Adrian Griffin did not play in the San Antonio game due to a sprained right ankle. The injury occurred during Thursday's Dal-LAC game. Steve Nash, who has been sick for the past 5 days (missed practices, but did play in the Clippers game), stayed in the locker room for the 2nd half of the San Antonio game due to the stomach flu. Nash played in the 1st half, but threw up during halftime and the coaches told him to stay in the locker room. Dallas at San Antonio (April 6) Dallas started the game the way they have far too many games this season - sluggish - and San Antonio went up 14-4 with 7:15 remaining. Dirk Nowitzki picked up 2 fouls in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game [the 2nd one was bogus] and his defense (which isn't good anyways) became almost non-existent as he avoided picking up a 3rd foul while playing the rest of the half (the only time he sat the whole game was with a minute left in the 2nd quarter). Dallas finally started to score some and the Spurs' lead got no larger than 10 points. Dallas went on a 9-3 mini-run to pull within 22-23 with a minute to go. A layup by Tim Duncan gave San Antonio a 25-22 lead after 1. Michael Finley had 12 points and Duncan had 10 points. Dallas, who only averages 12 turnovers a game, had 7 turnovers in the quarter. Avery Johnson and Nick Van Exel hit jumpers to give Dallas a 31-29 lead with 9:25 left. The teams traded baskets and San Antonio scored 4 points to re-take the lead. San Antonio led 41-44 with 2:25 to go and closed the quarter with a 9-2 run to go up 53-43 at the half. Antonio Daniels had 11 points on 4-5 FG in the quarter. For the half, Duncan had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Finley had 14 points, and Nowitzki had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Steve Nash, who was not playing very well (only shot 0-4 FG with just 2 assists and 2 turnovers), threw up during halftime and did not play in the 2nd half. Both teams were shooting around 50% FG. The shooting by both teams went down dramatically in the 2nd half as both finished the game shooting around 42.5% FG [don't have the per-half breakdown]. San Antonio took their largest lead at 56-45 with 10:30 remaining, but Dallas went on a 14-3 run to tie the game at 59-59 with 3:40 left. San Antonio scored the next 5 points and maintained a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. San Antonio led 67-63 after 3. Nowitzki had 7 points and 7 rebounds in the quarter. San Antonio continued to lead and took a 78-68 lead with 5:20 left on a 3-pointer by Danny Ferry. The Spurs led 80-71 with 3:05 remaining and it was time for another Dallas comeback. Wang Zhizhi came in for Raef LaFrentz, who fouled out, and Wang hit a 3-pointer. The teams traded misses and Van Exel converted a 3-point play with 2:05 to go to pull Dallas within 77-80. Bruce Bowen hit a long jumper, but Van Exel answered with a 3-pointer with 1:40 left to make it a 2 point game. Duncan missed and Van Exel tried to force a quick shot that was easily blocked by Tony Parker. Duncan kicked out to an open Ferry who drained the 3-pointer to give San Antonio a 85-80 lead with 45 seconds left. Finley missed and Dallas fouled Bowen with 30 seconds remaining. But Bowen missed both free throws and Van Exel hit the quick short jumper with 24 seconds left. Parker was intentionally fouled off the inbounds and headed to the line. He hit the first, but missed the second and Nowitzki grabbed the rebound. The ref incorrectly signed a timeout, which Dallas did not call for (Dallas only had a 20 second timeout remaining). Dallas did get to inbound the ball with no timeout taken, but was upset as the delay gave San Antonio a chance to get back on defense. It worked out okay as Bowen left his feet on a Van Exel fake behind the arc and was called for a foul on a 3-point attempt - it was nearly a chance at a 4-point play as Van Exel's shot hit the back board and then bounced off the front of the rim. Van Exel went to the line and sank all 3 free throws to pull Dallas within 85-86 with 14 seconds left. San Antonio used a timeout to advance the ball to half court and Duncan was fouled off the inbounds. Duncan missed