Dallas at San Antonio Game 2 (May 7) The game stayed close in the 1st quarter with both teams again shooting poorly. Dallas led 17-13 with 4:35 left and San Antonio closed the quarter with a 10-1 run to go up 23-18 after 1. San Antonio shot 10-24 FG and Dallas shot 7-22 FG. Tim Duncan had 9 points and Michael Finley had 8 points. San Antonio scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter to take their largest lead at 27-18 a minute in. San Antonio led 33-29 with 5:45 to go and Dirk Nowitzki drove for a layup, David Robinson was fouled driving with no call, and Dallas went running the other way and Juwan Howard was hacked driving by Danny Ferry. Ferry was assessed a flagrant foul [not a flagrant, but refs trying to make sure nothing retaliatory happened in this game after what happened in game 1] and Gregg Popovich went nuts and Steve Javie, the quickest whistle in the league, gave Popovich 2 quick technicals and he was tossed. Nowitzki hit the 2 technicals free throws and Howard hit the 2 flagrant foul free throws to give Dallas a 35-33 lead with 4:30 remaining. Dallas led 39-37 with 2:30 left and San Antonio went on a 9-1 run to go up 46-40 with 30 seconds left. San Antonio led 46-42 at the half. Dallas only shot 5-13 FG, but stayed in the game thanks to shooting 13-14 FT. San Antonio shot 11-21 FG and attempted no free throws. Nowitzki had 11 points including 7-8 FT in the 2nd. Duncan had 11 points and 15 rebounds in the half. San Antonio led 50-47 with 10 minutes left and went on an 18-4 run, including 4 3-pointers, to go up 68-51 with 4:30 to go. The Spurs led in the teens the rest of the quarter and led 75-62 after 3. Antonio Daniels had 10 points including 2 3-pointers. Dallas still struggled shooting at just 6-20 FG while San Antonio shot 12-20 FG. Nowitzki opened the 4th quarter with a layup and Howard Eisley hit a 3-pointer and San Antonio led 75-67 with 10 minutes left. The Spurs scored the next 4 points and their lead hovered around 10 points as San Antonio refused to let Dallas back in the game. A Duncan slam dunk gave San Antonio a 89-76 lead with 4:45 remaining. Finley answered with a 3-pointer, but San Antonio had the next 2 buckets and Dallas would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the game. San Antonio won 100-86. The Mavs shot terrible and San Antonio played awesome, so the outcome was not surprising. Dallas only shot 34.2% (27-79) FG - team playoff low - while San Antonio shot 51.9% (42-81). In addition, San Antonio shot 60% FG (21-35) and Dallas shot 34.1% FG (15-44) in the 2nd half. The Mavs played almost no defense while San Antonio played great defense. Spurs fans will lament the fact that Dallas shot 25-29 FT (the only thing that kept them in the game) while San Antonio shot just 8-12 FT - but if Dallas is giving up easy layups and not playing much defense - not even swipes at the ball as players are driving by, there won't be many free throws. Added to Dallas' many problems, San Antonio out-rebounded Dallas 45-38. Only a 7 rebound difference might not be much for a Dallas game, but when you shot just 34.2% FG and you opponent shots 51.9% FG, it's pathetic. Dallas _must_ take full advantage of the mis-matches San Antonio gives them. San Antonio would switch on Dallas' picks and often Finley would have a shorter player on him and, instead of quickly shooting over the defender before help arrived or driving past the defender, Finley would often hang on to the ball and pass out when the double-team approached - San Antonio's defensive rotation was too effective in this game for that approach to work. [Hate to pick on Finley as he was the only one of the Big 4 to show any sign of life, but as the only one showing life, he needed to do things himself instead of passing to others who were fumbling the ball and/or reluctant to shot.] But even more basic, Dallas simply has to shoot the ball better. Despite their terrible game, they were within 10 points in the 4th quarter - the game wasn't the blowout it should have been. Hopefully the return to Reunion will help the team regain their shooting touch. San Antonio's defense is very good, but Dallas was also missing open shots. If the Mavs continue shooting under 40% FG then this will be a real short series. But keep in mind, the series still is on schedule - San Antonio won 2 at home, which they were supposed to. It's called stealing a game on the road for a reason. Now Dallas has to win 2 at home. Go