San Antonio at Dallas (April 20) The Paul Schaffer award of the night goes to whoever decided to play "All My Ex's Live in Texas" just prior to the introduction of the Spurs. The San Antonio Spurs were originally the Dallas Chaparrals. San Antonio started out hot and went up 11-2 with 9:44 left on a 3-pointer by Sean Elliott. San Antonio continued their hot shooting and was up 15-4 with 8:47 left. San Antonio was shooting 7-7 FG and Dallas 2-6 FG. The teams traded 3 baskets and Popeye Jones hit a jumper. San Antonio 21-12 with 6:46 remaining. Jason Kidd fed Lucious Harris for a layup and David Robinson hit a jumper. San Antonio was shooting 11-12 FG. Popeye got two consecutive putbacks and Jamal Mashburn dropped it home on a break. San Antonio 23-20 with 5:03 left. The teams traded 2 points, J.R. Reid worked in for 2, and Avery Johnson fed Elliott for 2. Popeye hit an 18-footer and David Robinson hit a 3-pointer. San Antonio led 34-24 with 2:34 left. Mashburn answered with a 3 of his own. Harris made 2 free throws and the Spurs scored the next 6 points. Harris hit a 20-footer, A Johnson hit a running banker, and Scott Brooks nailed the baseliner. After 1, San Antonio 42-33. San Antonio shot 73% FG and Dallas shot 54% FG. Robinson had 13 points on 6-6 FG, Popeye had 12 points, and Kidd had 6 assists. Chuck Person opened the quarter with a baseliner. Brooks hit a 3-pointer and Roy Tarpley nailed the 20-footer. San Antonio 44-38 with 10:15 to go. Robinson hit a free throw jumper and Vinnie Del Negro hit a 21-footer. George McCloud made 2 free throws. Person hit a jumper and Doc Rivers got an uncontested layup. San Antonio 52-40 with 8 minutes left. The teams traded 4 points. Dallas went on an 8-0 run to cut the Spurs' lead to 56-52 with 4:42 left. The teams traded baskets and A Johnson hit 2 free throws. San Antonio 60-54 with 2:24 remaining. Dennis Rodman missed 2 free throws and McCloud hit 1 free throw. Terry Cummings got the putback, Mashburn drove for the flip in, and A Johnson hit a jumper. Kidd hit a 3-pointer. Kidd fed McCloud for the finger roll and Mashburn closed the quarter with 2 free throws to tie the game at 64-64. San Antonio shot 56% (29-52) FG and Dallas shot 53% (25-47) FG. San Antonio shot 4-9 FT and Dallas shot 11-12 FT. Dallas was out-rebounding San Antonio 23-20. Robinson had 17 points and Kidd had 5 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds. Harris gave Dallas its first lead on a 3-pointer at 69-68. It did not last long as A Johnson came right back and hit a jumper. Mashburn hit a 3-pointer and Kidd got a putback. Dallas 74-70 with 8:18 left. Robinson hit a hook shot and Del Negro hit a jumper to tie the game at 74-74. The Spurs continued their run as Robinson hit the turnaround banker and A Johnson got a break-away layup. San Antonio led 78-74 with 4:30 left. Popeye hit a jumper and Robinson made a free throw. The teams traded baskets then traded a ton of possessions. Robinson hit a 15-footer to give San Antonio a 83-78 lead with 1:20 left. The teams traded two jumpers to close the quarter at San Antonio 85-80. San Antonio shot 55% FG and Dallas shot 45% FG. Robinson had 30 points including 14-19 FG and 9 rebounds and Kidd had 7 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds. Robinson hit a turnaround fade away. Tarpley hit two jumpers. Rodman got a T for saying something to a ref. Tarpley made the T then drove for 2 to tie the game at 87-87 with 8:58 remaining. The teams traded baskets and Tony Dumas got 2 up close. Dallas 91-89 with 8:15 left. The teams traded two baskets as the game remained close. Lorenzo Williams collected his 5th foul. Rodman got 2 on the goaltending call. McCloud missed, but Dumas flew by to tap the rebound towards Tarpley who got the jam. Dallas 95-93 with 6:20 to go. Tarpley hit an 18-footer and A Johnson drove for 2. Kidd nailed the 3-pointer to give himself his 4th triple-double and the Mavs a 100-95 lead with 5:29 remaining. Rivers hit a jumper and McCloud hit a 3-pointer. Dallas led 103-97 with 4:47 left. Robinson got 2 inside and Rivers hit a 3 as the shot clock expired. A Johnson drove for 2 to give San Antonio the lead at 104-103 with 2:50 left. Mashburn hit 2 free throws and Elliott drove for 2. San Antonio 106-105 with 1:50 left. Tarpley hit the running one-hander and Robinson drove for 2. 59 seconds. Mashburn got the one-hand drop in to put Dallas up 109-108 with 47.1 seconds remaining. Elliott missed the quick 3 (actually long 2 as his foot was on the line). McCloud missed and Elliott rebounded. 