Dirk Nowitzki's flagrant foul, level 1 against Matt Harpring in Wednesday's Utah-Dallas game was upgraded to a level 2 flagrant. San Antonio at Dallas (November 5) The home opener for the Mavs coincided with Michael Finley's return to Dallas. Dallas used a 10-4 run to go up 17-10 with 4:40 to go. After the teams traded layups, San Antonio then went on a 12-1 run, including 8 points by Nick Van Exel, to take a 24-20 lead with 1:25 left. San Antonio led 24-22 after 1. Josh Howard had 10 points and 7 rebounds. The game stayed close in the 2nd quarter with neither team holding more than a 4 point lead over the first 11 minutes. Dallas closed the quarter with a 10-2 run to go up 49-43 at the half. [The refs greatly annoyed me at the end of the quarter with consecutive non-calls against Tim Duncan inside and then Dallas should have had time left on the clock after a San Antonio turnover at the quarter's end.] Dallas shot 46% FG and San Antonio shot 38% FG in the half. Dallas continued to play well early in the 3rd quarter and took their largest lead at 62-51 with 7:15 remaining. The Spurs then came back by scoring the next 11 points, capped by 5 straight points by Brent Barry, to tie the game at 62-62 with 3:15 to go. After a timeout, a dunk by Keith Van Horn off a nice feed from Devin Harris ended Dallas' over 4 minute drought and kicked off a 7-0 run. Dallas led 71-64 after 3. Dallas opened the 4th quarter with a 14-1 run to go up 85-65 with 8:15 left as Harris went nuts in attacking the basket and had 10 points during the run. Not willing to give up, Tony Parker then went nuts in scoring the next 9 points to pull San Antonio within 74-85 with 5:50 to go. Dallas finally started scoring again, and the Spurs continued scoring, but could not get closer than 10 points. A layup by Parker pulled the Spurs within 84-94 with 2:50 to go, but they would not score again as Dallas closed the game with a 9-0 run (and Parker finally missed a shot in the quarter with 2 minutes left). Dallas won 103-84. Dallas came out from the start with the energy and focus that was lacking in the first 2 games. San Antonio did look good in spurts, but also had a number of slumps and bouts of poor play. It was the 2nd night of a back-to-back for the Spurs, but they did blow out Cleveland the previous night in San Antonio. They also threw out some strange lineups during the game such as 4 guards and swingmen and Robert Horry - which surprised me as Gregg Popovich is more of a straight laced coach [maybe having Don Nelson visit the Spurs' training camp was a good idea after all]. It was surprising how easily Dallas was able to attack the basket in the 4th quarter (with a normal Spur lineup out there). 14 of Dallas' 32 4th quarter points came in the paint and 9 points came from the free throw line, often after being fouled on drives. For the game, Dallas shot 48.5% (39-77) FG including 6-9 3-pointers. San Antonio shot 41.9% (31-76) FG including 5-14 3-pointers. The rebounds were almost even with San Antonio out-rebounding Dallas 39-38 and both teams having 14 offensive rebounds. Dallas did a much better job with the ball with 20 assists and just 12 turnovers while San Antonio had just 14 assists and 19 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki was a stud throughout and Josh Howard was awesome in the 1st half, but Devin Harris was the player of the game. He had a stellar 4th quarter and was constantly attacking the basket, even going at Tim Duncan. Yes, his defense was poor in the 1st half where he let Nick Van Exel get going, but he played so well in the 4th that the coach had to re-insert him as most of Tony Parker going nuts and Dallas' lead shrinking came while Harris was sitting. 20 of his 22 points came in the 4th quarter. He made all 8 of his field goals (7 in the 4th quarter), but did struggle from the line in shooting 5-8 FT. That's 22 points in 17 minutes. Nowitzki was the high scorer with 34 points including 12-20 FG and 4-5 3-pointers. He benefited some from San Antonio's switching defense and sometimes had a small forward or shooting guard defending him (such as Michael Finley a couple of times) and was able to take advantage of the mismatch. He also had 8 rebounds. Josh Howard had a double-double in the 1st half, but had a quiet 2nd half. He finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds including 5 offensive, and 4 steals. Those 3 were the only Mavs in double-digits. Erick Dampier did look better than he did in the first 2 games, but that's not saying much. He had some good spots and some bad spots in this game. Damp had 7 points including 3-10 FG and 6 rebounds including 4 offensive. Doug Christie also looked better than he did in the 1st 2 games, but he was on Bruce Bowen most of the game so he wasn't challenged in trying to defend a good offensive player. Christie had 4 points on 2-3 FG, 3 assists, and 4 steals in 31 minutes. Jason Terry had an up and down game. His shot wasn't flowing, but his assists were. He had 4 points on 2-8 FG, 8 assists, and just 1 turnover. Keith Van Horn had 9 points and 5 rebounds (and 5 fouls). Marquis Daniels had 4 points and just 1 rebound and no assists in 30 minutes. DeSagana