Mavs! Hard to pick out any good performances for Dallas. The obvious one is the re-appearance of Howard Eisley. I guess getting away from Utah really helped him. Eisley had 12 points on 4-6 3-pointers and 3 missed 2-pointers. Shawn Bradley was the only Maverick to shot 50% or more at 5-8 FG. He had 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks and contributed good defense. Michael Finley was the high man with 24 points including 8-24 FG, 7 assists, and 5 turnovers. Dirk Nowitzki was a terrible 4-13 FG, but his 11-12 FT put him in double-digits at 19 points. He also had 6 rebounds. Juwan Howard was pathetic and the Spurs fans had to be happy he wasn't suspended with this performance. He had 9 points including 2-14 FG (many of which he should have hit) and 11 rebounds and poor defense. San Antonio has been effective at stopping Steve Nash, a player they have focused on, and he had another poor performances with just 10 points and 3 assists. The Mavs need him to get back to his dead-eye-outside-shooting and slashing-and-dishing-or- making-incredible-shots self - even with the twin towers inside. Calvin Booth continued his non-performance since his 4th quarter Game 5 heroics. Booth only had 2 points and 2 rebounds and couldn't do anything defensively. Greg Buckner had nothing in 6 minutes and Wang Zhizhi and Eduardo Najera came in with less than a minute left in the game. What can you say about Tim Duncan? He's one of the best players in the league and he had a fire under him in this game. The Mavs could do nothing with him. Duncan had 25 points, 22 rebounds, and 6 assists. David Robinson came off his poor shooting night in Game 1 and responded with 18 points including 8-14 FG, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Veteran Terry Porter had a strong game with 15 points including 6-9 FG and 9 assists. Antonio Daniels had 12 points and 5 assists filling in for the injured Derek Anderson. Danny Ferry was the 5th start in double-digits with 10 points and also had 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. All of Steve Kerr's 8 points came in the 4th quarter. Sean Elliott had 7 points, Avery Johnson had 2 points including 1-5 FG, and Malik Rose had 3 points including 1-5 FG. Samaki Walker and Shawnelle Scott came in with less than a minute left in the game. Quotes Gregg Popovich: "It was a great game for us. Guys did a great job keeping their composure, kept their composure a lot better than their coach did. Just played the way we always play. Did a good job defensively against a very potent offensive team - and that's the most pleasing thing about the win. The team defense-wise - we did a very good job. And you need to if you want to stay in the game with Dallas." Popovich on his ejection and Ferry's flagrant: "My worst fear was that tonight because of what happened last game, the officials were obviously were going to want to keep control and if anything happened at all they were going to call it. Unfortunately, we were the first team to make contact, so we bore the brunt of that, which in some ways doesn't seem fair because we didn't do anything the last game. But that's the way it is. The officials need to keep balance and be sure that nothing got out of hand. We just happened to be the first team to foul someone going to the hole, so they made their point. And that was my worst fear. It did happen and I went off. But in their position, that's what they had to do. They wanted to keep control and they did it. It was just bad timing for us. So that's the way it goes." Popovich: "I'm thrilled with what they did tonight, but not surprised by what they did or will continue to do without Derek." Popovich on his bench: "These guys have done a great job all year. Antonio and Steve off the bench do a great job." Tim Duncan: I was excited tonight. I was really excited. It was a great game for us, especially after Pop got kicked out, the energy just turned up another notch - and I thought we were playing with some really good energy to start it. It was a very fun game to play in. For some wild reason I thought it was a lot of fun to play tonight and get up and down the floor with those guys and defensively we were making all the right decisions. We cut down a lot of our turnovers and a lot of guys got in and shot the ball really well." Duncan: "That's how we win games. We play defense, we get up in people. We know they want to shot a lot of 3s and get up and down the floor. I think