19 seconds. Elliott drove baseline line for 2. San Antonio 110-109 with just 10.2 seconds left. Kidd drove, Robinson blocked, but McCloud ran in, grabbed the rebound and got the layup! Dallas 111-110 with 1.6 seconds left. Elliott faked setting the pick to get open on the inbounds, got the ball with no one in front of him, but Mashburn cleanly blocked the ball from behind (no body contact), but infamous ref Ken Mauer called a foul as Mashburn's hand grazed Elliott's head after the ball was out of Elliott's hands*. No time was showing on the clock, but the refs put .5 seconds back on. Elliott made the clutch free throws to put the Spurs up 112-111. Popeye inbounded the ball to Brooks, but it was fumbled away and Dallas did not get a shot off. San Antonio 112, Dallas 111. [*After re-watching the play many times (from 3 angles), I still say that it was a bad call. More detail: Elliott had the ball in both hands, arms fully extended. Mashburn camed from Elliott's left side, some what behind. Mashburn got one hand on top of the ball farthest from Elliott's face (no body contact what-so-ever). Mashburn pulled his arm towards Elliott's head and Mashburn's body with the ball moving out of Elliott's hands - still no contact. Mashburn's fingers (no palm) make contract with the top of Elliott's forehead on the left side and the ball is now between Elliott's wrists and elbows. The contact had no effect on the play and did not give Mashburn an unfair advantage.] With the win, San Antonio clinched the best record in the NBA for the 1994-95 season and home court advantage. Jason Kidd had his 4th triple-double in 16 days and 10 games with 10 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds. Quotes Sean Elliott: "You can't miss those when that much is on the line. It was one of our goals to have the best record in the NBA and win the Midwest Division. We have a bigger goal, though: to continue to build on what we have done all year." David Robinson: "Sean has been big for us all year. He's really become a clutch player." Bob Hill: "We just had to play a little more half-court and try to go inside to David, and they had a tough time with him. They did a good job of keeping it out of his hands - maybe as good a job as anyone has done all year. Give Dallas a lot of credit, they played a tough ball game." Hill on the foul call: "When a team executes and you play hard, you get a call like that. I don't know if he was fouled or not, but these things all average out." Hill: "It was a special way to win our 60th. It guarantees us the best record in the league. Now the real season begins." Hill on why Rodman played so little time: "Because he wasn't playing. Guys who don't play, sit down. He wasn't here. If he doesn't want to play hard, we've got other guys who will." Dick Motta: "This year I have learned to expect anything. We hung in there and got the lead. We missed two nice layups that could have clinched it when we were up six, but still it comes down to a referee's call." Motta on the foul call: "This year, I have learned to expect anything. I think it will take another year to get the respect. I've probably talked (to the refs) 1/10th as much this year as any other year, and I've got as many technicals. I think they came in pre-conceived that [the Spurs] were going to win it." Motta: "It was our last [home] game. We put on a show. This summer, it's not going to make a bit of difference on our record. We've got the fans with us now. The Spurs didn't need additional help tonight. It would have been a kind of Cinderella story." Jamal Mashburn: "I thought it was a bad call. I thought I had a clean block on the basketball. I feel that after you block a shot, whatever happens after that is basketball, really. If I grazed him, he shouldn't have made the call, not with 1.6 seconds left." Jason Kidd: "You can't stop David, you just have to contain him. They have so many great people around him. We have played San Antonio well and I think that we have to start winning some of these games." Kidd: "I don't think [the loss] leaves a bitter taste. I think it's exciting. It makes the fans want to come back for more." 1 2 3 4 Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% San Antonio 42 22 21 27 - 112 .615 .214 .554 .538 Dallas 33 31 16 31 - 111 .469 .500 .474 .875 Halftime: 64-64 3rd Q: San Antonio 85-80 San Antonio's largest lead: 56-44 6:52 2nd Dallas' largest lead: 103-97 4:50 4th Dallas' last lead: 111-110 1.6 seconds 4th Lead changes: 14 Technicals: Dennis Rodman 9:25 4th Refs: Joe Crawford, Ken Mauer, Tim Donaghy Attendance: 17,502 (sell-out) San Antonio Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Sean Elliott 33 7-15 1-4 2-2 17 1-6 3 2 4 0 3 Terry Cummings 17 4-7 0-0 0-1 8 2-4 2 1 0 0 0 David Robinson 44 17-24 1-1 1-2 36 3-13 2 2 2 2 2 Avery Johnson 40 10-18 0-1 2-2 22 0-2 11 1 0 2 0 Vinnie Del Negro 29 3-8 0-2 2-2 8 0-4 4 0 1 2 2 J.R. Reid 25 2-5 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 3 2 0 0 Chuck Person 23 3-6 0-2 0-2 6 0-3 1 1 2 2 0 Doc Rivers 20 3-7 1-4 0-0 7 1-2 4 0 3 0 0 Dennis Rodman 9 2-2 0-0 0-2 4 3-4 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 240 51-92 3-14 7-13 112 10-39 27 10 16 8 7 Dallas Reb Player Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Pts O-T Ast TO F Stl Blk Jamal Mashburn 35 8-18 2-4 4-4 22 1-2 5 2 2 0 0 Popeye Jones 33 8-14 0-0 0-0 16 5-9 1 0 2 1 3 Lorenzo Williams 34 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 3-8 1 0 5 1 1 Jason Kidd 33 4-12 2-4 0-0 10 1-12 13 5 0 2 1 Lucious Harris 24 3-11 1-2 2-2 9 3-6 1 1 1 0 0 Roy Tarpley 29 10-15 0-1 5-5 25 1-2 0 1 3 0 0 Scott Brooks 15 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-1 3 1 0 0 0 Tony Dumas 12 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 2 2 0 0 0 George McCloud 24 7-12 1-2 3-5 18 2-4 2 1 2 0 0 Doug Smith 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 240 45-95 7-14 14-16 111 17-47 28 13 15 4 5