Game 5: San Antonio at Dallas (April 27) 1st quarter: Dallas made a change in starting Brendan Haywood in placed of Erick Dampier. Dirk Nowitzki hit a fadeaway jumper to open the game, but Manu Ginobili answered with a jumper. George Hill nailed a pure jumper to give San Antonio a 6-4 lead with 9:40 left, but Dallas then went on a 14-2 run, including 11 points by Caron Butler, to take an 18-8 lead with 5:15 to go as the Spurs shot just 1-5 FG and committed 2 turnovers. But Dallas missed their next 4 shots and San Antonio scored 6 straight points to pull within 14-18 with 3:30 remaining. A driving layup by Nowitzki and baseline jumper by Butler gave Dallas a 23-16 lead with 1:50 left. Dallas led 27-21 after 1. Butler had 12 points. 4 Spurs turnovers led to 8 Dallas points and the Mavs didn't have a turnover in the quarter. Dallas shot 11-23 FG and 5-7 FT and San Antonio shot 9-18 FG and 1-2 FT. 2nd quarter: The teams trade baskets to open the 2nd quarter and then San Antonio missed their next 7 shots and Dallas went on a 14-2 run, capped by a layup by J.J. Barea on the break, to take a 43-27 lead with 6 minutes remaining - a driving layup by Ginobili with 6:42 left ended a 4 1/2 minute San Antonio drought. The Spurs scored on their next 3 possessions (while Dallas just had a Jason Kidd 3-pointer) and San Antonio pulled within 33-46 with 4:45 to go, but Dallas was able to push their lead back to 16 points twice. Dallas led 51-35 with 3:05 remaining, but Dallas closed the quarter poorly in shooting just 1-6 FG and committing 3 turnovers as San Antonio went on an 11-2 run, including 5 points on one play were Eduardo Najera was called for a flagrant foul [it was a borderline flagrant and probably called more to keep the game under control (after it got overly physical in Game 4)]. Dallas led 53-46 at the half. Tony Parker had 13 points in the 2nd quarter. Dallas shot 10-20 FG, but just 4-9 FT (including 2-6 FT by Haywood) while San Antonio shot 9-23 FG (including 0-5 3-pointers) and 7-8 FT - Dallas did out-score San Antonio 26-25 in the quarter. Dallas did have 6 turnovers in the quarter, but the Spurs were only slightly better with 4 turnovers and both teams scored 4 points off of the others' turnovers. For the half, Butler had 19 points and Parker had 17 points. Dallas shot 48.8% FG and 9-16 FT and San Antonio shot 43.9% FG and 8-10 FT. 3rd quarter: Dallas opened the 3rd quarter with a steal and Butler was fouled on the break. His 2 free throws kicked off 10 straight Dallas points as the Mavs took a 63-46 lead with 9:35 to go as San Antonio missed 3 shots and committed 2 turnovers. A jumper by Richard Jefferson put San Antonio on the board with 9:20 left and then Ginobili hit 1-2 FT to make it a 14-point game with 8:50 left. But Dallas then went on a 12-4 run, capped by a pretty find by Kidd to Shawn Marion for a layup, to take a commanding 75-53 lead with 5 minutes remaining. Consecutive buckets by Hill did pull San Antonio within 64-80 with 1:20 remaining. 2 free throws by Butler with 21 seconds left were all that were scored the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 82-64 after 3. Butler had 11 points in the quarter. Dallas shot 8-20 FG and 12-15 FT while San Antonio shot just 6-20 FG and 6-8 FT as Dallas out-scored San Antonio 29-18 in the quarter. Dallas also out-rebounded San Antonio 16-9 including 4-1 offensive. 4th quarter: Annoyed with the way his team had played, all 5 of Gregg Popovich's starters and Parker sat to open the quarter (and the rest of the quarter). Jason Terry opened the 4th quarter with a baseline jumper to give Dallas their 1st 20-point lead as Dallas didn't let up. Dallas scored 6 straight points to take a 93-69 lead with 8:10 to go and Dallas' lead stayed in the 20s the rest of the quarter. Dallas won 103-81. San Antonio leads the series 3-2. Pure and simple, Dallas played the game as if their life depended on it and San Antonio played the game like it was a free swing. Dallas was easily the team that was more focused and aggressive and it show in that the Mavs out-scored San Antonio in each quarter - a good recipe for a blowout. Dallas had the edge in ALL the stats. Dallas shot 44% (37-84) FG including 6-24 3-pointers and San Antonio shot just 35.9% (28-78) FG [2nd lowest in Mavs opponent playoff history] including 3-16 