we contained that very well. We got up in their shooters and didn't give them any open looks." Duncan on Popovich's ejection: "It was a catalyst. We took off from there. We got really focused. We were kind of sloppy to start the game. He really got us hyped up. The crowd got behind us and we just started rolling." Duncan on if there was extra meaning behind his dunks: "I'm just going strong. You've got to go strong. Bradley's blocked my shot about 37 times this series so far. I just have to go hard to the basket to try to get through him." Duncan on if there was payback on the mind: "We're here to win the series, we're not worried about payback." Duncan on Daniels: "Antonio was great. He stepped into that role. I know he had to be a little nervous. He might not say it, being a little nervous stepping in there. But he did a great job. He shot the ball. He made some great decisions defensively. He did his job on defense. He stayed in front of people and he knew what we were in." Duncan on Johnson and Porter: "Our point guards are so experienced, such veterans. Once they are on the floor, it's like having a coach out there. They know the offense, they know what we are supposed to be in, and they got us into it. David Robinson: "I think this game right here was a huge game for us. We had to reestablish ourselves - even just for ourselves. As you go through the playoffs, you always have these ups and downs, but you got to establish rhythm, you've go to establish some kind of confidence. And I think this game was big for our confidence, especially not having Derek there, and saying we can take care of our business. We still need to get it done. Coming out and being able to play the way we did tonight and come together, I think it does a lot for our team. It does a lot for the confidence these guys coming off the bench, the unity of the team, just the cohesiveness of it." Robinson: "We were a little like a wounded animal tonight. We knew that in losing Derek, we all had to play better. We really did a nice job of banding together." Robinson: "A series isn't a series until you get some of the stuff going on. It's going to make the whole team focus. Every little thing is going to be magnified." Robinson on Ferry: "The way Danny started the game tonight with his energy and hitting shots, it was just incredible." Terry Porter: "Timmy had some added attitude about the game. But everyone else did, too." Avery Johnson: "Our guards contested a lot of shots tonight. Tim and David contested shots. Utah gave them too many open looks." Johnson: "The main thing was the balanced scoring. Terry Porter hit some big shots in the 3rd quarter. Antonio Daniels played well. Everybody thought we would feel sorry for ourselves because of DA's loss. We knew we had to step it up." Johnson on Duncan: "I could see the fire in his eyes." Johnson on Ferry's flagrant and Popovich's ejection: "I don't think Danny's foul was flagrant, but we knew that was going to happen the first time anyone touched Juwan tonight. Pop was right in what he did. He defended Derrick from Game 1 and he defended Danny in this game." Antonio Daniels: "We were just emotional. Because of what happened to [Anderson], what happened to Danny, and what happened to Pop, we were emotional. I'd say that this was just what we needed." Daniels: "We lost one of our soldiers, so we should be emotional without DA. Being out there without him is a big loss and it doesn't matter how it happened. All that matters is it did happen. We should use that. It definitely lit a fire under us." Daniels: "I thought about DA a lot during the game. You miss his smile and his attitude. He's as big off the court for us as he is on the court." Malik Rose on Ferry's flagrant: "It got us pumped. It was a little unfair. It wasn't flagrant. We dipped into our tank of resolve and stepped it up." Danny Ferry: "When I get 8 shots in a game, it's because we move the ball. And we did that. Everyone got good looks." Ferry on his flagrant: "I think Steve Javie was trying to keep control. I didn't feel like it was necessarily flagrant. I haven't seen the replay." Ferry: "I fouled him. Javie judged it a flagrant, and there was nothing I could do about it, whether I disagreed with it or not." Steve Kerr on Duncan: "Usually you can't see it when he's excited. Tonight you could see it." Don Nelson: "Well, what a performance. We gave them everything we had. We played as hard as we could play - not as well