Diop only played 6 minutes. Tony Parker was the only Spur to really have a good game. He tried to get the Spurs back into the game with his 4th quarter run, but didn't get enough help. 13 of his 24 points came in the 4th quarter (in shooting 6-7 FG in the 4th - missing his last attempt). He shot 11-17 FG and had 6 rebounds and 3 assists, but also had 4 turnovers. Tim Duncan usually goes nuts against Dallas but he didn't this night. It wasn't that he played poorly, just that he wasn't dominating. He did have a double-double with 18 points including 7-12 FG and 12 rebounds. Duncan also had 5 assists and 6 blocks. Manu Ginobili struggled all night and missed his first 9 shots - his 2 makes did come late in the 4th quarter. He was also plagued by foul trouble and collected 3 in the 1st half. He had 13 points on 2-11 FG and 8-10 FT and 5 rebounds. All 11 of Nick Van Exel's points came in the 1st half. No other Spur player was in double-digits. Rasho Nesterovic had 6 points and 5 rebounds, Robert Horry had 5 points including 2-8 FG and 5 rebounds, and Brent Barry had 5 points. After receiving a warm greeting from the fans, Michael Finley struggled in his return to Dallas. He had 2 points on 1-6 FG and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes. Quotes Avery Johnson: "We were fortunate to win this game tonight against a really good basketball team. I thought our defense was pretty consistent the whole game. Obviously they missed some shots, but I thought we competed tonight. I really would have been happy with our effort had we not won because the physicality that they showed tonight is what we have been looking for. It's only the 3rd game of the season and we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves." Johnson: "We are just looking for consistency. They want consistency from me and I want it from them. I think they are trying. There was a big fuss about our offense and I think they were trying offensively. We had to simplify some things and get back to the way we were playing last year and Devin helped us because he was here last year. Keith Van Horn was here last year and they are familiar with what we are doing. I thought we set some hard screens on offense, which we haven't been doing. But you are playing against a championship team and a well coached team and we are fortunate to win and we have to get read for this long road trip." Johnson on Nowitzki: "He tried to mix it up, put the ball on the floor a little bit. He didn't settle for the jump shot. I thought he posted up really well." Johnson on Harris: "I thought he was very aggressive. We worked out before the game and talked about a few things. I thought he did some nice things tonight. More than anything I thought he really competed on the defensive end against a terrific point guard." Johnson: "Dampier did some really nice things tonight. He is not going to blow up a stat sheet every night. He guarded Duncan a lot tonight, which is a tough job for anybody. Duncan is the best player in the NBA right now." Dirk Nowitzki: "I thought our energy was great, not only in the 4th quarter, but all game long. We made some mistakes in the 1st quarter and that really kind of let them hang around, but down the stretch we got the stops we needed. We pushed the ball all night long, which was great, and you always want to do that against San Antonio because they are so good in the half court set defense. We did a lot of good things tonight, but mainly we feed off the energy of the crowd tonight. After the tough loss we had on the road the other night at Utah we had to respond and that was the way to do it." Nowitzki on San Antonio's defense: "They always play me with a smaller defender and I was able to get away a little bit tonight and rise up for my jump shot. All I need is just a little bit of space and I was able to create that tonight. Sometimes it doesn't work that well, but tonight I was getting away a little bit and my jump shots felt good. I hit a 3 early in the game and that really gave me confidence and then my jumper felt good throughout the game so that was big for us." Nowitzki: "We did a lot of good things defensively tonight. We tried to rotate for each other and make it hard on Duncan to catch, but he's one of the best players in the league and he still made us pay some, but think we did an excellent job on Ginobili. We really tried to take him out of the game and we did a pretty good job of doing that and that was the key right there." Devin Harris: "We had a good feel for what they like to do and where they like to get the ball. We tried to deny those easy passes. We got our hands on some of those and it contributed to the fast break." Harris: "I felt pretty good. We wanted to try to get some easy buckets in transition that's what we talked about this morning. We kind of got the running game going in the 2nd half. We had a lot of steals, a lot of layups and we finished the game well enough to hold them off down the stretch." Harris: "I didn't particularly play well in the 1st half. I was just anxious to get back out there in the 2nd half and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunities that I had out