3-pointers. Dallas shot 23-33 FT and San Antonio shot 22-28 FT. Dallas out-rebounded San Antonio 52-41 including 14-9 offensive - and Dallas had 19 2nd chance points and San Antonio had 12 2nd chance points. Dallas had 20 assists and San Antonio had just 11 assists. San Antonio had 18 turnovers off of which Dallas scored 24 points and Dallas had 12 turnovers off of which San Antonio scored 7 points - Dallas had 14 steals and San Antonio had 5 steals. Dallas had 7 blocks and San Antonio had 5 blocks. And Dallas even out-scored San Antonio in the paint at 42-30. But as good as a win as it was, Dallas is still in a do-or-die situation and you know that San Antonio is going to come with a much better performance on Thursday as they absolutely do not want to come back to Dallas for a Game 7. Caron Butler came alive and had a career playoff high 35 points. He also had a double-double with 11 rebounds and had 3 steals in his 37 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki was content to play 2nd banana and had 15 points (just 1-1 FT) and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes. Jason Kidd and a nice all-around game with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Shawn Marion chipped in 10 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes. Jason Terry scored 9 of his 12 points in the 4th quarter (played 7 minutes in the quarter, 22 for the game). The lineup change worked and Brendan Haywood had 8 points, though just 6-12 FT, 8 rebounds including 6 offensive, and 4 blocks - but it was him just being active that had the big impact. Eduardo Najera subbed in for Haywood as Dallas elected to stay more mobile than with Erick Dampier. Najera missed 2 shots, had 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. Dampier did not play, coach's decision - and said he was fine with that if it results in a win. J.J. Barea had 8 points, 4 rebounds (you know you have a problem if under 6-0 Barea gets 4 boards), 4 assists, and 5 turnovers before fouling out in garbage time. With the garbage time, DeShawn Stevenson, Rodrigue Beaubois, and Matt Carroll found their way to the court. Stevenson missed 3 3-pointers and had 2 fouls in 6 minutes. Beaubois had 3 points and 1 assist in 5 minutes. And Carroll hit his only shot and had a rebound in 5 minutes. The Spurs only had 3 players in double-digit scoring - and only one in the high teens. The Big 3 combined for just 36 points. Tony Parker was the high man with 18 points. He also had 6 assists. Tim Duncan had 11 points on 3-9 FG and (surprisingly hitting them) 5-6 FT and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes. Ginobili had just 7 points including 2-7 FG and 4 turnovers in 18 minutes. After exploding for 29 points in the previous game, George Hill had just 12 points in this game. Richard Jefferson only attempted 4 shots and had just 4 points. Antonio McDyess shot 1-3 FG for 2 points and had 5 rebounds in 14 minutes. DeJuan Blair picked up his 4th foul early in the 2nd quarter (playing just 6 minutes in the 1st half) and was ineffective in this game. All 8 of his points and 6 of his 8 rebounds came in the 4th quarter. Looking for a spark, Ian Mahinmi came in midway through the 3rd quarter - didn't make a difference in this game. He had 9 points and 2 rebounds in 18 minutes. Also looking for a spark, Roger Mason played 8 minutes in the 1st half. But he had just 3 points on 1-6 FG and 1-3 3-pointers and 2 rebounds in 28 minutes. Keith Bogans and Garrett Temple played almost all of the 4th quarter (Temple came in to the game less than a minute into the 4th). Bogans missed 5 shots and had 2 rebounds and Temple missed 1 shot and hit a free throw [fouled while another Spur made free throw, so he just got 1 free throw attempt - strangely that rare call happened twice in this game (foul on a free throw attempt)]. Quotes [Some transcribed by me, some from Spurs.com, a few from other places] Rick Carlisle on Butler: "Extremely aggressive. He really is one of our tough guys. A lot of the times he went up in the crowd and pulled down rebounds. Offensively, he had a great rhythm going and he was extremely aggressive, made good decisions for the most part. I was really, really thrilled to see him have a game like that. He is just a great guy. I mean, he is just one of those kind of guys, you just love to see