Dallas at San Antonio Preview
Game info: 9:30 pm EDT Tue Apr 28, 2009
TV: TNT
By Paul J. Weber
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s usual ballcap at practice is s ched with four Larry O’Brien championship trophies, like jewels on some crown of NBA les.
But the way things are headed for the San Antonio Spurs, there’s no need to rush to make room for a fifth.
Tim Duncan has never lost a first-round playoff series, and only once since the Spurs won their first championship in 1999 has San Antonio not advanced in the postseason. But down 3-1 to the Dallas Mavericks, the third-seeded Spurs must win at home Tuesday night in Game 5 or their season is done.
“We haven’t been in that position very often,” Popovich said Monday. “It is what it is. You just play the games and deal with it.”
It was a typical, non-alarmist Popovich response. But it’s been anything but a typical postseason for the Spurs, who are saddled with trying to become just the ninth team in NBA history to storm back from a 3-1 deficit and win a series.
Unmoved by the daunting task facing San Antonio are the Mavericks, who want to seal their first playoff series victory in three years and not be lulled into a Game 6 back in Dallas.
“We should know the importance of closing a team out when you get the chance,” Mavs forward Dirk Nowitizki said. “But they’re a great team with a lot of pride that plays well at home.”
The Mavs have been here before: Up 3-1 against the Spurs in the 2006 conference semifinals, San Antonio rallied to even the series and forced Dallas to wrest the series in overtime of Game 7.
“I’ve never lost in the first round,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said. “It’s just a different situation. Right now, Dallas is just playing better than us. We’ve been down 3-1 before, and we came back and gave us a chance in Game 7. So that’s the motivation right now, to take care of Game 5.”
The Spurs haven’t been ousted in the first round since 2000, when Phoenix booted San Antonio in four games while Duncan sat on the bench with torn cartilage in his knee. Since then, San Antonio has been pushed to the brink in the first round only once, beating Seattle in a decisive Game 5 in 2002.
“We’ve put ourselves in this hole,” Duncan said. “We’re either going to step up and win this game or we’re going to go home. We face reality.”
San Antonio knows the drill: Stage a miraculous comeback, and it’s the Spurs’ smart and tested playoff veterans who put them among the few NBA teams who can out of such a big hole. Lose, and they’re an aging and fading NBA power whose better days are behind them.
After losing in five games to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals last season, Popovich bristled at the suggestion that age always doomed the Spurs. He could say the same in this series, since the Spurs appear more in need of better shooters than younger legs against Dallas.
Role players, always essential to San Antonio, have fizzled this series. Duncan and Parker combined for 75 percent of San Antonio’s points in a 99-90 loss in Game 4, and it still wasn’t enough. The duo made 25 of 42 from the field, and everyone else had 6 of 28.
It appeared to underscore how much the Spurs are missing Manu Ginobili, who is out for the playoffs with a stress fracture in his ankle. The Mavericks have taken notice, too, that his absence alone makes this hardly the same Spurs who stormed through the playoffs in previous seasons.
“They’re missing a big part of what has been the nucleus of their team” Mavericks guard Jason Terry said. “Manu Ginobili is 35-40 percent of their offense. When you’re missing that, it’s a big hole.”
Duncan, however, said Ginobili’s absence is no excuse for the unfamiliar position the Spurs find themselves.
“Being down 3-1, we didn’t expect to be here,” Duncan said. “Losing Manu … obviously takes a lot from our team. We came into this series not saying ‘poor us’ or whatever, we came into this series thinking we have a chance and we can win it.
“We’re still of that mindset. We’ll see what happens.”
Notes
Mavericks:
G Jason Terry finished with 16 points for Dallas, which suffered one of the worst losses in the playoff rivalry. ... Dallas failed to send the Spurs to consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002.
Spurs:
G Tony Parker had 27 points of his 38 points in the first half. ... The Spurs avoided consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002. ... Parker finished 16-of-22 from the field. He had 19 points in the first quarter alone, equaling the Mavericks' total.
