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Great defensive intensity, and very few letdowns, aside from Marion going ape on Bonner. Matty made up for it with really aggressive rebounding. Why the Mavs kept going away from Dirk I have no idea. Did he miss a shot?
Some post-game quotes.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011031806Spurs bounce back from blowout loss, beat Mavs
By Jaime Aron
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich saw his team getting sloppy on defense again, so he called a timeout to let his guys know how disgusted he was.
The game was 42 seconds old. They were down 2-0.
And they wouldn't trail again.
Fueled by three days of rest -- and three days of Popovich griping about their defense following a 30-point loss to Miami -- San Antonio's usual trio of stars powered the way to a 97-91 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Tony Parker scored 33 points, Manu Ginobili had 25 and Tim Duncan added 22 as the Spurs rebounded from the blowout against the Heat and another lopsided loss to the Lakers in their other, most recent game against an upper-eschelon team.
San Antonio never trailed after Popovich's quick T.O., but it was far from easy.
The Spurs let an 18-point lead in the second quarter turn into a tie midway through the third. They pulled away again, only to go through a 6:31 stretch without scoring that allowed the Mavs to get within a basket. Defensive pressure and a 3-pointer banked in by Parker helped fuel one more rally, icing the victory and avoiding more of Popovich's wrath.
"When you have Pop in your ear for three days, it can be a long three days," Parker said. "In the film sessions we talked about not playing physical, not playing with intensity or playing good defense. Tonight we wanted to make sure we stayed in front of people and made sure their shots were hard."
What went wrong on that first play, when Dirk Nowitzki broke free for an open 19-footer?
"We were supposed to switch and we didn't switch," Parker said. "So he was on fire from the get-go."
Nowitzki scored 23 points, but San Antonio's tenacious defense prevented him from getting much help. He was the only Dallas starter to score in double figures.
Shawn Marion scored 13 points in 14 first-half minutes, but didn't play the second half because of an injured right wrist. The Mavericks missed his energy, scoring and defense during their comeback bid, going instead with a three-guard lineup. They actually opened the game that way, too, but probably wouldn't have finished with that lineup had he been healthy. X-rays showed nothing broken, and he's considered day-to-day.
A bigger problem for Dallas is that this makes five losses in eight games -- with all the losses to potential playoff foes.
"The rhythm obviously isn't there right now," said guard Jason Terry, who scored 19 points after missing his first six shots.
The Spurs didn't need much more than their three stars.
Parker and Ginobili set the tone early, powering spurts of 10-0 and 9-0 in the first quarter, and Duncan was his old, dominant self in the third quarter. After the Mavs tied it at 60, he scored six points during a 9-0 run that kept San Antonio in control.
"We all three played pretty well," Ginobili said. "It felt great. We needed to step up and have a good game. ... We had a solid defensive game, and we didn't take crazy shots. Defense was a big key today."
San Antonio also didn't get much from everyone else. The other guys combined to score just 17 points, eight from Gary Neal.
The reliance on Parker, Ginobili and Duncan caused some problems late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, when San Antonio missed 13 straight shots. While Neal had the drought-buster, it was set up by a backcourt steal by Ginobili.
"When we're not making shots, we have to rely on our defense," Duncan said. "We had great energy, great awareness. There was a lot better focus all around."
The Mavs -- who overcame an 18-point deficit in their previous game, at Golden State -- were so lackadaisical at first that Marion and Tyson Chandler each dropped the ball out of bounds in the backcourt with no one around on consecutive trips down the court. They didn't start clicking until they were down 40-22. After forcing a 24-second violation, they started pushing the action and got within 50-45 at halftime.
Nowitzki tied it with a jumper over Duncan. Fans went crazy, but the excitement was short-lived. San Antonio managed to weather its long, late drought, mostly because the Mavs went through a shooting skid of their own.
"The guys battled in the second half like crazy," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We just couldn't get there."
NOTES: San Antonio took the season series 3-1 over its in-state and division rival. ... Neither team scored the first 3:29 of the fourth quarter. ... Why are the Spurs so good? Little things, like making inbounds passes tough. Kidd barely got one off in a spot when Dallas had just 2 seconds on the shot clock, and Ginobili deflected another from 6-foot-11 center Ian Mahinmi. ... Nowitzki went 3 of 3 from the line, giving him 56 consecutive makes, extending what's already the longest streak in the NBA this season.
Great defensive intensity, and very few letdowns, aside from Marion going ape on Bonner. Matty made up for it with really aggressive rebounding. Why the Mavs kept going away from Dirk I have no idea. Did he miss a shot?
Some more quotes.
Spurs spurn rival
Mike Monroe
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...s-spurn-rival/
*********************
Kidd’s longevity continues to astound Spurs
Mike Monroe
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...astound-spurs/
View from the other side.
http://www.nba.com/mavericks/ir_post_2011_03_19.htmlInside Report: Spurs-Mavericks recap — Spurs' Big Three too much for turnover-prone Mavs
Earl K. Sneed
Mavs.com
Earl K. Sneed recaps the action from the American Airlines Center, where the Mavericks' miscues and giveaways were too much to overcome as they fell for a third time this season to the Spurs.
