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11-02-2006, 01:48 AM
Spurs open with intense rival
Web Posted: 11/01/2006 10:40 PM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
DALLAS — You again?
The Spurs begin a new season tonight, facing the same team that closed out their previous campaign, in a building they know all too well. It's been almost half a year since they trudged off the AT&T Center floor, dazed by the sudden end of a title reign that, for one fleeting moment, seemed destined to stretch on.
Five months, one week and three days has been long enough for the NBA to crown a new champion (and watch it embarrass itself). Long enough for microfiber to replace leather. Long enough for San Antonio officials to begin cleaning up that "ugly-ass, muddy-watered thing" of a downtown river.
If you ask the Spurs, five months also is just the right amount of time to simmer.
"There's a still-burning desire," Bruce Bowen said, "to make amends for our last game."
The Spurs haven't forgotten the final game of their epic second-round series against Dallas or the six that preceded it. Two of the games, including the last one, needed overtime to complete. Six were decided in the closing seconds.
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Tim Duncan, who became so dehydrated in the final game he couldn't stand in the locker room afterward, initially called the two-week battle the greatest of his career. But even now, as the Spurs and Mavericks prepare to meet again, he said the wound is still too fresh to truly appreciate the teams' competitiveness.
"We believe we should have won it and moved on," Duncan said. "We knew it was two hard-fought teams going at it. I just wish it had ended differently."
Both teams, however, agree the series turned what was already an intense rivalry into one of the NBA's fiercest. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Dallas coach Avery Johnson remain good friends, dining together this summer and again last week, but their franchises aren't nearly as cozy.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did his best to inflame relations by cursing at Bowen after one game; calling Duncan a "crybaby;" and critiquing not only the cleanliness of the San Antonio River but also the behavior of the city's fans. Jason Terry was suspended for a game after jabbing Michael Finley in the groin. Robert Horry had already served his own suspension earlier in the season for gumming Jerry Stackhouse's arm.
Finley didn't bother to watch his former teammates when they faced Miami in the NBA Finals. Horry watched only the final two minutes, but said, for the first time in his career, he rooted for the Eastern Conference.
Even Del Harris, Dallas' usually mild-mannered assistant coach, briefly joined the fray when he chided Duncan from the bench for whining about the officiating.
"We don't like them. They don't like us," Stackhouse told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this week. "That's it. It may all sound sweet when you're talking to the media, but when you actually get between those lines, man for man, I don't like them.
"You can write it down. Put it in present tense. Whatever you want to."
Horry attributed Stackhouse's comments and Cuban's conduct to "a little bit of jealousy."
"They're the only team in Texas," Horry said, "that doesn't have a championship."
By advancing to the Finals last season, the Mavericks have become, in Finley's words, "the team to beat" in the Western Conference. Duncan even expects tonight to feel "more like 50 games into the season than an opening night."
But the Spurs also realize that one game against Dallas signifies nothing more than the start to another season. Regardless of the outcome, each team will have another 81 games to play.
"We just know there's a team in our way to try to win the championship," Horry said. "They have nothing we want. The only people that have something we want are the Miami Heat.
"All these other banners ... Western Conference champions ... that don't mean nothing. That's just like winning a medium battle in a big-ass war."
Notebook: Tony Parker had trouble cutting and changing directions in practice Wednesday and said his right ankle remained "pretty sore." But he's still hopeful he'll be able to play tonight. "I think I'll be all right," Parker said. "I'll see how it feels tomorrow. If it feels good, I'll go. If I feel a little bit of pain, I'm not going to take any chances." ... Fabricio Oberto is expected to start at center tonight. ... As of Wednesday afternoon, the Spurs still had more than 1,000 tickets available for Friday's home opener against Cleveland.
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Web Posted: 11/01/2006 10:40 PM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
DALLAS — You again?
The Spurs begin a new season tonight, facing the same team that closed out their previous campaign, in a building they know all too well. It's been almost half a year since they trudged off the AT&T Center floor, dazed by the sudden end of a title reign that, for one fleeting moment, seemed destined to stretch on.
Five months, one week and three days has been long enough for the NBA to crown a new champion (and watch it embarrass itself). Long enough for microfiber to replace leather. Long enough for San Antonio officials to begin cleaning up that "ugly-ass, muddy-watered thing" of a downtown river.
If you ask the Spurs, five months also is just the right amount of time to simmer.
"There's a still-burning desire," Bruce Bowen said, "to make amends for our last game."
The Spurs haven't forgotten the final game of their epic second-round series against Dallas or the six that preceded it. Two of the games, including the last one, needed overtime to complete. Six were decided in the closing seconds.
Spurs Mailbag
Got a question about the Spurs? Use the form below and fire away!
*Your name
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Your hometown
*Your question
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Tim Duncan, who became so dehydrated in the final game he couldn't stand in the locker room afterward, initially called the two-week battle the greatest of his career. But even now, as the Spurs and Mavericks prepare to meet again, he said the wound is still too fresh to truly appreciate the teams' competitiveness.
"We believe we should have won it and moved on," Duncan said. "We knew it was two hard-fought teams going at it. I just wish it had ended differently."
Both teams, however, agree the series turned what was already an intense rivalry into one of the NBA's fiercest. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Dallas coach Avery Johnson remain good friends, dining together this summer and again last week, but their franchises aren't nearly as cozy.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did his best to inflame relations by cursing at Bowen after one game; calling Duncan a "crybaby;" and critiquing not only the cleanliness of the San Antonio River but also the behavior of the city's fans. Jason Terry was suspended for a game after jabbing Michael Finley in the groin. Robert Horry had already served his own suspension earlier in the season for gumming Jerry Stackhouse's arm.
Finley didn't bother to watch his former teammates when they faced Miami in the NBA Finals. Horry watched only the final two minutes, but said, for the first time in his career, he rooted for the Eastern Conference.
Even Del Harris, Dallas' usually mild-mannered assistant coach, briefly joined the fray when he chided Duncan from the bench for whining about the officiating.
"We don't like them. They don't like us," Stackhouse told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this week. "That's it. It may all sound sweet when you're talking to the media, but when you actually get between those lines, man for man, I don't like them.
"You can write it down. Put it in present tense. Whatever you want to."
Horry attributed Stackhouse's comments and Cuban's conduct to "a little bit of jealousy."
"They're the only team in Texas," Horry said, "that doesn't have a championship."
By advancing to the Finals last season, the Mavericks have become, in Finley's words, "the team to beat" in the Western Conference. Duncan even expects tonight to feel "more like 50 games into the season than an opening night."
But the Spurs also realize that one game against Dallas signifies nothing more than the start to another season. Regardless of the outcome, each team will have another 81 games to play.
"We just know there's a team in our way to try to win the championship," Horry said. "They have nothing we want. The only people that have something we want are the Miami Heat.
"All these other banners ... Western Conference champions ... that don't mean nothing. That's just like winning a medium battle in a big-ass war."
Notebook: Tony Parker had trouble cutting and changing directions in practice Wednesday and said his right ankle remained "pretty sore." But he's still hopeful he'll be able to play tonight. "I think I'll be all right," Parker said. "I'll see how it feels tomorrow. If it feels good, I'll go. If I feel a little bit of pain, I'm not going to take any chances." ... Fabricio Oberto is expected to start at center tonight. ... As of Wednesday afternoon, the Spurs still had more than 1,000 tickets available for Friday's home opener against Cleveland.
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