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what's ur prediction for this game 228? i have never seen u make a prediction....
Game is Friday, 7:30 CST.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2011031806San 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.
*********************
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
*********************
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
what's ur prediction for this game 228? i have never seen u make a prediction....
No prediction, just hope to see the Spurs bring the fire and energy on both ends of the court.
Spurs should win to end all doubts about who is going into the playoffs as the number one seed.
After a whole week of hard work, our defense is much better and we win this one by 3.
Gotta go with my boys in blue.
Good luck Spurs fans
At least Tony admits they're playing like crap and knows it will be all but over if they keep playing this way.
If it was some other guy..say Lebron or Wade they be sugar coating it like no one you've heard.
First thing is acknowledging the problem. The second is working to fix it.
Here's hoping they turn it around because tomorrow's game is a definite must win for the Spurs.
This is a joke right? Must win?
Umm yeah.
In alot of ways.
1. Win for the sake of the Mavs-Spurs rivary
2. To get back on track
3. To keep a healthy lead in the standings.
4. To break a tied against the Mavs for HCA if somehow the Mavs were to come to a tie with Spurs.
None of those things make the game a must win.
lolololololol Spurs fan knows whats coming, so trying to make excuses already
I think it's a should win. We need to man up against a good team after getting our asses handed to us by the last two we played.
I think "must-win games" should be limited to the playoffs or in the case of regular season games where playoff contention is at stake. That's really not the case here. Although a win would be nice, I neither expect nor think the spurs should overexert themselves to achieve it.
I think the spurs shoukd just coast it...
With this name and the posts you do why are you not banned from this board yet brololololololol Spurs fan knows whats coming, so trying to make excuses already
Dallas mavs are the best team in texas PERIOD
It will be Dallas this time... accept it... for now...
It's a big game for the Spurs and Mavs. Here's why it's not a must win for the Spurs. Following is a list showing the most wins possible if these teams win out the rest of the season.
Lakers 62, Mavs 62, Thunder 59, Celts 64, Bulls 64, Heat 60
None of these six teams have less than 14 games left as of March 17th, meaning they would have to win at least 14 straight to finish with their shown win total. The Spurs already have 54 wins and have 15 left to play. Only an idiot would believe that the Spurs will need to win more than 61 to secure home court advantage(HCA) for the Western Conference playoffs. If the Lakers or Mavs finish the year on a 12-2 run they still would only have 60 wins on the year. At that rate the Spurs could finish 7-8 and still get the home court. I think nine more wins total will secure home court for the Spurs for the entirety of their playoff lives. The issue for the Spurs is getting to that number as soon as possible so that the vets( Duncan, McDyess, Ginobili) can begin to rest their legs. Here's is another possible advantage for the Spurs getting those nine wins asap (though I hate to bring this up for fear of the fanatical band wagon). The sooner they secure HCA then the more PT available for certain bench warmers. If TS and JA can get substantial PT the last 5 or 6 games, who knows if something can come of it! All I'm saying is
GOGO!!!!!!!
It's not a must win game for us, but it's for Dallas. They should have a winning streak to gain HCA against Lakers.
Spurs have a very poor record in the last several games against playoff teams.
MIA L+W
LAL L
MEM L+W
CHI L
PHI L
POR L
NOH L
A solid win @DAL would be comforting, 4 weeks from the playoffs.
Is Texas a suburb of Dallas?
I just dont know which mode the spurs are going to be in. I wonder if they're still in the 'see how many games we can coast through/lose while still retaining onto the #1 seed.' Pop may think he doesnt need this game since he no longer needs a tie breaker with dallas since theyre clearly gonna be a #3 seed and out in the second round.
I don't think Pop wants to tank this game. Pop knows which teams the Spurs will probably face in the playoffs and against them he is - even in the regular season - willing to give the starters some extra minutes and wants to see them execute.
I cannot remember a blowout game between these two teams, so it should be fun as always. And again I will be astonished about the Mavs crowd, which is extremely fired up against the Spurs, but does not respond when the Lakers come to town ...
This is a big game for the Spurs somewhat. Not because they need it in the standing, but because they are and have been going in the wrong direction for too long. People around here want to dismiss it and say that players who have been playing like for months are in a "slump", but the Spurs have legit problems that are going to hurt them if not corrected.
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