Spurs vs Mavs Previews Game Two

[duncan228]

Dallas at San Antonio Preview
Game info: 9:30 pm EDT Mon Apr 20, 2009
TV: TNT
By Paul J. Weber

Dirk Nowitzki sat in a chair courtside, reflecting on the Dallas Mavericks first playoff road win in three years.

For a once “terrible” road team, in the words of Nowitzki, they looked perfectly relaxed in San Antonio, a day after beating the Spurs in the series opener.

“The advantage we just gained, we don’t want to give it right back,” Nowitzki said. “We’ve seen it happen before.”

Not since the 2006 NBA finals had the Mavs led in a playoff series. But they’ve now got a 1-0 edge after going to Josh Howard early, relying on their bench late and wearing down rival San Antonio in a 105-97 victory on Saturday night.

About the only thing wrong for San Antonio on Sunday was that Jason Kidd didn’t practice because of a stomach illness.

He expects to be fine for Game 2 on Monday night.

Dallas hadn’t won a road playoff game in nine tries, but the Mavs don’t seem to mind San Antonio: dating back to their memorable seven-game West semifinals series in 2006, Dallas has left the AT&T Center as winners in three of their last four playoff trips here.

The Game 1 victory was in large thanks to Howard, who scored 25 points and continues playing through an ailing ankle that will be surgically repaired once his season ends. Howard acknowledged the ankle was sore after the game. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle tried keeping giving him as much rest as possibly by sitting Howard for virtually all the fourth quarter.

Now comes the far more difficult part: whether the Mavericks can become the first team since the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002 to win consecutive playoff games in San Antonio.

“We very much understand the situation,” Carlisle said. “The sense of urgency for the Spurs is going to be very high.”

The Mavericks were 18-23 on the road this season, including winning just two of their last eight away from Dallas before the playoffs.

San Antonio, on the other hand, doesn’t lose at home often come the playoffs: the Game 1 loss to Dallas was just the fourth in 20 home playoff games for the Spurs since winning their last NBA championship in 2007.

San Antonio contained the Mavs’ stars as Nowitzki finished with 19 and Jason Terry had 12.

Instead, backup guard Jose Barea pestered Tony Parker on defense and scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Brandon Bass hit a cluster of jumpers when Nowitzki went to the bench in the second quarter with foul trouble, stopping the Spurs from extending their lead. Erick Dampier, meanwhile, cleaned up the boards.

In all, the Mavs’ bench outscored the Spurs 39-14. San Antonio stuck to their plan to contain Terry and Nowitzki but that, in turn, only opened things up for Barea and others.

“The small lineup, big lineup wasn’t the problem,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Sunday. “The boards were the problem, and Barea in the middle and Josh had a great game. And those things negated the pretty good job we did on Terry and Nowitzki. Overall, they played better.”

Nowitzki, who called he and Terry “great decoys” in Game 1, expected the Spurs to adjust by Monday night. Quite a bit.

“You just can’t watch Barea walk down the lane five or six times in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Parker tormented the Mavericks in the regular season but wasn’t his usual self in the fourth. And that’s when San Antonio has especially relied on him this season, with Tim Duncan sometimes “playing on one leg” (in the words of Parker) because of his ailing knees and Manu Ginobili out for the playoffs with a stress fracture in his ankle.

While having the best season of his career, Parker averaged more than 31 points and seven assists in four games against Dallas before the playoffs. Parker had 24 points in Game 1 but made just two field goals in the second half, when the Mavs started the half with Barea guarding him.

Nowitzki said Barea wasn’t so much the difference as Dallas just keeping fresh bodies on Parker—from Barea to Antoine Wright to Terry.

Parker shrugged off the struggles, and the loss.

“I don’t know what’s going on with those Game 1s but every time they’re not starting well,” Parker said. “There’s no panic, just like if we won the game, you stay at the same level mentally. Now we’re just going to go back and watch some film and come back stronger on Monday.”

Notes

Mavericks:

18 The Mavericks closed the regular season winning five of six to wrap up the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. ... G Jason Kidd registered a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

Spurs:

The Spurs sent G Marcus Williams back to the Austin Toros, their NBA D-League team, before the game. Williams appeared in just two games after being called up last week. ... Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he wouldn't mind the NBA modifying its rules about instant replay. San Antonio stole one in Sacramento this week on a winning 3-pointer by G-F Michael Finley with 1.3 seconds left, but the ball clearly didn't leave his hand in time. The play was not reviewable. "We've all been on both sides of calls that can change a game right at the end," Popovich said.