the first and hit the second and Dallas used their final timeout. Dallas got the ball into Nowitzki who nailed the turn around jumper over Malik Rose with 7 seconds left and we were all tied up at 87-87. San Antonio called timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt, but could not get the ball inbounded so they had to use their final timeout. San Antonio inbounded the ball to Duncan, who dribbled a couple of seconds off the clock, and rose and drained the 18-footer over Nowitzki with 2.2 seconds left to give San Antonio the lead. With no timeouts left, Dallas inbounded to Van Exel who took a couple of dribbles and heaved a shot from beyond half court that hit the top of the back board. San Antonio won 89-87. For the 4th straight Dallas-San Antonio game this season, the game went down to the wire. Even with the exciting finish, neither team will look back at this game as one of their better played games. Both teams shot poorly, had too few assists, and missed too many free throws. Dallas shot 42.6% FG including a very poor 5-22 3-pointers (and 3-pointer are a key component of Dallas' game) while San Antonio shot 42.7% FG including 4-10 3-pointers. Dallas had just 12 assists (2nd lowest this season) and San Antonio had 16 assists. Dallas missed 7 free throws (Dallas is tops in the league for free throw shooting) and San Antonio missed 18 free throws (ouch). I hate to bring it up, but the difference is so huge that there is no way I can't. Yes, Dallas fouled more than San Antonio, but there is no way that San Antonio should have had such a large free throw difference in this game. Dallas was taking the ball inside more than usual, but some homecooking was brewing in this game. San Antonio shot 27-45 FT and Dallas shot 12-19 FT - that's more attempts than in the other 3 Dal-SA games for San Antonio and the 2nd fewest attempts for Dallas. It's also the most free throws attempted for any Mavs' opponent this season. No surprise that San Antonio was led by Tim Duncan with 33 points on 10-20 FG and 13-18 FT, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks - an all-around great game that gave the fans a great matchup between two All-Stars. Duncan did not get too much help, though, which was one of the key reasons Dallas was able to stay in the game (despite their own poor performance). Antonio Daniels had 13 points, 11 of them in the 2nd quarter, and 6 rebounds. Danny Ferry had 11 points with 9 of them coming in the 4th quarter on 3 3-pointers. Bruce Bowen was the only other Spur in double-digits with 10 points on 4-6 FG and 2-6 FT [the missed free throws and his dumb foul on Nick Van Exel behind the arc had Spurs fans complaining about his performance]. David Robinson had 9 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes. Steve Smith was limited by fouls to just 11 minutes as he was unsuccessful in trying to guard Dirk Nowitzki. Though he didn't look as poor as he did in the first 2 Dal-SA matchups, Tony Parker was mediocre with just 9 points including 3-10 FG and 5 assists. Dallas was led by Dirk Nowitzki's 26 points and 21 rebounds. It's his 4th 20-20 game of the season (and his career) - only Roy Tarpley (7, also had 4 in 1 season) has more 20-20s as a Mav and James Donaldson (2) is the only other Mav with more than 1 20-20 games. Nowitzki also hit an incredible turn around jumper after he was fouled, but the ref did not grant the continuation despite the fact that Nowitzki never brought the ball down. The 2 fouls he picked up early seemed to really bother him as he backed away from Duncan inside a number of times resulting in an easy basket - even late in the 2nd quarter when he could afford to pick up another foul. Nick Van Exel brought Dallas back in the game as 13 of his 27 points came in the 4th quarter. He scored 8 of Dallas' last 10 points. Michael Finley had a poor outing in the Alamodome, even though he scored 18 points. He shot just 8-25 FG and 1-7 3-pointers and only got to the line once. But 2 of his makes were incredible fade-away jumpers with a defender (2 defenders for 1 of the shots) right up on him as the shot clock ran out. No other Mav was in double-digits. If you weren't paying