as we could play. I thought we were really ready. I thought this was a game we could win, but they are very, very good. You just look at the numbers - the shooting percentages - you're going to win absolutely 0 games in this league if they shot 50 and you shot 34. I've got no complaints about the game. I thought we played hard, tried the best we could do, but they are very good defensively and they're causing us all sort of problems. We just have to get better. There is no place for me to go at this point. We have to get better at what we do. We have to make shots when they are there. And we have to not be reluctant to take the open shots, which I thought we were, especially in the 4th quarter when we were making some mini-run. I thought we had 2 or 3 where we call show-and-go where Nowitzki passes up 2 what I call open shots for him. We can't afford to do that. They are just too good defensively. So, we talk about that, but doing it is yet another thing. I don't know if the Spurs can play any better than they played. They were just sensational tonight. Didn't matter what we did, they had a counter for it. Everyone on their team shot the ball. We doubled, they made shots; we didn't, they made shots. So we were between a rock and a hard place, to be quite honest with you. We just have to re-group and hope that in some way the momentum can change when we get home. We have been in this spot before. This team is the best team in basketball, so we can not expect that we can win 3 games in a row. But we have to win at home if we are going to get back in this series. It is a huge game for our team, our next home game. We are vulnerable. We've got to rely on our home court and our home fans to carry us on and help us because we're in trouble. They are a terrific team and we're playing as well as we can play and we haven't come close yet. So I still have confidence that we can get back in this series. Whether we can beat them or not, but if we're going to beat them, we've got to win our home games. It starts with the next game. We're going to give it everything we have and hope that we shot the ball a little better." Nelson: "So far they've been the best team. But let me caution everybody that I'm still confident that our team can win. And I'm very confident that our team can win. And I'm very confident that if we can go home and win 2 games, we will be right back in this series." Nelson: "They got in a rhythm in the open court and they were beating us at our own game, that was part of it. Between a rock and a hard place where I was sitting - if I double-team their big guys, it opens up their shooters. The shooters shoot the 3 better than anybody in basketball. They lead the league in that. And so we're trying not to get strung out, but they almost force you to because they keep pushing it inside and we have no answer for their big guys. The disappointment was the rebounding game. We wanted to do a better job in that area, but that's not our forte. But still it was disappointing because that was a priority for us in this game and we didn't do very well there." Nelson: "This is a terrific team we're playing. In 2 games, we haven't been close. We are taking on the big boys now. They have 2 of the best big guys who ever played the game. Those 2 change everything we try to do." Nelson: "They have 2 of the best big men ever to play the game. There in lies the difference. Give them 1, and we're right there in it. But they've got 2." Nelson on San Antonio's defense: "The shots we get are not what we normally have, and even those shots that seem open are more closely contested than you think. Our problems are about their defense. You've got to credit them for that. We've got to get back to Reunion, get our crowd into it, and find a way to overcome that." Nelson on why he didn't use the trap much: "That does two things: that tires us out and that opens their 3-point shooters. Those are very negative points, and I don't want to get into that very often." Nelson: "We're going to continue to be an 8-man rotation team. Eisley will definitely be a part of that. But I was very encouraged to see Buck play. In short minutes, he can also help us out." Michael Finley: "We need to shoot the ball well, especially if we hope to beat someone like the Spurs." Finley: "We just didn't make shots from the perimeter tonight. But even with that, I think this was still a winnable game." Dirk Nowitzki: "They have 2 of the best shot blockers