Dallas finished the 08-09 regular season with a record of 50-32 - the 9th straight season the Mavs finished with 50 or more wins. The order for the playoff seeding went down to the wire with the #2 - #7 seeds in the West determined on the final day of the season. Dallas defeated Houston and New Orleans lost to San Antonio, thus Dallas had the #6 seed and San Antonio had the #3 seed and the old I-35 rivalry continued with the two facing each other in the First Round of the playoffs. It was an up-and-down season for the Mavs with some strong wins against good teams and some disappointing losses to bad teams. But the Mavs did finish the season strong (something they haven't done in a while) and that's always a good thing heading into the playoffs. So, on to the playoffs [and the resumption of my reports]. Game 1: Dallas at San Antonio (April 18) Dirk Nowitzki opened the game win the 3-point play, but Michael Finley answered with a 3-pointer. After 2 1/2 scoreless minutes, the teams traded buckets and then San Antonio held small leads (no larger than 5 points) over the next 5 minutes. A 3-pointer by Josh Howard pulled Dallas within 16-18 with 3:50 remaining, but San Antonio closed the quarter with an 11-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Roger Mason with 8 seconds left, to give the Spurs a 29-18 lead after 1. San Antonio shot 12-26 FG including 4-5 3-pointers and Dallas shot 6-17 FG. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 2nd quarter, but San Antonio soon rebuilt an 11-point lead. Nowitzki picked up his 3rd foul with 8:30 left and sat for the rest of the quarter [I didn't think Finley got there in time for Nowitzki's first foul, but the next 2 were legit]. A layup by Drew Gooden gave the Spurs their largest lead at 39-26 with 7:10 to go. San Antonio led 45-34 with 4 minutes left, but Dallas closed the quarter with an 11-4 run, with Howard scoring Dallas' last 6 points. San Antonio led 49-45 at the half. Dallas out-scored San Antonio 27-20 in the 2nd quarter and Brandon Bass had 10 points and 4 rebounds in the quarter. Dallas scored the first 6 points of the 3rd quarter to give them a 51-49 lead with 10:10 to go, Dallas' first lead since a minute into the game. But San Antonio scored the next 5 points and the game stayed close. The game was tied 61-61 with 6:10 left and Dallas went on an 11-2 run to go up 83-72 with 3:15 remaining. But the Spurs again responded and scored 9 straight points to tie the game at 72 with a minute left. The game was tied 74-74 after 3. Howard had 13 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points in the quarter. Mason opened the 4th quarter with a 3-pointer, but Dallas then went on a 12-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Antoine Wright, to give Dallas an 86-80 lead with 8:10 remaining. After a 3-point play by Duncan, Dallas scored the next 9 points to take their largest lead at 95-83 with 4:45 to go. Duncan hit his signature shot and Mason nailed another 3 to pull the Spurs within 7 points, but two Nowitzki bucks surrounded a free throw (1-2 FT) by Ime Udoka and Dallas led 99-89 with 2:35 left. The teams traded a pair of misses and Finley hit a 3-pointer with a minute to go. The teams traded buckets and it was a 7-point Dallas lead with 40 seconds left and San Antonio started intentionally fouling. Kidd hit 2 free throws and Finley buried another 3 to pull San Antonio within 97-103 with 28 seconds left. After Nowitzki hit 2 free throws, Mason missed 2 3-point attempts and Dallas ran the clock out. Dallas won 105-97. Dallas leads the series 1-0. It was a solid road win for the Mavs and a great way to start the playoffs. Things were looking dim in the 2nd quarter with the Spurs up by 13 points and Nowitzki in foul trouble, but the Mavs got a spark from the bench by Brandon Bass and J.J. Barea and the Mavs got back in the game. And Josh Howard got going at the end of the 2nd quarter and had a great 3rd quarter. Dallas actually out-scored the Spurs in each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters. The Spurs had a shift in play from the 1st half to the 2nd half with San Antonio out-scoring Dallas 26-8 in the paint in the 1st half and Dallas out-scoring San Antonio 28-8 in the paint in the 2nd half. The Spurs were also hurt with 5 turnovers in the 4th quarter which led to 8 Dallas points (while the Mavs had 0 turnovers). For the game, Dallas shot 53.8% (42-78) FG