http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...v.31baeb7.html
Web Posted: 11/24/2006 02:31 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
When the Dallas Mavericks opened the season by losing at home to the Spurs, the outcome did little to unsettle the NBA landscape. The game, like most between the fierce rivals, wasn't decided until the final minute. Either team could have won.
Two nights later in Houston, however, Dallas was blown out by 31 points. A loss to Golden State followed. Then another in Los Angeles to the Clippers.
The Mavericks were 0-4 when they arrived in Phoenix on Nov. 9. Trailing was all the what's-wrong talk-show banter.
Was Dallas still hung over from its loss in the NBA Finals? Adjusting to its seven new players? Too fat and happy from off-season contract extensions?
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was sure there was at least one person among the Mavericks who wasn't panicking.
"I told my guys," Popovich said, "Avery's just loving this."
Two weeks later, Dallas coach Avery Johnson could have even more reason to smile. With Johnson having used the poor start to renew his team's focus, the Mavericks visit the AT&T Center tonight having reeled off seven consecutive victories.
Dallas has averaged 105.3 points during the winning streak, more than 16 above what it averaged during its first four games.
"They're the Mavs again," Popovich said.
Dallas could be closer to whole tonight. Josh Howard has missed the previous eight games with a sprained left ankle but practiced Thursday and will be re-evaluated this morning.
The adversity Dallas faced from its sluggish start and Howard's injury gave Johnson all the material he needed to remind his players they shouldn't dwell on last season's success.
"It's a great teaching situation," Popovich said. "I knew he would take advantage of it.
"It lets you go back to practice, get your players' attention. If you just play games and you don't practice a lot and you're winning, all of a sudden you're going to get to the point where you do skip steps and forget how you got there. The intensity isn't the same, you're not rotating on defense the same way, your transition isn't the same, you take some things for granted."
What the Spurs haven't taken for granted is Dallas. The Mavericks lurched out of the gate, but the Spurs never expected them to be far behind.
"Dallas has a lot of talent, a lot of weapons, a lot of guys who can play," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "So it was just a matter of time for them to get going and to forget what happened last season.
"It's always hard when you win a championship or go to the NBA Finals. You always get a slow start."
The Spurs have stayed atop the Southwest Division by winning nine of their past 10 games. They lead the league in point differential (plus-7.75) and are coming off a 106-86 victory over Miami. Since the Mavericks held him to 13 points in the season opener, Tim Duncan has averaged 23.5 points.
"Even hurt last year he was one of the best," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "A bounce here or there, not fouling (Dirk) Nowitzki on that three-point (play), whatever, and they could have been in the Finals in a breath.
"I haven't seen a team play as well as them over the last five years."
A victory tonight would give the Spurs no worse than a split of the season series. For now, they are more concerned about using the game as a barometer of how well they're playing.
"It's not going to matter when the playoffs start because it's going to be so far (away)," Parker said. "But I still think it's going to be a great game and we're definitely going to play like we're motivated.
"We remember what they did to us last year in the playoffs."
The Mavericks eliminated the Spurs on their own floor in Game 7 of the conference semifinals. But, as Johnson has preached, last season isn't this season. The goal is to build back to that level of play.
"I've never seen one (statement game) being made in November, but we still want to play hard and with a lot of physicality against anybody that we're playing, whether we're 0-2, 2-2," Johnson told reporters in Dallas on Thursday. "The record doesn't matter. The team doesn't matter.
"We're just really trying to work on ourselves because before we can fix somebody else, we've got to fix ourselves first."
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Defense of the 3-point shooting tonight ought to be an interesting challenge for these two teams. It's early in the season, but San Antonio ranks 27th in Opp. 3-pt. %. Dallas is taking 6 more 3-pt. attempts this season (19.6 per game), as pointed out by J. Ludden in a game note yesterday.
San Antonio has seen early success in trapping on the ball. It will be interesting to see how much they do that versus Dallas and how well the Mavs can find the open player.
What changed with the Mavs after Avery became coach and Steve Nash departed was that they no longer relied on spreading the ball around via PG play to score points...
I know the first instinct from Spursfans and most hoops fans would be to say that...ball movement is good, so how could Avery reducing that have been a good thing...