a guy like that succeed and have that kind of night. Because since he has come here he has just been a great pro and a guy that is really into winning." Carlisle: "Our guys are not going to mail it in. I mean, there is a lot of pride on the line in every game. You know, the series isn't over even though a lot of people are assuming that it is. This is one step, so we are 2 steps towards our goal with 2 wins and now we have to focus in on the next one. But it's pretty obvious that it's going to be defense and the ability to get the ball and get it in transition where good things can happen for us. We did a great job of that tonight." Carlisle: "Well Caron's always aggressive. He really is. I thought his great game tonight was not only a function of how well he was playing, but the guys around him had a great feel for getting him the ball, spacing the floor in a way so that he could drive it, making the extra pass to find the hot guy, you know, those kinds of things. And so, you know, there ain't a lot of play calling going on at this time of the series for really either team. A lot of this stuff is instinctive. You know, the players', as coaches we have to trust the players' ability to play the game, play together, and make decisions. And, hey, you know, when you are defending like this and playing this hard, good things are always going to happen. On the Haywood thing, it was just a decision to change the dynamics a little bit and I thought Brendan responded well." Carlisle on starting Haywood: "We've had leads in previous games, so it is not like the lineups we used in previous games were necessarily bad or anything like that. It just seemed like the right time to make this move. It is a little bit different kind of player. Damp has been giving us great defense and rebounding and stuff. Brendan is just a little bit different type of player and I thought he responded well. When I talked to Damp about the decision, he was great. He is going to be ready. I thought long and hard about it. Damp has been such an important part here and we are going to continue to need him. He just said, 'Hey, I am ready.' So it was great. I thought Haywood responded well to the opportunity. Hey, going back down there, the environment is going to be a lot different. We have our work cut out for us, but we have to build on tonight." Dirk Nowitzki on Butler: "We need him to attack. That's basically what I told him - be aggressive at all times, we want you to shoot the ball and be a scorer for us." Caron Butler: "We came out and did a great job on both ends of the floor. Were just protecting the painting, getting stops, and getting out into our flow game." Butler: "I was just aggressive at all times. I wasn't second guessing myself - just if the shot was there, taking it. Jason Kidd and all of my teammates doing a great job of finding me in rhythm and flow. I just wasn't 2nd guessing anything. I was just, backs were against the wall, you know, didn't want to go home." Butler on Dallas' passing: "It came out of the flow of the game tonight and it was something that we have addressed and talked about. But, you know, San Antonio is a great defensive ball club, they take away so many options and so many opportunities. So, you know, and the 1st option initially isn't there always, so you have to look for the 2nd and 3rd and we did a great job of getting it from one side of the court to the other tonight." Butler on Dallas' defense: "In order to be successful, you know, in the playoffs in particular, you know, you got to play great defense. And I thought we really brought it tonight. We brought it for spurts throughout the last couple of games, but we definitely brought it for 48 minutes and that's why we were able to get over that hump." Shawn Marion on Butler: "He got it going tonight. The thing is, I think tonight we used everybody, we were making the extra pass, we were sharing it with everybody, we were just helping each other. You could see it." Brendan Haywood: "I was definitely please with the performance. Our defensive play has been great. We really haven't been letting them score points. Our problem is that we haven't scored points. Tonight we got great contributions from Caron Butler and, at the same time, we got out and ran and that gave everybody a chance to score." Haywood: "I found