Mavs come back from 19 points down to stop Spurs
San Antonio Express-News
By Johnny Ludden
The Western Conference finals trophy was somewhere in the building. Security officials had been briefed on the presentation ceremony. An NBA official had a big bag of "Spurs Western Conference Champions" T-shirts and hats ready to distribute.
Even the local newspaper became proactive and started printing 15,000 ready-to-sell "SPURS WIN!" front pages.
Three hours later, they were headed straight for the recycling bin.
The Spurs' trip to the NBA Finals will have to wait. For now, they're only headed back to Dallas.
Unable to stop the Mavericks or hit their own shots, the Spurs surrendered a 19-point lead and lost 103-91. They walked out of the SBC Center not with a trophy, but empty-handed, both stunned and frustrated that they cling to a 3-2 lead in the series heading into Thursday's Game 6.
"It was straight out of a bad dream," David Robinson said. "But you have to use it as motivation to get going. Nothing you really want is going to be easy. You have to work hard for it. I'll guarantee we'll get focused for the next one."
The Spurs failed to show that focus in the final quarter, allowing the Mavericks to shoot 58.8 percent and outrebound them 13-7. They missed 11 of their first 12 shots and scored just 10 points in the quarter. For the game, they also missed 14 free throws.
As a result, Dallas — which still trailed by 17 points with less than eight minutes left in the third quarter — swallowed up the Spurs' lead.
"Everybody says you have to have experience or this, that or the other," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "But I think if you have half a brain, you realize how important a game that was. You don't have to be there before.
"It comes down to rebounding and stops. Missed shots are fine. Missed free throws are fine. But the other stuff needed to be done. Dallas had more people that wanted to do that tonight."
Dallas also could regain the services of one more important person for Thursday. Mavericks coach Don Nelson said Dirk Nowitzki, who sat out his second straight game with a sprained left knee, is "legitimately doubtful" to play in Game 6, but added, "the longer the series goes, the better the chance we have to get him back."
For the first 36 or so minutes of Game 5, the series didn't figure to last past Tuesday. The Spurs put on a brilliant display of passing in the opening half, frequently finding cutters at the rim as they assisted on 17 of their 20 baskets.
For the first quarter and a half, the Spurs shot close to 70 percent. By halftime, they had already placed four scorers in double figures. Less than four minutes into the second quarter, they led 44-25.
The Spurs still led by 11 at the half after shooting 60.6 percent. The Mavericks shot just 34 percent in the first two quarters.
"You look at the stats at halftime, and we should have been down 25," Nelson said. "With six minutes left, I told the guys, 'I don't want you to try to get it all back at once. Just get me to 10 at halftime.'
"Well, they got me 11. That was close enough."
The Spurs helped the Mavericks' cause by committing four turnovers in the final 5:07 of the half.
"I thought we really showed a lack of maturity the last five, six minutes of the second quarter," Popovich said. "I thought that was the beginning of our problems. It looked like we were expecting someone to give us something for some strange reason."
If Popovich thought those six minutes in the second quarter were bad, he soon discovered the last 12 minutes of the game were even worse. The Mavericks switched to a zone to choke off Tim Duncan (23 points, 15 rebounds and six assists), limiting him to just two shots in the final quarter.
With Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Stephen Jackson unable to get on track, the Spurs didn't get their first basket in the quarter until more than six minutes were gone.
"They just decided (Duncan) was not going to beat them," Malik Rose said. "Tony's seen that before. Stephen's seen that before. Manu's seen that before. But we didn't react the way we were taught and capable of reacting and it hurt us."
Raef LaFrentz gave the Mavericks their first lead of the game on a dunk with 7:34 left. Michael Finley, who scored a game-high 31 points and kept Dallas close, yielded to Nick Van Exel who dropped in 12 of his 21 points in the final quarter. Van Exel put the game away when he made two free throws, stole Rose's inbounds pass and made three more foul shots when he was fouled by Jackson on a 3-point attempt.
Jackson had four fouls and two turnovers to three points in the final quarter and briefly bickered with Bruce Bowen on the sidelines. Bowen also yelled at a courtside heckler to shut up.
"I saw blue shirts on the floor," Popovich said. "I saw blue shirts ripping rebounds from people in white shirts. They deserved it. They wanted it more. They got it."
If nothing else, the Spurs can say they've been here before. Blowing a double-digit lead in the playoffs is nothing new to them.
"I saw a couple of negative faces and people who were upset," Ginobili said. "That's all right to be upset because you can't let this happen. But we still have two more chances to get just one. It's not all bad."
Reply With Quote
