Note that tonight's game vs Sacramento is being broadcast on HDNET and NBATV. San Antonio at Dallas (preseason October 26) And the injuries and illnesses continued. Michael Finely (sore hamstring), Jerry Stackhouse (thigh contusion), and Marquis Daniels (sprained ankle) remained out with their injuries. They were joined by Jason Terry, who had his wisdom teeth pulled, coach Don Nelson (flu), and assistant coach Del Harris (flu). And Derek Hood pulled a groin not even a minute into the game. Avery Johnson filled in as the head coach for this game (with Donn Nelson giving advice). Also seen on the bench was newly arrived Pavel Podkolzin, in street clothes, having finally resolved his visa problems. San Antonio tried to help Dallas out as Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen did not play just to rest them. The game started with both teams playing pretty well and Dallas held a small lead (none larger than 6 points) most of the 1st quarter. The game was tied 25-25 after 1. Both teams shot around 47% FG. And both teams' shooting touch went south in the 2nd quarter and the game definitely had a preseason feel. Felipe Lopez hit the first bucket of the 2nd quarter and Dallas then proceeded to miss their next 10 shots. San Antonio used an 11-2 run to go up 36-29 with 6 minutes left. San Antonio held a small lead the rest of the quarter. San Antonio led 46-41 at the half. For the half, Dallas shot 35% FG and San Antonio shot 42% FG. San Antonio scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter to take a double-digit lead at 51-41 with 11 minutes to go, but 10 points would be their largest lead. Dan Dickau scored 8 points in 5 minutes to help Dallas pull within 62-64 with 2 minutes left. The teams traded leads over the rest of the quarter. San Antonio led 70-69 after 3. The game stayed close in the 4th quarter with neither team holding more than a 5 point lead. Brent Barry swished a long 3-pointer to give San Antonio a 85-83 lead with 4 minutes to go, but Dallas scored the next 6 points to go up 89-85 with 2:50 remaining. The teams traded a pair of free throws and Tony Massenburg hit a jumper to pull San Antonio within 89-91 with 2 minutes left and Marque Perry hit 1-2 free throws 20 seconds later to make it a 1 point game. Josh Howard missed a shot and Massenburg hit a short jumper to give the Spurs a 92-91 lead with 47 seconds to go. Howard went to hand the ball off to Devin Harris and set a pick, but Howard turned his body into Harris' defender as he passed and was called for the offensive foul. Perry hit a jumper with 29 seconds left and Dallas called timeout. Harris missed a shot and Devin Brown was intentionally fouled. He hit both free throws to give San Antonio a 96-91 lead with 15 seconds left. Avery Johnson was still coaching and called another timeout, but it was wasted with a comedy of errors as Alan Henderson passed in to Harris and Harris immediately passed back to Henderson and, not expecting the pass back, Henderson tried to hop inbounds before the ball arrived but didn't make it. Perry hit 2 more free throws and Dickau nailed another 3-pointer to cap the scoring. Romain Sato tried to end the game with a power slam, but was rejected by the rim. San Antonio won 98-94. After shooting well in the 1st quarter, both teams had trouble finding the bucket the rest of the game. And being a preseason game, the big names (ie, Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki) did not play in the 4th quarter, despite it being a close game. San Antonio shot 42.3% (33-78) FG including 2-14 3-pointers. Dallas shot 38.4% (33-86) FG including 4-14 3-pointers. San Antonio shot 30-42 FT and Dallas shot 24-33 FT. Dallas only had 14 assists. Dirk Nowitzki was missing shots left and right, but jacked up enough to be the high scorer. He had 19 points including 6-17 FG, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 4 turnovers. With the lack of point guards and small forwards, Devin Harris and Josh Howard played 40+ minutes each. And both shot poorly. Howard had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but shot 6-17 FG and committed 4 turnovers. Harris had 14 points including 5-19 FG, 4 assists, and 3 steals. He brought his teammates to their feet when he took the ball in strong for an attempted power jam - he didn't get the jam as he was fouled, but it was a sight worth seeing. He was also abused by Tony Parker as Parker continually blew by him (though once Harris reached in and knocked the ball away from behind after Parker passed him). Erick Dampier was fairly quiet with 10 points and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes. Dan Dickau had a very nice outing and hopes are that the Mavs find a way to keep him (they have a roster crunch) as a spot up shooter. He had 17 points including 6-8 FG and 3-4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 23 minutes. DJ Mbenga picked up a foul almost every time he went for a swat (which was almost every time he and the ball were near the basket) and fouled out in 10 minutes with 2 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks (and a couple of more not credited due to the fouls). Devin Brown had a nice outing for San Antonio, despite not shooting well. He had 16 points on 4-11 FG and 8-10 FT and 13 rebounds in a team high 30 minutes. Tony Parker had 9 points including 4-11 FG and 8 assists in 20 minutes. Manu Ginobili was quiet with just 6 points including 2-6 FG, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 22 minutes. Malik Rose, as usual, enjoyed playing against Dallas and had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Quotes Gregg Popovich: "I think that we added a couple people to a pretty veteran team, that will help us continue to play the defense we play and give us a little more punch at the offensive end." Popovich on