including 5-17 3-pointers and San Antonio shot 46.9% (38-81) FG including a white hot 11-14 3-pointers. Dallas shot 16-17 FT and San Antonio shot 10-12 FT. Dallas out-rebounded San Antonio 39-35. The Spurs did have a 12-10 offensive rebound edge, but Dallas did a better job with their extra possessions in scoring 21 points off the offensive boards while the Spurs had just 8 points. The Spurs were clean with the ball until the 4th quarter as they had 4 turnovers through 3 quarters and 5 in the 4th. Dallas had 7 turnovers for the game. The Spurs' defense was focused on containing Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry and they succeed as neither had a stellar game. Nowitzki had 19 points and 8 rebounds and Terry had 12 points. But that focus allowed other Mavs players to step up and they did, especially Brandon Bass, J.J. Barea, and Erick Dampier. Bass supplied the spark that got Dallas back in the game. 10 of Bass' 14 points (on 7-9 FG) came in the 2nd quarter. He also had 4 rebounds in 18 minutes. Barea was outstanding with attacking the basket (with openings due to San Antonio's focus on Nowitzki and Terry), finding open players, and helping to contain Tony Parker, who gave Dallas fits in the 1st half. Barea played so well that Rick Carlisle opt to play him the 4th quarter in place of Josh Howard. Barea had 13 points and 3 assists in 26 minutes. Dampier did his usual blue-collar job in trying to make things difficult for Tim Duncan (though Duncan still got his points), picking up some easy buckets, and setting good screens (one of which contributed to a 3-point play by Barea). Damp had a double-double with 10 points on 5-6 FG and 11 rebounds. Though he only played the first 30 seconds of the 4th quarter (and Carlisle was happy to rest Howard's ankle), Howard had a nice outing with 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 30 minutes. Antoine Wright had 8 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. Jason Kidd had 4 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. James Singleton and Ryan Hollins played less than a minute. As usual, Tim Duncan had a good outing with 27 points and 9 rebounds, but only 5 points and 1 rebound in the 4th quarter. Tony Parker had 24 points including 9-22 FG, 8 rebounds, and 5 turnovers, but shot just 2-6 FG and had 3 turnovers in the 4th quarter. It was Michael Finley that hurt the Mavs with his shooting. He had 19 points on 7-10 FG and 5-5 3-pointers. Roger Mason had 13 points including 4-7 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Those 4 did most of the damage as the other 5 players that played combined for just 14 points. Starter Matt Bonner missed his only shot and had 4 fouls (trying to guard Nowitzki) in 18 minutes. Kurt Thomas missed 2 shots and had 2 rebounds in 18 minutes. Drew Gooden had 8 points including 3-9 FG and 4 rebounds (all offensive) in 18 minutes. Ime Udoka had 3 points and 5 rebounds including 4 offensive in 16 minutes. Bruce Bowen hit his only shot for 3 points and had 3 fouls in 24 minutes. Quotes Rick Carlisle: "I thought we battled extremely hard, even in the 1st half when things weren't going particularly well. They threw a wave of good defense, good offense at us in the 1st quarter. You get down 13 in the 1st game and you're going to have to pull it together and fight back, and we did. We got it to a reasonable number at halftime and then in the 2nd half we just kept battling them. So, I'm happy for our guys. It's been a difficult year, it's been a trying year. We're a humble team, but we're hungry. We're going to keep battling. We know San Antonio's going to battle back hard and we know this is going to be a long series." Carlisle on starting Barea the 2nd half: "He was effective in the 1st half. The only way to get him on the floor significantly more minutes was to start him and get him in the rotation with JET [Terry] and with Jason [Kidd]. You know, he's played important minutes and started a lot of important games for us this year. It's something that I haven't hesitated to do because he's always responded. He was making good things happen, so I felt we need him out there more in the 2nd half." Carlisle: "I thought Duncan played great - and we know he's not 100%. We know he's had a rough year physically, and he had good numbers - 13-24 [FG] is a monster game, 27 points. But there were a couple of key stops we were able to get. Damp put