Although Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle would be the first to admit that few statements are made in the regular season, he did not hide his feelings in regard to Friday night perhaps being the perfect opportunity for his team to send a resounding message to the NBA-best San Antonio Spurs — who were coming off a season-worst 30-point loss in Miami — as well as the rest of the league for that matter.
Despite sitting just 6 1/2 games behind the Spurs in the Southwest Division coming into the night, Carlisle’s confidence was not shaken heading into the Mavericks’ last regular-season shot at the in-state rival, believing that with a signature win to tip off a three-game homestand the Dallas team could begin to close the gap as the playoffs approach.
“I like that we’re being tested right now,” Carlisle simply said.
But the Mavericks (48-21) weren’t able to pass their test on Friday night, and the Spurs were the team sending the message, as the Dallas squad fell 97-91 to drop the season series 3-1 to the divisional rival in front of a playoff-intense crowd at the American Airlines Center.
“This one we wanted to win it and it didn’t happen for us. We’ve got to stay positive and we’ve got to find our rhythm and obviously that’s not happening right now,” sixth man Jason Terry said after the Mavs dropped their fifth game in the last eight outings.
Fortunately for the Mavericks they were nearly at full strength for the matchup, as backup center Brendan Haywood returned from a two-game absence with lower back stiffness, while small forward Peja Stojakovic missed his sixth straight game with a stiff neck. With Stojakovic still sidelined the revolving door at the starting 3 spot would continue, with swingman DeShawn Stevenson sliding into the first unit after Shawn Marion and Corey Brewer had also filled the role.
Still, the momentum would quickly switch back to the league-leading Spurs (55-13) in the opening quarter, after coach Gregg Popovich’s 20-second timeout 42 seconds into the game quieted Dirk Nowitzki’s initial bucket and led to a 10-0 spurt for San Antonio. Spurs point guard Tony Parker and big man Tim Duncan would then quickly lift the visiting team to a double-digit lead, with free-agent rookie Gary Neal also finding the range early on. Behind the trio, the Spurs would take a 30-20 edge after 12 minutes of play despite a quick start for Nowitzki.
“It was a tough one there. We were just a step slower. Give them a lot of credit, they sat on a loss for three days and came out swinging,” Nowitzki said of the opening quarter.
Keep reading...
Good game. Nice work TP. Spurs MVP
@ Cuban who said he wouldn't trade Beaubois for Parker.
Without doubt.. He is being carrying the Spurs for a while now.Good game. Nice work TP. Spurs MVP
I was just thinking about how bad Antonio McDyess can be when he suddenly got that steal.
I think more than any other role player, that Dice has another level he will bring for the playoffs. I think you will see some ferocious rebounding from him.
when/where did he say that? (I can't find the game quotes...)
Great defensive effort and focus in the first quarter, moderated some in the second. By the third, we were sort of standing around, but came to life somewhat in the fourth, especially in those 6 minutes when our shooters went cold. If it hadn't been for the fact that we kept Dallas scoreless for 4 minutes as well, this game could have gone the other way. And we did well in the last few minutes of the game.
I know it is hard to keep up the effort displayed in the first quarter for 48 minutes, but a team with good conditioning can do wonders. I think the long practice that Pop put them through during their off days may have helped.
San Antonio Spurs 97, Dallas Mavericks 91: Pops sets the tone 42 seconds in
by Timothy Varner
48 Minutes of
The Spurs wrapped up the Southwest Division le last night, but that is hardly a thing for the team which is most likely to have home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The bigger question surrounding San Antonio in recent days doesn’t concern the quan y of their wins, but the quality of their play. The Spurs flew into Dallas against the backdrop of their recent losses to Los Angeles and Miami. Embarrassing losses. This was an important game.
Keep reading →
He said it a couple of days ago in L'Equipe.
The Difference: San Antonio Spurs 97, Dallas Mavericks 91
by Rob Mahoney
The Two Man Game
http://www.thetwomangame.com/2011/03...-mavericks-91/
Dirk's headshake:
Agreed, though I thought the D was pretty damn good throughout the game. Last night is the best 48 minute performance they've put up in three months. As the rotation shortens and the minutes go up they'll start to get their legs.
Dice is the man.
Is there a youtube vid of this? And/Or maybe one of the Manu steal and Neal 3?
thks!
I've stopped buy/reading it a long time ago...
Cool. Thanks.
Still have no idea why nobody (NBA.com/ESPN.com) has highlights of the Gino steal and the pass to Neal in the corner. That was a HUGE play.
Ah, well.
The ESPN highlight I saw had all Maverick baskets and Parker's banked in three.
What period was that in?
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