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
It comes down to the mental for ude test for the Mavericks now. They have shown that they can do what's needed to beat the Spurs, now they have to do it when it counts.
If the Spurs can manage a Game 5 win, momentum sways. Suddenly the pressure is back on Dallas to win at home. If they don't, it's back to the seven-game series many predicted in the beginning, and Spurs still have the homecourt.
Granted, that's playing an impressive game of If's to play, but the series isn't over yet.
Has there been any official confirmation from Pop tha Hill will definitely get minutes? I didn't see the last game, bit timvp's ir has me believing he showed he belongs. It also showed me Finley is done, but Pop can be dense sometimes.
Referee Assignments
Tue. Apr. 28
Dallas @ San Antonio: M. McCutchen, R. Garretson, G. Willard
What do you all think about the referee assignments. Nothing pops out to me, so I guess that's good.
As long as it's a Crawford-free lineup, then it's good.
Referee Assignments
Referee assignments are posted at approximately 9:00am ET each game day.
Tue. Apr. 28 Created: Apr 28, 2009 2:34pm ET
Game Official 1 Official 2 Official 3
Chicago @ Boston M. Wunderlich S. Corbin J. DeRosa
Philadelphia @ Orlando J. Crawford M. Davis D. Stafford
Dallas @ San Antonio M. McCutchen R. Garretson G. Willard
Houston @ Portland D. Crawford B. Spooner L. Wood
Good...no Crawford, no Bavetta, no Violet Palmer...
Hmmm...Joey C. is in Orlando tonight. You can bet your bottom dollar he'll be reffing in Game 6 in Dallas if the Spurs win tonight.
Actually, that would shock the out of me. In fact, I think it's downright impossible since officials aren't (outside of the Finals) usually allowed to call games in the same city within 14 days of each other.
If the Spurs can survive Game 5, the crew chief possibilities for Game 6 would appear to be limited to Danny Crawford, Steve Javie, and Bennett Salvatore. All of the remaining crew chiefs will have done a game in this series already.
I'd think it's also quite likely that the 2nd and 3rd officials for such a game would come from a group that includes few more than Jim Clark, Sean Corbin, Marc Davis, Joe Derosa, David Jones, Bill Kennedy, Ken Mauer, Michael Smith, Bill Spooner, and Derrick Stafford.
I'm always impressed with your takes on refs. How do you keep track of all of this info and the rotations?
Mavericks:
G Jason Terry finished with 16 points for Dallas, which suffered one of the worst losses in the playoff rivalry. ... Dallas failed to send the Spurs to consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002.
Spurs:
G Tony Parker had 27 points of his 38 points in the first half. ... The Spurs avoided consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002. ... Parker finished 16-of-22 from the field. He had 19 points in the first quarter alone, equaling the Mavericks' total.
What ?
The Spurs didn't win 2 straight games at home in the playoffs since 2002 ?
Have they not followed the NBA playoffs since 2002 ?
What are they trying to say ?
I'm pretty sure that means that the last time the Spurs lost consecutive home playoff games was in 2002, which is true -- Games 3 and 4 against LAL.Mavericks:
G Jason Terry finished with 16 points for Dallas, which suffered one of the worst losses in the playoff rivalry. ... Dallas failed to send the Spurs to consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002.
Spurs:
G Tony Parker had 27 points of his 38 points in the first half. ... The Spurs avoided consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002. ... Parker finished 16-of-22 from the field. He had 19 points in the first quarter alone, equaling the Mavericks' total.
What ?
The Spurs didn't win 2 straight games at home in the playoffs since 2002 ?
Have they not followed the NBA playoffs since 2002 ?
What are they trying to say ?
Since then, if the Spurs have lost a home playoff game, they've won the next home game in the same playoff year. Though you could argue that losing Game 4 to LAL in the '08 WCF and Game 1 to DAL in the '09 First Round cons utes losing consecutive playoff home games, period.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