out I was starting tonight at shoot around. We wanted to speed the tempo up a little bit more and get out and run, so Coach told me to be aggressive and run the court hard and that's what I tried to do tonight." Haywood: "My job is to try to slow Tim Duncan down and then, at the same time, be a good help defender. Most nights he is going to hit his shots because he's a great player and that's what he did the first couple of games, but these last 2 games I've contested his shot a little bit, but I've got to really be ready on Thursday because he's able to bounce back quickly and have a great game." Haywood: "We got out and ran in transition and that's the thing that's hurts us the last couple of game because we started out slow. But tonight we made a concerted effort to get out, run, keep the ball moving, and let everyone touch it and it worked out well for us tonight." Haywood on his starting: "It's a different feel for the team. I think it helps us with what we want to do. ... If you're talking about getting out and running early in the game, unless you're starting Eduardo Najera, you're starting me because I'm the more mobile of the two. So that's just one of the things that I think helps me and helps the team." Erick Dampier on not starting: "[Carlisle] wanted to change up some stuff. You have to be a team player. Things went great for us, and we'll probably have that lineup for the next game. You just have to be patient. We won. I'll sit the next one too [if we keep winning]." J.J. Barea: "We were ready, the guys were ready. And you could see it out there in more intensity. We were more aggressive, we weren't walking it up, we were moving it, we were driving it. Even if we committed turnovers, we kept going back and forth. So it was pretty good." Barea on Butler: "He got going. He got going early and he kept it going. He was aggressive and he wasn't hesitating, he wasn't thinking about his shot. And, hey, he was playing his game." Eduardo Najera: "I'm not trying to hurt anybody out there. I'm just trying to prove a point that we can do the same things they are doing." Gregg Popovich on the difference in the game: "Mostly it was the case of they came with mental and physical toughness and our starting group wasn't very good in either category. It was disappointing tonight the way we came out mostly as a group, just the mental approach to the game, that was disappointing." Popovich on if the problem was knowing that Game 6 would be in San Antonio: "Well you saw the way we played, who knows. I still feel they are grown men and they don't need to be preached to on how important each game is. I think they already know that." Popovich: "Closing out a series, that game is always the most difficult game of the season, that's for sure. And tonight shows you why. Dallas did a great job." Popovich on Butler: "He had the same kind of game that George Hill had the last game. He was fantastic. He was confident, he knocked it down, and he brought it home." Popovich on Butler's good game: "I think he just shot the ball, I think he caught it and shot it. I don't think he hesitated or worried about it, I think he just played with confidence." Popovich on Dallas' lineup change: "I thought it worked. We lost, they won. So it worked, you know." Popovich on playing in San Antonio: "Everybody has great fans and everybody has a comfort level at home, but it's the playoffs. You've got to win on the road any time you've got an opportunity to do that. We did that in Game 2 and we had a wonderful opportunity tonight and we gave it away." Popovich on Haywood: "Why don't you ask Rick [Carlisle] that question." [I heard the full Carlisle press conference on the radio, but only got a portion on VCR tape (local broadcast) and it didn't include the reporter asking Carlisle about Haywood and saying that Popovich said to ask him. Carlisle ask what Popovich said and the reporter said not much and then Carlisle asked, "Did he call them dogs again?" (as Popovich did after the Game 1 loss).] Manu Ginobili: "We're upset at the way we approached the game. It's something we'll learn from. I hope that's how we take Game 6, because we don't want to come here for a Game 7." Ginobili: "They just played harder and better. They were sharp and played with a lot of aggressiveness, like a team that didn't want to