there." Harris on his 4th quarter: "I just tried to get some good looks at the basket. We tried to push it in transition and I got some layups early in the 4th quarter and I continued to get good looks at the basket." Harris on the 4th quarter layups: "They were switching on the pick-and-roll so we always had the option to penetrate on their big guys plus when they are doubling Dirk that left little gaps open in the middle and I was able to cut in and finish my shots." Keith Van Horn: "A lot of good things happened. Our bench is going to be key for us all year. And it was tonight." Gregg Popovich: "They beat us in every which way. Pick whatever you want or we'll be here all night. I don't have time. I'm hungry." Popovich: "They played really well. They played with a lot of emotion. They played really good defense. They did a great job. They deserved to win the game. They beat us in almost every category. They did a great job." Popovich: "They played well the whole game. From the beginning to the end of the game, they played well. Thats what did us in." Popovich: "They got to the rim on us. Josh [Howard] hurt us on the offensive board. They played all around great games. Any way you can imagine them playing well, they did." Popovich: "We showed some good guts and came back and tied it at 62. We did real well up until that point to get back into the ball game when we had played so poorly, but at that point they outscored us 22-3. We didn't get shots to drop, and a lot of that had to do with their defense. I thought their pressure was great. They got some timely offensive boards, and got a 3 at a big, important time on a zone, and they stopped us." Tim Duncan: "I think Avery has done a great job, and they are executing very well. I think a lot of things fell into place for them tonight. They played a great game all around." Duncan: "We know we have a lot of experiences to go through to get back to the caliber of team we were last year. That takes time. We understand that. We're going to have to go through some tough games like tonight." Duncan on Harris: "We got it tied up at 62 or 64, and then all of a sudden its like 71-64. He just got rolling, and Dirk was unbelievable. He hit some great shots. I thought that we contested him pretty well. He took some tough looks and he just kept knocking them out. And Devin came in and really got them rolling." Tony Parker on Harris: "It was the first time I've seen him be aggressive like that. He really attacked the basket." Michael Finley: "It was good to hear the fans cheer for me even though I was wearing a different jersey. It just goes to show that my hard work over 8 years I was here paid off to a certain extent." Finley on his return to Dallas: "It was just an overall weird feeling. I was trying to put extra pressure on myself to make every shot and try to play a perfect game to win. As a result, I didn't play one of my better games. I'm just glad I got this behind me." Finley on playing against Nowitzki: "Yeah, it felt funny the whole game. Even when we made our runs, and I was out on the court it was an awkward feeling. I felt myself putting extra pressure on myself to make every shot and to play a perfect game in order to win. And as a result I didn't play one of my better games. It was an overall weird feeling, and I walked away and we came up short." Dallas Mavericks 103, San Antonio Spurs 84 at Dallas (November 5) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 27 22 32 - 103 .485 .667 .506 .731 San Antonio 24 19 21 20 - 84 .419 .357 .408 .850 Halftime: Dallas 49-43 3rd Q: Dallas 81-74 Technicals: San Antonio defensive 3 seconds 3:08 1st Refs: Derrick Stafford, Jess Kersey, Tony Brown Attendance: 20,468 (sellout) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 34 7-15 1-1 2-4 17 5-12 3 4 4 4 2 Dirk Nowitzki 42 12-20 4-5 6-6 34 0-8 2 0 1 0 1 Erick Dampier 29 3-10 0-0 1-2 7 4-6 1 2 4 0 2 Doug Christie 31 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 3 1 1 4 0 Jason Terry 31 2-8 0-1 0-0 4 0-2 8 1 1 2 0 Marquis Daniels 30 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 0 0 1 1 0 Devin Harris 17 8-8 1-1 5-8 22 0-0 2 1 2 1 1 Keith Van_Horn 20 2-5 0-1 5-6 9 2-5 1 1 5 0 0 DeSagana Diop 6 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2-2 0 2 1 0 0 Totals 48 39-77 6-9 19-26 103 14-38 20 12 20 12 6 San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Bruce Bowen 25 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 2 0 0 Tim Duncan 38 7-12 0-0 4-5 18 3-12 5 3 3 0 6 Radoslav Nesterovic 17 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 3-5 0 1 2 1 0 Tony Parker 30 11-17 0-1 2-2 24 1-6 3 4 0 0 0 Manu Ginobili 28 2-11 1-2 8-10 13 3-5 1 2 5 2 0 Robert Horry 20 2-8 1-3 0-0 5 3-5 3 1 0 0 1 Brent Barry 28 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 0-1 1 2 2 0 0 Michael Finley 27 1-6 0-2 0-0 2 1-4 0 0 2 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 13 3-6 2-4 3-3 11 0-1 0 2 4 0 0 Nazr Mohammed 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Beno Udrih 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Fabricio Oberto 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 31-76 5-14 17-20 84 14-39 14 19 20 3 7 patricia