in the game, and that makes it tough to get our shots. We haven't had many open looks." Nowitzki: "We can't win shooting 34%. We have to knock down our shots. On the other hand, they shot the ball well tonight. We are looking forward to coming home and facing them there." Nowitzki: "We can't win shooting 34%. They are the best shooting team in the league shooting the 3. That makes it tough." Nowitzki: "We just have to find a way to mix it up and show them different looks." Nowitzki: "They are so tough defensively. We're not shooting well. I can't explain it, but I think they have something to do with it." Steve Nash: "Right now we're not good enough to beat that team. 35% is not going to get it done. 40, maybe." Nash: "They deserve a lot of credit. They put a lot of pressure on us not only because they're long inside but because they score. And that puts pressure on us to score when we're not making shots. Right now, we're not good enough to beat that team. Hopefully on Wednesday, I will be and we will be." Nash: "Tim Duncan is amazing. He's the MVP this year, and when your sidekick is a Hall of Fame center, it's not going to be easy." Nash: "Actually, I thought I played well tonight. I didn't play well in Game 1. I think he is trying to rest me as much possible. I've been playing nonstop for 11 1/2 months. But I think I still have something left in the tank." Juwan Howard: "I didn't play well tonight. I hope we can put the whole thing behind us." Howard: "I just played a bad game. It was just one of those nights." Howard on being booed: "All that does is [add] fuel to the oven. Unfortunately, the oven didn't get lit. I didn't play well tonight." Howard: "As a team, we didn't do a good job. But let's try to put [the Anderson flagrant] behind us. Hopefully, Derek will get better. Right now our main concentration is going into Wednesday night playing better basketball at home." Howard on being down 0-2: "We've been there before. But [San Antonio] is a good ballclub, and we can't allow ourselves to get down 3-0." Shawn Bradley: "We just need to play better. It's as simple as that." Bradley: "We need to make shots if we are going to be able to win. We've played 2 games so far, and we have had no answer for them inside. Now we are going home to our home court and we need to take care of business there." Greg Buckner on his limited playing time: "I think Coach Nelson wanted to see where I was at, if I could handle the load. I just want to go out there and do what I did all year long - play that sticky D. But the 3rd quarter, both games, got away from us." San Antonio Spurs 100, Dallas Mavericks 86 at San Antonio (May 7) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% San Antonio 23 23 29 25 - 100 .540 .444 .519 .667 Dallas 18 24 20 24 - 86 .308 .500 .342 .862 Halftime: San Antonio 46-42 3rd Q: San Antonio 75-62 Technicals: Greg Popovich (2 - ejected) 4:27 2nd Flagrant Fouls: Danny Ferry 4:27 2nd Refs: Joe DeRosa, Steve Javie, Don Vaden Attendance: 27,690 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Derek Anderson (separated right shoulder) San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Tim Duncan 46 11-20 0-0 3-5 25 7-22 6 2 1 1 1 Danny Ferry 23 4-8 2-3 0-0 10 1-3 1 1 3 0 0 David Robinson 34 8-14 0-0 2-4 18 1-7 1 3 2 0 4 Antonio Daniels 34 5-8 2-4 0-0 12 0-2 5 2 4 0 0 Terry Porter 29 6-9 1-3 2-2 15 0-3 9 2 1 1 0 Avery Johnson 18 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 4 1 3 0 0 Malik Rose 16 1-5 0-0 1-1 3 0-2 0 1 1 2 0 Steve Kerr 17 3-5 2-4 0-0 8 0-1 1 0 1 1 0 Sean Elliott 21 3-7 1-4 0-0 7 1-3 1 0 2 0 1 Samaki Walker 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Shawnelle Scott 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-81 8-18 8-12 100 10-45 28 12 18 5 6 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Juwan Howard 41 2-14 0-0 5-6 9 4-11 0 0 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 39 4-13 0-3 11-12 19 1-6 2 0 3 2 1 Shawn Bradley 31 5-8 0-0 0-0 10 3-8 0 0 3 0 3 Michael Finley 45 8-24 2-3 6-7 24 1-4 7 5 2 2 0 Steve Nash 33 4-9 1-1 1-2 10 1-2 3 1 3 2 0 Howard Eisley 32 4-9 4-6 0-0 12 1-4 1 2 2 0 0 Calvin Booth 11 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0-2 0 0 1 1 0 Greg Buckner 6 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 Wang Zhizhi 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Eduardo Najera 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 27-79 7-14 25-29 86 12-38 13 9 16 9 4 patricia Go Mavs!