attention, you might have not even noticed that Steve Nash was on the court in the 1st half. He only attempted 2 shots in each quarter (both misses) and had just 2 assists and 2 turnovers in 18 minutes. Despite throwing up during half time, he did want to play in the 2nd half, but the coaches said, "No." Avery Johnson filled in nicely for Nash with 9 points and 3 assists, but did get a little carried away in trying to score and missed 3 free throws. Raef LaFrentz had a terrible game with no defense and just 4 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 turnovers before fouling out in 25 minutes - Dallas needed him in this game and he was no where to be found. Wang Zhizhi's 3-pointer was his only points. And that is all the Mavs that scored - just 6 players. Greg Buckner started and had a donut with 3 rebounds in 18 minutes. Eduardo Najera had a worse line with just 3 fouls, 1 block, and a technical (undeserved) in his 17 minutes. And Even Eschmeyer had 1 foul in 1 minute on the court. With many, many, many thanks to Sarah for the ticket for this game. I'm glad this is the last season San Antonio plays in the Alamodome. Not only is it the worst building to watch a basketball game in (it's a football stadium), but the parking is horrendous. After walking a ways back to my car (no close parking), it took a non-exaggerated 20 minutes to get from the parking lot to the freeway - a distance of less than 4 blocks. With the win, San Antonio pulled with 1/2 game of Dallas for the race for the Midwest Division title. San Antonio also holds the tie-breaker if both teams finish with the same record as San Antonio took the series 3-1. Dallas does have the tougher schedule down the stretch, but does control their own destiny with the 1/2 game lead. The winner of the Midwest division automatically gets the #2 seed [Sacramento almost has the best record sewn up and will highly likely get the #1 seed]. How the playoff race in the West looks right now: Western Conference Team W L GB 1. Sacramento Kings ....... 57 19 - 2. Dallas Mavericks ....... 52 23 4.5 3. Los Angeles Lakers ..... 54 23 3.5 4. San Antonio Spurs ...... 52 24 5.0 5. Minnesota Timberwolves . 47 29 10.0 6. Portland Trailblazers .. 46 30 11.0 7. Seattle Sonics ......... 43 34 14.5 8. Utah Jazz .............. 42 34 15.0 Quotes Gregg Popovich: "We were fortunate to have had the ball last or it might have gone on all night." Popovich: "Dirk and Tim put on a great show tonight for the fans. Obviously, Tim is having an MVP season and pretty much everyone knows that we're going to him, which makes it tougher." Popovich on Ferry: "Danny is a consummate pro, one of those guys that makes the big shot. I know everyone wants to do that, but he's been big for us all year when healthy." Tim Duncan on his game winner: "I needed that one badly. I've been having some really horrible 2nd halves lately. It was just good to get one out of the way like that. It helps my confidence. It was huge for me." Duncan on the Midwest race: "We're definitely happy to be in the position we're in, within 1/2 game of them. We've just got to control our side of it and what happens over there happens." Danny Ferry: "We all feed off Tim. Everything starts with him. Fortunately I made my shots tonight." Don Nelson: "We played extremely well and played together and did all the things good teams are supposed to do. We gave it our best shot and we didn't win." Nelson on not doubling Duncan on his last attempt: "When you get the ball in the middle of the floor it's pretty hard to double-team anybody. I thought [Duncan] had too many dribbles to get his rhythm, but you couldn't come off anybody and leave them wide open. I thought Dirk played him well, he bothered the shot. The guy made a terrific basket." Nelson on the free throw disparity: "It's really hard to play a good team and be out-shot more than double at the foul line. That usually doesn't happen in a big game. We were going inside a lot and penetrating and doing all the things. I thought we should have done better there [with more free throw opportunities], but it didn't work out that way. So you have to play the game and you have to coach the game the way things are." Nelson on if the free throw difference affected the game: "That was a factor." Nelson: "Nick Van Exel stepping up like that and having an All-Star performance is really encouraging heading into the playoffs. There is lots of good to take out of this one." Nelson on the Midwest race: "I'd say the advantage is clearly theirs now. This game was very important to us to be able to win the division. We needed this one and we didn't get it." Michael Finley: "We got the shot we wanted. They got the shot they wanted. 