Team Stat Leaders

Points

Dirk Nowitzki Dal 25.9
Tony Parker SA 22.0

Rebounds

Dirk Nowitzki Dal 8.4
Tim Duncan SA 10.7

Assists

Jason Kidd Dal 8.7
Tony Parker SA 6.9

Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10

Dallas 50-32 3rd Southwest / 6th West 101.7 99.8 Road 18-23 Won 2 7-3

San Antonio 54-28 1st Southwest / 3rd West 97.0 93.3 Home 28-13 Won 4 6-4

[duncan228]

Game 2: Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs preview
By Eddie Sefco / The Dallas Morning News

Scouting the Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki has a firm grasp on this series, mentally at least. "I don't think home court means a whole lot," he said. "We might have to win two down here. Who knows?" ... Nowitzki had 19 points in Game 1. He didn't score fewer than 20 in any of the final 25 games of the regular season, nor did he have fewer than 20 in any of the five playoff games against New Orleans last season. ... Nowitzki's approach tonight? "Like it's zero-zero," he said. "We'd love to get another one and really put the pressure on them. The advantage we just gained, we don't want to give it right back."

Scouting the Spurs

They are trying to rebound from a Game 1 loss and win a series for the second season in a row. They lost the first two games at New Orleans last season in the West semis but won in seven games. In 2007, they lost the opener at home in the first round against Denver, then ran off four consecutive victories. ... They were uncanny from long range, hitting 11 of 14 3-pointers in the opener. ... The Spurs may give Ime Udoka a little more time, especially if J.J. Barea gets hot on them again. Udoka is considered a solid perimeter defender. ... If you take away Tim Duncan and Michael Finley, the rest of the Spurs were 18-of-47 (.383) in Game 1.

[E20]

Hopefully the Spurs can have the same luck against Dirk in Game 1. I mean the Spurs lost even with Dirk not torching us like he usually does. Also, Howard, Terry, and even Kidd have the chance of going off on the Spurs.

Guarding their role players will be huge and the Spurs have to make a big effort in not letting their whole team get into a groove and hoping to contain there main guns.

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Mon. Apr. 20
Dallas @ San Antonio: M. Wunderlich, J. Forte, T. Washington

[nkdlunch]

Hopefully the Spurs can have the same luck against Dirk in Game 1. I mean the Spurs lost even with Dirk not torching us like he usually does. Also, Howard, Terry, and even Kidd have the chance of going off on the Spurs.

Guarding their role players will be huge and the Spurs have to make a big effort in not letting their whole team get into a groove and hoping to contain there main guns.

guarantee: if Dirk gets 30+ pts, Spurs win

[DPG21920]

guarantee: if Dirk gets 30+ pts, Spurs win

What if he does it on only 10 shots???????

[nkdlunch]

What if he does it on only 10 shots???????

then good luck to him and the mavs in round 2

[pimptaddy]

Dirk will get 50 points tonight and 20 boards. Time for Timmy and his band of merry gay men to bow down to their masters. Manu the flop king could not help you guys. Game over!

[duncan228]

Mavs shoot for second straight in San Antonio

(Sports Network) - Dallas managed to remove quite the monkey off its back by winning the opener of its Western Conference quarterfinals series with San Antonio. Now, the Mavs hope to take control of the set by winning Game 2 in the Alamo City tonight.

Josh Howard scored 25 points and the Mavericks rallied from a 13-point deficit to upend the Spurs, 105-97, in the opener of the series on Saturday, snapping a big road postseason skid in the process.

Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points and eight rebounds, while Erick Dampier contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Mavericks, who dominated to the tune of a 39-14 difference in bench points.

Brandon Bass had 14 points, Jose Juan Barea 13 and Jason Terry 12 in reserve roles for the Mavs.

Dallas had lost nine straight road playoff games, going back to its collapse in the 2006 NBA Finals against Miami.

Tim Duncan had 27 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, while Tony Parker chipped in 24 points and eight assists in defeat.

The Spurs were able to win the Southwest Division on the final day of the regular season, but got off to a rocky start in their attempt to win the NBA le for a fourth time in seven years.

San Antonio was outscored 31-23 in the last quarter, and clearly struggled down the stretch without star swingman Manu Ginobili, the 2008-08 Sixth Man of the Year who is out for the playoffs with a stress fracture in his leg.

Barea scored seven of his points in the final quarter, and the Spurs failed to get any contribution from their bench, with just one free throw from Ime Udoka in the second half.

With a win tonight the Mavericks can become the first team since the Los Angeles Lakers in 2002 to win consecutive playoff games in San Antonio.

The clubs split the four-game seasons series this year with the highlight being the Spurs' 133-126 double-overtime victory in Dallas on December 9.

The Mavs had been a shaky road team this season, compiling just a 18-23 record away from "Big D" in the regular season. The Spurs, meanwhile, were a solid 28-13 in San Antonio.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven set is slated for Thursday night in Dallas.

[hater]

Dirk will get 50 points tonight and 20 boards. Time for Timmy and his band of merry gay men to bow down to their masters. Manu the flop king could not help you guys. Game over!

princesspimp is that you?