go home. We were upset at the way we approached the game. Hopefully in Game 6 we take the game that way, because we don't want to come here." Richard Jefferson on Dallas: "They're a team where - with guys like Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, and Caron Butler - whenever you turn the ball over they're going to turn that into transition points, and they did a good job of that tonight. When you get turnovers in the top half [of the offensive zone], free throw line and above, which a lot of our turnovers were, it's tough to recover from that." Jefferson on Dallas: "Well, they did a good job of attacking in different ways. Caron hit some shots. He really kind of spurred them tonight. But it was everyone, everyone across the board came out with energy and we didn't." Jefferson on if it was they had 3 chances to close the series: "No, I've played in almost 80 playoff games in my career and you don't ever look at it that way. You never disrespect your opponent. You never disrespect the game by thinking we have another opportunity or that we want to close them at home. Rest is important, confidence is important, momentum is important. So we would never disrespect them with we want to do this or that. We were trying to come out here and win, they just kicked our butts." Roger Mason: "From the jump ball, they had more energy than us. I think early on we had way too many turnovers that led to some fastbreak points and got them going." Mason: "They out-played us really in every way. 1st quarter was an indication of the type of game it was going to be and we tried to break the pattern, but they kept coming." Mason: "Yeah, obviously we got it down to 7 in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, they kind of started it the same way they started the game. I think they went on a [10-0] run or something like that and obviously we can't do that. They beat us and now we've got to regroup." Mason on San Antonio's turnovers: "We just have to have that focus. We've done it before. We understand what we need to do out there - we just need to go do it." Mason on Dallas: "They did what they did the first game. I think they got in the passing lanes, I think they caused some turnovers, and we played silly in the 1st half." 2010 Playoffs - First Round Game 5: Dallas Mavericks 103, San Antonio Spurs 81 at Dallas (April 27) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 26 29 21 - 103 .517 .250 .440 .697 San Antonio 21 25 18 17 - 81 .403 .188 .359 .786 Halftime: Dallas 53-46 3rd Q: Dallas 82-64 Technicals: San Antonio defensive 3 seconds 8:04 2nd Flagrant fouls: Eduardo Najera (level 1) 1:09 2nd Refs: Monty McCutchen, Pat Fraher, Greg Willard Attendance: 20,557 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Tim Thomas San Antonio - Alonzo Gee, Malik Hairston, Curtis Jerrells Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 26 5-12 0-1 0-0 10 0-4 2 0 3 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 31 7-14 0-0 1-1 15 0-9 2 3 1 2 2 Brendan Haywood 31 1-3 0-0 6-12 8 6-8 2 1 2 1 4 Caron Butler 37 12-24 3-8 8-9 35 1-11 1 0 2 3 1 Jason Kidd 32 3-5 1-1 3-4 10 2-7 7 1 1 2 0 J.J. Barea 25 4-8 0-2 0-1 8 2-4 4 5 6 1 0 Jason Terry 22 3-8 1-4 5-6 12 2-4 1 1 2 2 0 Eduardo Najera 21 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1-4 0 1 4 2 0 DeShawn Stevenson 6 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 2 0 0 Rodrigue Beaubois 5 1-4 1-3 0-0 3 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Matt Carroll 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 37-84 6-24 23-33 103 14-52 20 12 23 14 7 San Antonio Spurs REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Richard Jefferson 24 2-4 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 1 1 2 0 0 Tim Duncan 24 3-9 0-0 5-6 11 2-6 0 1 0 0 2 Antonio McDyess 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-5 0 2 1 0 1 Manu Ginobili 18 2-7 0-2 3-4 7 1-2 1 4 3 1 0 George Hill 29 6-11 0-2 0-0 12 0-2 0 0 1 1 0 Tony Parker 26 6-15 0-0 6-8 18 0-3 6 2 2 1 0 Matt Bonner 22 2-5 2-5 0-0 6 0-6 0 0 2 0 1 DeJuan Blair 14 2-6 0-0 4-5 8 4-8 1 1 4 0 0 Roger Mason 28 1-6 1-3 0-0 3 0-2 1 2 3 1 0 Ian Mahinmi 18 3-6 0-0 3-4 9 0-2 0 2 3 0 1 Keith Bogans 12 0-5 0-3 0-0 0 0-2 0 2 1 0 0 Garrett Temple 11 0-1 0-1 1-1 1 0-2 1 1 1 1 0 Totals 48 28-78 3-16 22-28 81 9-41 11 18 23 5 5 patricia Go Mavs!