Well the Spurs defense is predicated on disrupting the passing lanes of the opposing team and shutting down their ballmovement...this is usually done by taking the point guard's penetration away.
The Mavs went from averaging like 23+ assists per game to 17 but were still able to put about the same number of points on the board using Dirk...
That reduction of their dependence on point guard distribution also reduced the effectiveness of the Spurs D to disrupt their offense...
IOW...it won't be about defending the 3 point line, which we did pretty effectively in the post season...it'll be about stopping Dirk.
spurs win if howard is not playing handly
And this is breaking news? Don't tell me this guy gets paid for this crap
he is better then writing in the paper saying when the championship parade will be then there was NONE like your dallas paper writeAnd this is breaking news? Don't tell me this guy gets paid for this crap
Dallas (7-4) at San Antonio (10-2)
Dallas (7-4) at San Antonio (10-2)
Preview - Box Score - Recap
Game Info: 8:00 pm EST Fri Nov 24, 2006
TV: ESPN, MyS35 Add to Calendar
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By KATE HEDLIN, STATS Writer
A season-opening loss to the San Antonio Spurs sent the Dallas Mavericks on an early-season skid. The now surging Mavericks look to avoid a repeat when they face the Spurs at the AT&T Center on Friday.
Dallas (7-4) has won seven straight since opening the season with four consecutive losses, including the 97-91 loss to the Spurs (10-2) on Nov. 2.
"I think we were just trying to find ourselves a bit," reserve Austin Croshere said of the team's problems to start the season. "Early, we were waiting for things to happen, and now we're making things happen. We've definitely been the aggressors the last seven games."
This is the longest winning streak for Dallas since a 13-game run from Jan. 14-Feb. 9.
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The Mavericks routed the Washington Wizards 107-80 on Tuesday. Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points while Jason Terry and Devin Harris each added 18, helping Dallas break open a game that was tied at halftime.
Terry went 4-for-9 from 3-point range, while Greg Buckner and Croshere were a combined 6 of 11 from beyond the arc.
"(Assistant coach) Joe Prunty was laughing because we shot better from the 3 than we did from the 2," coach Avery Johnson said. "We know that will not work all season, but we had a stretch where we made quite a few of them."
The Mavericks have kept on winning despite being held under 40 percent shooting from the field in the last two games.
Poor shooting helped cost them a win against the Spurs in the opener. Dallas shot 43.2 percent that night, including several key misses during a 6:13 scoreless stretch in the fourth quarter.
Spurs guard Tony Parker expects to see a better effort out of Dallas this time around.
"It's going to be a great game because they are going to be motivated after what happened the first game of the season," Parker said. "They are ... playing a little bit better than early in the season, so it's going to be a good test for us."
Parker had 17 points in San Antonio's 106-86 blowout of the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Tim Duncan led the team with 19 points and Manu Ginobili added 17.
The Spurs led 57-38 by halftime against a Heat team playing without Shaquille O'Neal. San Antonio took advantage, outrebounding the Heat 43-34 on the night.
"A win is a win," Parker said. "Obviously Miami is not the same team without Shaq, but we still have to play and I thought tonight was a great win for the whole team."
The Spurs, who begin a three-game road trip after Friday's game, are undefeated on the road, but 4-2 at home this season.
San Antonio and Dallas met in last season's Western conference semifinals, with the Mavericks eliminating the Spurs in seven games.
"It's not the same as the playoffs last season," Ginobili said. "The only thing that will make us forget is to have a great season and play them again."
The Texas rivals split four regular-season meetings in 2005-06, but San Antonio has won seven of the last 10.
Really ?, cause I was sure we beat you guys 4-3 in last year's PO's... oh right you're going back to the nellie/bradley reg. season days for those stats, my bad.San Antonio has won seven of the last 10.
RIFmavfan.
that doesnt deny the fact that they are chokers....
Own3d!
Is there a game tonight?
the Mavericks? That's a WNBA team. WNBA
mavs now 8-4 and spurs now 10-3. Please spurs fans go out and get laid or enjoy your night. You are wasting your time watching a game that is already decided. You cant and wont beat your daddies tonight. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME. As for Mav fans, watch the game and enjoy beating these s! Mavs plays the spurs better on the road also!!!
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