Parker and Ginobili in the last 5 minutes of the game

[T Park]

Didn't see that comin...

[George Gervin's Afro]

Give me a break.

They weren't exactly expecting to play without Duncan for the last 15 minutes. Yes, the execution sucked - Parker took/missed some bad shots, Manu got stripped, Barry shot too early/didn't get set on that last 3, Finley and Bowen missed wide open three's.

But they get a in pass today. They played the last 15 minutes of the game in a weird unexpected position - in the playoffs, they'll have Duncan as an option in the post. Today down the stretch J Crawford made sure they didn't have that luxury.

I agree with Kori. I actually thought we played pretty well today. Sure we made some mistakes BUT the mavs did have their full compliment of players and stole the game in the final minute.

[SenorSpur]

Sure Parker shot his jumper very well today. I loved his aggressiveness, but I was disappointed with his "drive and kick". Of course, the 8 sec violation was totally bonehead.

Manu was his usual "high-risk", "high-reward" self. Love his energy and compe iveness, but his untimely turnovers scare me to death.

The Spurs play beautiful team basketball against other teams. Something about playing the Mavs causes these guys to pressure themselves into doing too much at times.

It's OK to give these guys a pass for this game, but I've seen these two self-destruct against this team time and again against the Mavs. That's a concern. They have to play smarter and take what is given instead of forcing the issue.

[wildbill2u]

I'm very unimpressed with both of them.

They couldn't create any offense, they just ran the clock down not knowing what to do and finish the possession with a ty outside jumper. Why couldn't they just drive some more and score or move the ing ball? The Spurs had many chances down the stretch to put themselves in possession to steal a game from the Mavs that was stolen from the Spurs in the first place, but they played some ty ball in the 4th quarter.

Manu had a few miscues and TOs late in the last few minutes. He looked haunted after the game. I think he was remembering the last game of the playoffs last year and his mistake that lost that game.

Things like that start to prey on your mind. I pray he is strong enough mentally to shake it off.

[TMTTRIO]

Manu really hasn't played all that great (other than the other night) lately and that bad turnover looks like the one in the playoffs last year. I hope he starts getting his stuff together. Also sometimes I think we rely on him too much in clutch situations. Face it the other teams now know that he'll probably get the ball in the end so they're starting to get after him so it's harder for him to produce.

[AFBlue]

Of course, the 8 sec violation was totally bonehead.

My God, wasn't it? That was not long after Mic e Tafoya came back from a timeout saying Popavich had stressed to his team that they needed to advance the ball quicker and speed up the game a bit. That was a dip move.

Parker played very good in some stretches but also very bad in some. The Spurs will need a more consistent effort out of him...he needs to be bigger than the moment, because that moment WILL come against the Mavs.