Rose: "He's doing a great job. He is filling a role that we need and that is to rebound and defend. He's hitting the pick and pop jumper. Doing the things that he does really well and limiting the things that he doesn't do well. It shows us that he is playing a lot smarter than in the past. That will earn him some minutes for sure." Popovich on coach Johnson: "He understands the game. He feels the game. He understands spatial relationships on the court, where people should be at all times on both ends of the court and why they should be in those positions. You can't teach that. It's just a feel for the game. Most players don't have that. You always know who does." Popovich on Johnson: "Avery doesn't need advice. I've learned more from him than he's learned from me. He taught me so much about the league, [he was] so loyal and supportive during my career that he doesn't need any advice from me. I'd rather take it from him." Malik Rose on the difference from last season: "More experienced. We had a lot of new guys last year, and a lot of new guys this year. The new guys from last year are a little bit more experienced. More experience is the main thing." Rose on the younger players' preseason minutes helping in the regular season: "Not really. It helps to some degree, but not to the total degree that you would like. A lot of times, they are going against guys that they won't ever see again. So when they come to a situation where they need to guard a main threat, like a rookie like Romain Sato would guard Michael Finley. Tonight Michael Finley is not playing. It makes a big difference when you go against better competition." Rose on what he is going to get good friend Johnson for Christmas: "A clipboard. He had all these sheets of paper flying all over the place. He needs to do better than that." Avery Johnson: "Well, I'm 0-1. We had a terrific effort tonight. We really played hard. We were not executing well down the stretch. We had 2 out of bounds plays and an offensive foul and then we don't execute well on our 3-point play. I take full responsibility for that. We will work on those 2 situations in practice tomorrow. I had a lot of fun out there, but I hate losing." Johnson: "Well guys, I'm 0-1. I had a lot of fun, but I hate losing. I don't care if it's a preseason game. If I become a head coach I can already tell I'm going to have a lot of sleepless nights." Johnson: "I've been in the league 16 years and have played in many pressurized games like the Finals to the big games in the regular season. So the butterflies went pretty quick tonight." Johnson: "I liked how our rookie played in the 2nd half. He struggled from the field a little bit tonight, but he did some nice things. I think we got a little winded in the 4th quarter. We had a lot of encouraging things that happened tonight. This was a very winnable game." Johnson on a timeout: "We're not going to be a good defensive team if Erick Dampier doesn't get blocked shots. That what I wanted to explain to him. Man-to-man, face-to-face." Johnson on the injuries: "Yeah, it's a concern. But you don't have time to be discouraged now. You're discouraged when you're missing 4 guys before a 1st round playoff game. I just hope we can get it out of our system." Jason Sasser on the varying lineups: "It's tough, but it just part of the business. All of these guys are very talented and once you get out there and start learning how other guys play, then you can get into a rhythm and start playing better together." Sasser: "We did a lot of positive things tonight. We kept the game close and did the best we could considering all the injuries." Sasser on Dallas' transition defense: "That really hurt us. AJ and all the coaches were saying that we were crashing the boards too hard and not getting back on defense and the Spurs got way too many easy baskets. We're just trying to work out all the kinks." San Antonio Spurs 98, Dallas Mavericks 94 at Dallas (October 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% San Antonio 25 21 24 28 - 98 .484 .143 .423 .714 Dallas 25 16 28 25 - 94 .403 .289 .384 .727 Halftime: San Antonio 46-41 3rd Q: San Antonio 70-69 Technicals: Josh Howard 3:42 3rd, DJ Mbenga 6:41 4th Refs: Ron Olesiak, Ed F. Rush, Ed Malloy Attendance: 19,841 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen, Jason Terry (wisdom teeth pulled), Michael Finley (sore hamstring), Marquis Daniels (sprained ankle), Jerry Stackhouse (thigh contusion) San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Manu Ginobili 22 2-6 0-2 2-4 6 1-3 3 0 1 3 0 Tony Parker 20 4-11 0-2 1-2 9 0-3 8 4 1 0 1 Devin Brown 30 4-11 0-0 8-10 16 3-13 2 0 5 0 0 Malik Rose 26 5-11 0-0 5-5 15 3-8 3 1 2 0 0 Rasho Nesterovic 17 3-5 0-0 0-0 6 2-6 1 1 2 0 1 Brent Barry 28 2-8 2-7 4-4 10 2-3 2 1 1 0 0 Romain Sato 25 2-8 0-1 4-5 8 0-4 1 1 2 1 0 Marque Perry 19 3-3 0-0 3-5 9 0-1 3 4 2 3 0 Tony Massenburg 19 5-8 0-0 2-3 12 2-4 0 0 4 0 3 Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje 18 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 0-1 0 5 5 0 2 Robert Horry 16 1-4 0-2 0-2 2 1-5 0 2 2 0 1 Totals 48 33-78 2-14 30-42 98 14-51 23 19 27 7 8 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 42 6-17 0-3 3-4 15 3-10 3 4 4 1 0 Devin Harris 40 5-19 1-6 3-3 14 0-0 4 1 3 3 0 Dirk Nowitzki 28 6-17 0-0 7-8 19 2-8 2 4 3 2 3 Derek Hood 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Erick Dampier 27 4-7 0-0 2-4 10 4-6 1 1 3 2 0 Jason Sasser 29 1-7 0-1 2-2 4 1-3 0 1 3 0 0 Dan Dickau 23 6-8 3-4 2-6 17 1-3 3 0 2 0 0 Calvin Booth 19 1-4 0-0 4-4 6 2-5 0 0 2 0 0 Alan Henderson 15 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-2 1 1 5 0 1 DJ Mbenga 10 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 1 6 0 2 Felipe Lopez 6 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 33-86 4-14 24-33 94 14-44 14 13 31 8 6 patricia