http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature...sis/index.html
Spurs playing like anything but 7th seed against Mavs
Posted Apr 26 2010 12:48AM
SAN ANTONIO -- Are we to believe that the Spurs are a seventh seed?
The Mavericks certainly don't think so, but they're not the only ones running into a first-round buzz saw. Other than setting up the bracket, seedings are of little importance in the Western Conference playoffs. Ask the Lakers about the Thunder, the Suns about the Blazers or the Nuggets about the Jazz.
Still, should Oklahoma City advance, it'll likely go down as the greatest first-round upset ever. (Golden State currently holds that crown over Dallas in 2007.) Portland over Phoenix would also be quite the shocker. But can anyone really call this an upset should San Antonio finish off what appears to be inevitable sometime this week?
"We knew that they're a good team," Dallas point guard Jason Kidd said. "There's no surprises."
The healthy and happy Spurs are up 3-1 after holding off Dallas again Sunday night by a 92-89 count. During the Tim Duncan era, San Antonio has held such a series advantage five times. They've won all five. The Mavericks of any age, including the current 10-year playoff run with Dirk Nowitzki at the controls, have never come back from such a hole.
Try selling a script where it can happen to anyone other than Mark Cuban after a weekend lost in Fiesta-crazed San Antonio. The Spurs won a game Friday without a 3-pointer and another two nights later with a four-point contribution from Duncan.
While winning under those cir stances may never happen again, the Spurs don't need to tip Lady Luck. They're healthy for the first time in two years. They expected to be in a position to contend for a le this season. Despite what the seedings read, they didn't come into this postseason thinking underdog.
"We really didn't approach it that way," Spurs center Antonio McDyess said. "Whoever we got in the first round, we felt like we were going to go out there and give it our all and try to take the series. It's still not over."
Not yet, but San Antonio is on the verge of advancing by peaking at the right time. Maybe the Spurs saw it coming.
"We have a lot of confidence in this team," San Antonio point guard Tony Parker said. "We didn't have our best regular season because we had a lot of new guys and we had to find chemistry. Now we're playing our best basketball."
Couple that with a Dallas squad coming apart at the seams and San Antonio's three-game winning streak seems fitting. The Mavs lost their composure and their way in the third quarter Sunday. They couldn't stop George Hill at one end and couldn't get a decent look at the other, squandering what was once a 15-point lead.
Hill kept the Spurs close in the first half when Dallas threatened to blow them up. The second-year starter provided the dynamite in the third, leading a 19-2 run to close out the third. Kidd, 37, was helpless when it came to slowing down a 23-year-old kid who played a bit part in this same first-round matchup a year ago.
Hill's growth is just one of the reasons these Spurs aren't those Spurs. San Antonio didn't look the part of a No. 3 seed last year without Manu Ginobili, so when Dallas advanced in five games, few called that an upset. These Mavericks were supposed to be the deeper team, but San Antonio is clearly the more cohesive unit.
Gregg Popovich has dictated the matchups, forcing Rick Carlisle to react. Dallas' coach has yet to catch up. The only constant for the Mavericks through three games had been Nowitzki, so the Spurs took No. 41 out of the flow with a series of double-teams.
Nowitzki, averaging 31.7 points coming into Game 4, took only 10 shots. Caron Butler, a second-half no-show Friday, took 18. Shawn Marion, another bit player in Game 3, had 13. Jason Terry jacked up 11. Dallas scored only 11 in the Waterloo third and shot 42-percent for the game.
"We couldn't generate enough offense," Nowitzki said. "We are doing a decent job on defense, but we just can't generate scoring and offense."
Does that fall on Carlisle, a coach who was supposed to open up the offense after Avery Jackson handcuffed Kidd? Or is it on Kidd, a future Hall-of-Famer who's considered one of the best playmakers ever? Or are the Mavs just not as together as a their No. 2 seeded suggests?
While the blame game will occupy Dallas leading up to Tuesday night's Game 5, the Spurs have found their stride. They moved within a victory of the West semifinals despite a pedestrian 31 points combined from Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. Hill had the best outing of his young career considering the stage, and others such as Antonio McDyess, Richard Jefferson and DeJuan Blair made their presence felt.
The Spurs aren't your typical seventh seeds. Not that they ever thought they were.
Art Garcia has covered the NBA since 1999. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
It's actually kinda funny - the Spurs have been good so long, as soon as they start winning again, everyone immediately wants to hang the series win and the West on their hat now.
It won't be that easy. Just closing Dallas out in Game 5 is going to be full of those "where amazing happens" moments.
Agreed. Game 5 will be really, really tough. I'm not even really expecting to win. Dallas might blow us the out. But we'll win either Game 5 or 6.
I recall seeing the playoff series picks on ESPN.com and if I recall correctly practically every one of their NBA analysts picked the Mavs to win this series.
I admit I had my doubts too. I'm happy the Spurs are proving everyone wrong.
Need to win Game 5. Get this over with and get some rest.
agree that game five is really important. the way Duncan looked today, you don't want to lengthen the series. it only increases the likelyhood that he has to play through pain, and it also increases the chance that something happens to Ginobili where he gets hit in the face and does something worse to his nose. then you have to factor in age as well. they need to take care of business and give themselves a rest break before next series. it's a long playoffs. i hope Pop stresses this.
So far, we've been doing great. They play with energy, something that we havent seen almost all season long, im really happy. But yeah, it won't be easy, it's going to be tough and that's why we shouldnt get carried away like some media.
Dallas is a team that scares the out of me. Reasons of that is they are damn talented and have beaten Spurs in the 2 previous playoffs series. I will never consider this series over before a team win 4 games.
And the "seed" thing is quite relative in the west. The 1st seed has won 7 more RS games than the 8th seed in the west while it's 20 games in the east. Behind Lakers, all playoffs western teams are about in the same boat.
Amen. unless there is a mental meltdown of their part, I fully expect the Mavs to have that "desparate" mentality of a team that will be fighting for their playoff life. As always, the close-out game WILL be the hardest to get.
I disagree, We've taken their heart. Just look at dirk's body language at the press conference, Their confidence looks shot if we come out strong I believe they fold.
It's not over til Mark Cuban starts ing and moaning.
Without a doubt!
Best thing is if spurs are able to jump to a big lead, it will deflate the Mavs and we could see them unravel before our very eyes
I have a feeling it will be a lopsided, ugly game. Just not sure which team will get blown out.
Spurs had 2x the point differential of a Mavs team despite major injuries and are the better team - this is NOT an upset!
Chris Webber was the only one who picked the Spurs to win the series!
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