his body in a good position and he battled him. You're talking about one of the all-time great players and, you know, he's going to make great plays and make tough shots, and he did and he did and he did. There were 1 or 2 that we got him to miss - and then he may have just missed those on his own too. To be able to do that and finish it off with big rebounds, they were big plays at the time." Carlisle on slowing down Parker: "I don't know that you slow him down. I mean, you just got to just keep throwing bodies at him. You got to have some different pick-and-roll coverages. He's a blur and he's a great player. He's playoff tested. He's been an MVP in the Finals. We have great respect for him. In a game like this, you got to hope that he misses a few that he normally makes and that was probably the case." Carlisle on Barea: "He knew what we needed him to do. And again, we've gone with that lineup 15 games this year as a starting lineup. He and Kidd have played together well. We know how that lineup works. I don't have to say much to those guys. They know how it functions. You know, Kidd's doing most of the play-calling, so he's getting us into the right stuff. It just comes down to, you know, we needed to be more efficient. We had 6 or 7 turnovers for 7 points in the 1st half and they only had 2 for 2 points. And this was going to be a game of inches. [San Antonio] is probably the most consistent team in the last decade than any team has ever been in this league. Their stats are virtually - the lines are so narrow between their wins and their losses. They're not going to beat themselves. You've got to be efficient and you've got to be disciplined as well. We did more of that in the 2nd half." Carlisle: "Dirk had fouls in the 1st half. They're paying a lot of attention to him. In the 2nd half, because of how they were playing him, even though he wasn't scoring a ton of points, the way they were playing him allowed us to get offense in other ways. And so, sometimes with great players that's what you have to do. If you try to fight city hall and force the ball to him, they're going to make you look bad. The onus is on the other guys to step up. Josh Howard played great, you know, 25 points in 29 minutes. I really labored over the decision to leave him out [on the bench] down the stretch, but felt if we could keep him out, it would be better for his ankle. And the small lineup was able to finished the game well. That was big for us. But Josh, during the period when we got the lead in the 3rd quarter, made huge shots and made great plays at both ends. He gives us a major lift." Carlisle: "I've been in this a lot, as a player and a coach. Pop's a master. He's been through this zillions of times. You don't get too high or too low. They won't get too low and we won't get too high. We're a humble team. We had it handed to us early this year and had to battle back. We have a great level or respect for the Spurs and we know that every one of these games is going to be extremely difficult. We're hungry, you know. We're going to stay hungry and we're going to keep battling, because that's what we've done, particular in the 2nd half of the year." Carlisle: "Antoine's 6 points in the 4th quarter really gave us a lift. And Bass' stretch of shot-making and defense in the 1st half, along with that big shot he hit in the last minute, those were all decisive plays. Our bench came up big." Dirk Nowitzki on San Antonio's defense: "Well, I think, like you said, they paid a lot of attention to Terry and myself. They double-team Terry off the pick-and-roll almost all the way to half-court. And with me, when I set pick-and-rolls, they barely left me. In the post, they were playing high-side and sending somebody from the weak-side. But I think the key was the other guys used their freedom to our advantage. Barea got in the paint a bunch of times in a row in the pick-and-roll. Antoine Wright had like 6 points in a row there, with a big 3. Bass was big for us when I was in foul trouble there in the 1st half - he made some big baskets and helped us cut the lead down to 4. So I think our bench was great today." Nowitzki on Parker: "Well, you know, Parker is a great player. You know he's going to get to the lane at some point - it's impossible to keep him out of the paint. He's so quick and crafty, he can go right and left. I think early on, in the 1st half, we made a couple of mistakes