San Antonio (54-13) at Dallas (48-20)
Tipoff: 8:30 pm EDT Fri Mar 18, 2011
TV: FSSW
By Kate Hedlin
The San Antonio Spurs have lost back-to-back games only once this season, but it’s been more than five years since they’ve been coming off a loss as big as the one they just suffered.
Bouncing back against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks won’t be easy.
The Spurs, who have lost four straight regular-season games to the Mavericks when Nowitzki plays, will try to avoid consecutive defeats Friday night when they visit Dallas.
San Antonio (54-13) has the NBA’s best record but has looked vulnerable recently. The team has had three days off to make adjustments following Monday’s 110-80 loss at Miami, its worst in the regular season since a 104-68 defeat to Dallas on April 7, 2005.
The Mavericks (48-20) certainly aren’t thinking this will be a lopsided affair.
“Good test again, and they just came off a tough loss against Miami,” Nowitzki said. “And always when you lose by a big margin you’re gonna come out swinging, so it should be a fun game.”
The Spurs, who have a 6 1/2-game lead over Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference, had won three straight but only by an average of 6.7 points. Two of those wins were at home against Detroit and Sacramento, both among the league’s worst teams.
“We need to forget about (owning the league’s best record) because right now we’re not playing well,” guard Tony Parker said Wednesday after an extra-long practice. “If we keep playing like that it’s going to be a quick exit from the playoffs. We need to forget about our record and go back to playing good Spurs basketball.”
The Mavericks have struggled recently as well. After losing four of six, including consecutive games to the Lakers and Portland, they trailed by 18 before beating Golden State 112-106 on Wednesday. Nowitzki finished with 34 points and 13 rebounds.
Almost immediately, Dallas was thinking about its matchup against the Spurs.
“It’s tremendous. Everybody’s going to talk about how it’s just another game. Not for this team. Not for us,” guard Jason Terry said. “We’ve struggled since the break against teams that are right there in contention for championships. It’s a measuring stick for us. How far have we come? They’re playing great.”
While San Antonio is 2-1 against Dallas this season, the Spurs lost the only game in which Nowitzki played. He scored 26 points in a 103-94 victory Nov. 26.
The Mavericks lost to the Spurs in the first round of last year’s playoffs with a healthy Nowitzki, but they’ve won the last four regular-season meetings when he’s played. He averaged 28.0 points in those four victories.
Defense has become a problem for the Spurs, who have given up 106.0 points per game in their last four, almost nine more than their season average.
Manu Ginobili was held to 12 points Monday, missing all three of his 3-point attempts, after averaging 20.0 in the previous three games. San Antonio’s only three losses in its past 11 games have come when he’s failed to make a 3-pointer.
Dallas will be without 3-point threat Peja Stojakovic for a sixth straight game due to a strained neck.
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Team Stat Leaders
Points
Manu Ginobili SA 17.8
Dirk Nowitzki Dal 23.3
Rebounds
Tim Duncan SA 9.1
Tyson Chandler Dal 9.3
Assists
Tony Parker SA 6.5
Jason Kidd Dal 8.4
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Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
San Antonio 54-13 1st Southwest / 1st West 103.4 97.2 Road 23-10 Lost 1 7-3
Dallas 48-20 2nd Southwest / 3rd West 100.4 96.5 Home 24-10 Won 1 6-4