2 guys made some big shots and we just ran out of time." Finley: "We know we can beat the Spurs, we just have to do it. It's easy to talk about it and it's a little bit harder to do it. We have the components to beat that team on any given night. Tonight just wasn't our night." Finley on the ref blowing the whistle for a timeout Dallas did not call: "Probably everybody at home probably thought we were going to take our timeout. But Coach said, 'No, just get it and go and keep them while they're on their heels. We have an opportunity to score.' The referee thought we called a timeout and, unfortunately, it stopped our fastbreak." Finley on the Midwest race: "If we just win the remainder of our games, we'll be okay. It doesn't mean anything." Dirk Nowitzki on defending Duncan's last shot: "I probably should have played him closer and made him drive." Nowitzki on Duncan's last shot: "I should have played him better. I would love to play that sequence again; I'd play it better." Nick Van Exel: "We still feel very good and very confident that we can beat San Antonio. I think we feel like we can beat anybody." Van Exel on the free throw disparity: "This is the second time we play them and they go to the line twice as many times as us, it's ridiculous. We shoot too many jump shots." Raef LaFrentz on Duncan's last shot: "He had to shoot a 17-footer over a 7-footer. That's a tough look, but that's what Tim Duncan does." Avery Johnson on the free throw difference: "We have to work on getting that kind of advantage for us during the playoffs. Pop [Popovich] always stressed getting 15 or more extra trips to the free throw line." San Antonio Spurs 89, Dallas Mavericks 87 at San Antonio (April 6) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% San Antonio 25 28 14 22 - 89 .431 .400 .426 .600 Dallas 22 21 20 24 - 87 .500 .227 .427 .632 Halftime: San Antonio 53-43 3rd Q: San Antonio 67-63 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 4:55 1st, San Antonio defensive 3 seconds 11:27 2nd, Raef Lafrentz 2:22 3rd, Eduardo Najera 0:58 3rd, San Antonio defensive 3 seconds 8:21 4th Refs: LeRoy Richardson, Monty McCutchen, Steve Javie Attendance: 34,739 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Adrian Griffin (sprained right ankle) San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bruce Bowen 31 4-6 0-1 2-6 10 0-1 2 0 4 4 0 Tim Duncan 44 10-20 0-0 13-18 33 5-16 5 3 1 3 3 David Robinson 27 2-5 0-0 5-8 9 3-13 1 2 3 0 0 Tony Parker 35 3-10 0-1 2-4 8 0-1 5 1 2 1 1 Steve Smith 11 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 4 1 0 Antonio Daniels 35 5-12 1-3 2-5 13 0-6 1 2 2 0 0 Malik Rose 25 2-8 0-0 1-2 5 3-7 0 3 1 0 1 Jason Hart 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 2 0 0 Danny Ferry 23 3-5 3-4 2-2 11 0-1 1 0 4 0 0 Charles Smith 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 48 29-68 4-10 27-45 89 11-46 16 13 24 9 5 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Greg Buckner 18 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 1-3 0 0 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 47 11-21 1-5 3-4 26 3-21 3 1 3 1 0 Raef LaFrentz 25 2-6 0-1 0-0 4 0-2 0 3 6 0 1 Steve Nash 18 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0-1 2 2 1 0 0 Michael Finley 47 8-25 1-7 1-1 18 4-9 0 3 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 37 9-17 2-5 7-8 27 0-5 4 3 5 1 0 Eduardo Najera 17 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 3 0 1 Avery Johnson 23 4-7 0-0 1-4 9 0-0 3 0 5 2 0 Evan Eschmeyer 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 7 1-2 1-2 0-0 3 0-0 0 1 3 0 0 Totals 48 35-82 5-22 12-19 87 8-41 12 14 32 5 2 patricia