on the pick-and-roll coverage and he just laid the ball in. I think in the 2nd half we adjusted a little more. And, you know, all you can do with him is try to keep your body between him and the basket and try to make him finish over you. But, I mean, he's such a great player he still gets to the rim." Nowitzki on Howard: "We saw what he did in the 2nd half. You know, he was really aggressive, was making his in-between shoot, he was posting up, was getting to the rim. And I think it showed how big he is for us." Nowitzki on winning with he on Terry having quiet games: "Yeah, like I said to you, the other guys were really great and used their freedom to their advantage. I think even in the 1st half, they left Josh a couple of times in the corner. Yeah, other guys really really made them pay. And J.J. [Barea] really in the 4th quarter got in the paint, got a couple of floaters off. And even when he missed the floaters, you know, Duncan had to come over and help, that's when Damp had the inside position a couple of times and had a couple of easy tip-ins. And those baskets were definitely big." Nowitzki on Duncan and Dampier: "And even though Tim, I thought, had a great game, but Damp made him work. You know, he stayed down on his shot-fakes and really made him finish over him. And he blocked a couple of shots. And Big Damp was big for us, even though Timmy had a great game." Josh Howard: "We didn't steal anything. We just played a good game and got a good win." Jason Terry: "This may be a series where we [Terry and Nowitzki] have to be decoys. And that's okay. We got other guys who can get the job done." Brandon Bass: "We just wanted to come in here and play the Spurs tough, try to get stops, slow some of them down and try to get the win." Bass: "I just felt like when I got out there we needed some type of spark and that's what I tried to go out there and try to do." Bass: "When Dirk going out [with foul trouble], it lifted everybody. We knew we had to step up with Dirk absent on the court and that's what we did tonight." Bass: "Successful teams have good production from their players off the bench and that's what we need to continue to win." Bass on winning game 1: "It's huge to start off like this. The momentum is on our side. We just got to keep it going. That's what it's going to take for us to be successful. The bench has to come in and give us something. That's why we were able to get the win." J.J Barea: "It was great how we came out in the 2nd half, as we just played with energy tonight as I think the defense is what helped us." Barea on the bench play: "That's what we needed as Jason Terry is going to always come off the bench firing. I think Brandon Bass did a hell of a job as anybody who came in did a good job. I played with energy as so did anybody else who came off the bench as they did a great job." Barea: "With Dirk going out [with foul trouble], it lifted everybody. We knew we had to step up with Dirk absent on the court and that's what we did tonight." Barea on defending Parker: "Coach told me at halftime I was going to start on him, so I just tried my hardest to bother him, stay in front of him as much as I could, take a couple charges, and just do the best that I could - and it worked out." Gregg Popovich: "I liked the effort of our team, I thought we did a great job. But their bench just got us - that's the bottom line." Popovich: "I think Barea and Bass did a wonderful job. We wanted other people to be involved to win the game; if they were going to win, we wanted other people to do and they did it. I felt we did a great job, as good as you can do, on Dirk and Jason [Terry]. The guys followed the game-plan and did a great job of that. Usually one or both of those guys get away from most teams and I thought we were very good in that regard. But the bench just gave them more than we could allow." Popovich on 3-point shooting: "We got some 3s, but the set plays we ran [for 3s] were at the end of the game to get rid of the deficit on out of bounds or timeout situation plays. In the regular game, we didn't run plays to get 3s." Popovich on running plays through Parker or Duncan: "We went back and forth, there was no conscience effort to do that. Sometimes Tony had the ball, sometimes Timmy did. Those two guys have to generate our offense." Popovich: "I think they did a great job on the offensive boards. And I think we made a few mistakes