Postseason Texas two-step on deck
San Antonio Spurs 89 at Dallas Mavericks 96
Wednesday night's battle between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs was built as a potential playoff preview. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made a decision to ensure that was the case.With the Mavericks sitting just one win away from claiming the Western Conference's No. 2 seed heading into the postseason, the Spurs' head playcaller decided to rest two of his top three players. Both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were not even in uniform, after their coach made an executive decision to rest the two stars in the season finale. While Tony Parker did suit up, the All-Star guard entered the game in a reserve role.
"I guess (Popovich) wanted to rest them, make sure they didn't get hurt" Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "Maybe they wanted to play us. All of those things are possible."
Whatever the thinking was, Popovich set up an opening round, two-versus-seven playoff series between the two Southwest Division rivals after Dallas' 96-89 victory over Parker and the San Antonio role players.
"No matter who puts (a uniform) on, you still have to go out and win the game," point guard Jason Kidd said. "With those guys deciding to sit Duncan and Ginobili, we've been in that situation before. We know they'll be ready to go Saturday or Sunday."
"I guess they wanted us. Now we get to play them," forward Shawn Marion said in anticipation of the playoff matchup.
The Mavs did fall into an early deficit to the shorthanded Spurs in the opening quarter. Thanks to rookie DeJuan Blair's dominance inside, San Antonio raced out to a quick six-point lead.
"When (Blair) gets to a certain area, he's hard to move," Mavs center Brendan Haywood said.
But behind Kidd and sixth man Jason Terry, the Mavs rallied with a 16-2 run to end the first period up 30-22.
Dallas sprinted to a double-digit advantage in the second period, with Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler coming alive. But the Spurs continued to remain close behind Blair's scoring and hard-nosed rebounding. Still, the Mavs took a 56-46 advantage into the halftime break.
Behind Kidd's 16-point first half on 5-of-9 shooting, the Mavericks out-shot the Spurs 48 percent to 40 percent at the midway point. Blair's 15 points and 11 rebounds kept San Antonio in contention.
Parker began the third quarter on the court, helping the Spurs hack away at the Dallas lead. Nowitzki calmed his crew down, swishing in shots from the perimeter to keep the Mavs at a save distance. But after a brief run from the Spurs, the Mavericks fought through their own poor offensive execution to take a 75-64 edge into the final 12 minutes of play.
"It had more of a preseason feel out there," Nowitzki said.
With Butler assertively attacking the rim, the Mavs' intensity level picked up in the fourth quarter, and with it returned the offensive success. But the Spurs didn't go away quietly, as an offensive flurry from Garrett Temple cut the Mavs' favorable margin to single digits. However, San Antonio never got any closer than six down the stretch. And in the final two minutes of play, the Mavericks extended the lead with clutch shots at the free throw line to secure the win and the second seed.
"The game itself wasn't much to watch. It is over and that is good. Glad it was a win," Carlisle said.
In a tuneup for the first round series, the two teams struggled shooting the ball. Both squads finished the night connecting on 41 percent from the field. Fortunately, the Mavericks nailed 6-of-14 from behind the 3-point arch, compared to 2-of-22 shooting from deep for the Spurs.
"We have to forget this game tonight," Carlisle said. "Look, the regular season is over...We have to move on to a playoff series."
Butler's 20 points led the way, followed by 19 from Nowitzki and 18 more from Kidd. Terry added 10 points off the bench.
But Blair's 27-point, 23-rebound night caught Carlisle's eye. The first-year standout helped the Spurs win the rebounding battle 52-47.
"Blair made a case that he should be playing a lot in this series," the coach said. "He has had a solid year and he has done a great job for them. He has started some, sometimes he hasn't, but he plays hard and plays with force. I would like to see us do a better job on him, but these are numbers he is capable of."
Now the Mavericks await Sunday night, when the first round series tips off. After his team defeated San Antonio in three of the four regular season matchups and ended the season on a five-game winning streak, Carlisle is sure of one thing.
"It will be a tough series. It will be very competitive. It is great competition and so we look forward to it," Carlisle concluded.
The Mavericks also have a 4-1 series win against the Spurs in last season's opening round under their belt.
"It seems like we play them every year anyways, so it's kind of fitting," Nowitzki said.
Note: The Mavs-Spurs First Round series schedule is as follows:
Game 1 – Sun April 18 San Antonio at Dallas 7:00PM TXA21/ TNT
Game 2 – Wed April 21 San Antonio at Dallas 8:30PM TXA21/ TNT
Game 3 – Fri April 23 Dallas at San Antonio 8:30PM TXA21/ ESPN
Game 4 – Sun April 25 Dallas at San Antonio 6:00PM TXA21/ TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 27 San Antonio at Dallas TBD TXA21/ TBD
Game 6 * Thu April 29 Dallas at San Antonio TBD TXA21/ TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 1 San Antonio at Dallas TBD TXA21/ TNT
Mavs.com introduces a new, interactive broadcast entitled "Technical Foul," hosted by Mavs television broadcasters Mark Followill and Bob Ortegel. The first live broadcast will be Friday, April 16 at 12:30 p.m. CT, highlighting the Mavericks' first-round playoff series, while Earl K. Sneed fields questions from the fans via the official Mavs Twitter account. Tune in for exclusive Mavs talk with the people that know the team the best.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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