurity by splashing home five 3-pointers and finishing with 21 points in just less than 22 minutes off the bench. Ginobili played through a nasty head cold that legitimately rendered him unable to speak -- "It's not quite laryngitis," Pop said, "but it's something" -- to throw in four 3s of his own. And that Tim Duncan fellow, coming off a whopping seven points combined in his previous two games, mustered three straight scores during a crucial stretch in the third quarter after the makeshift Mavs had drawn within one of the 28-4 Spurs.
The hosts had their moments, too. Ajinca got the minutes that usually go to $55 million backup center Brendan Haywood and responded with a sequence early in the fourth quarter that lifted every one of his teammates -- including Nowitzki -- off the bench, rejecting Matt Bonner's drive at one end and floating in a hook shot of sorts at the other. Jason Kidd rumbled for his 106th career triple-double (12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds) but trumped all those numbers when he chased down the fastbreaking Tony Parker in the first quarter for a flying, LeBron-style swat that, after a scramble, led to a 3-pointer from Nowitzki stand-in Brian Cardinal. Caron Butler, meanwhile, delivered his first 30-point game as a Mav.
The Mavs (24-7) might even have been the successful escapees, after falling behind by 16 points in the first half and getting absolutely pounded on the boards (50-35), if not for Terry's woes.
A string of big fourth quarters this season has spawned Terry's new practice of raising four fingers to the sky before every final period starts, but he was 1-for-14 from the floor before finally getting two 3s to drop in the final minute.
"With Dirk out," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, "our margin for error is extremely slim."
With Dirk out, America lost out on a potential Game of the Season contender before they even threw the ball up.
"We don't take too much out of the win," Popovich said. "A lot of things I think we did pretty sloppily. We're thrilled to get a win on the road -- anybody would be -- but we didn't show very much. We didn't improve as a team, that's for sure."