here and there. But their size and athleticism served them well, I think." Tim Duncan on losing Game 1: "We've been here before. We have the experience to beat this out. But it's a big loss at home for us." Duncan: "It's a big loss to lose that first one at home. But we're going to rally together, come in here Monday, and try to get that one." Tony Parker on Barea: "I thought he was flopping because he's little, but those ones can go both ways and it didn't go my way tonight. I'm going to have to adjust in Game 2." Parker: "I don't know what's going on with those Game 1s, but every time they're not starting well. There's no panic, just like if we won the game, you stay at the same level mentally. Now we're just going to go back and watch some film and come back stronger on Monday." Parker on Duncan: "I thought he played well tonight. He was aggressive, he was making his bank shots and playing pretty good defense on the boards. It was just one of those nights that it didn't go our way." Parker on Game 2: "It's going to be a big one now. It's going to be a big game and knowing the character of the team we'll come back strong." Michael Finley on Dallas: "They're a good offensive team. Once they start scoring on offense, their confidence goes up a little bit. I think in the 2nd half, they scored a lot on our defensive mistakes." Finley on Barea: "He was making shots. I think that was one of the main things when he came in off the bench. He had a lot of energy. We were putting him in positions he had to make decisions and he made good decisions and knocked down shots and made the substitution for him off the bench look like a good one." Roger Mason: "We got some good looks, but I think in that 3rd quarter, their energy was higher than ours." Mason on the 2nd half: "Obviously they hit a lot of shots. We felt like we could have played a little bit better defense, but you have to give them credit. Their other guys stepped up. We put a lot of attention on Terry and Nowitzki, and Bass and Barea were big off the bench." Mason: "It's one game. Obviously you want to win on your homecourt, but they got this one. We'll bounce back and we'll have a good one on Monday." Game 1: Dallas Mavericks 105, San Antonio Spurs 97 at San Antonio (April 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 18 27 29 31 - 105 .607 .294 .538 .941 San Antonio 29 20 25 23 - 97 .403 .786 .469 .833 Halftime: San Antonio 49-45 3rd Q: 74-74 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 9:50 3rd Refs: Dick Bavetta, James Capers, Tony Brothers Attendance: 18,797 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Devean George, Jerry Stackhouse, Shawne Williams San Antonio - Manu Ginobili, Ian Mahinmi, Marcus Williams Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Josh Howard 29 9-18 2-4 5-6 25 1-4 3 1 0 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 38 7-15 0-2 5-5 19 1-8 2 2 3 1 1 Erick Dampier 39 5-6 0-0 0-0 10 4-11 1 1 5 0 1 Antoine Wright 15 3-5 1-3 1-1 8 1-3 0 0 4 0 0 Jason Kidd 39 1-3 0-1 2-2 4 1-8 5 1 1 2 0 Jason Terry 35 4-8 2-5 2-2 12 1-1 0 0 0 0 1 Brandon Bass 18 7-9 0-0 0-0 14 1-4 0 1 1 1 0 J.J. Barea 26 6-14 0-2 1-1 13 0-0 3 0 3 0 0 James Singleton 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Hollins 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-78 5-17 16-17 105 10-39 14 7 17 5 3 San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 32 7-10 5-5 0-0 19 0-4 0 1 3 0 0 Tim Duncan 37 13-24 0-0 1-1 27 2-9 2 0 3 0 0 Matt Bonner 18 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 4 1 0 Roger Mason 35 4-10 4-7 1-1 13 0-5 4 1 1 0 0 Tony Parker 41 9-22 1-1 5-6 24 0-4 8 5 3 0 0 Kurt Thomas 18 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 1 1 1 1 0 Bruce Bowen 24 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 0-1 0 0 3 0 0 Drew Gooden 18 3-9 0-0 2-2 8 4-4 1 0 2 0 0 Ime Udoka 16 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 4-5 2 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-81 11-14 10-12 97 12-35 18 9 20 2 0 First Round Schedule Mon. April 20 - Game 2: Dallas at San Antonio 8:30 pm TNT, Ch 21 Thu. April 23 - Game 3: San Antonio at Dallas 7:30 pm NBATV, Ch 21 Sat. April 25 - Game 4: San Antonio at Dallas 3:00 pm TNT, Ch 21 Tue. April 28 - *Game 5: Dallas at San Antonio TBA Ch 21 Fri. May 1 - *Game 6: San Antonio at Dallas TBA Ch 21 Sun. May 3 - *Game 7: Dallas at San Antonio TBA Ch 21 *if necessary patricia Go Mavs!