Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog

The AP reports: Tony Parker was exhausted, having done everything the San Antonio Spurs wanted him to by aggressively taking the ball to the basket. When Parker wasn’t scoring, Tim Duncan was while bouncing back from the worst playoff game in his long career. That still wasn’t enough to save the Spurs from the brink of an unusual early playoff elimination against the Dallas Mavericks. Josh Howard scored 28 points, seven in an early second-half spurt that put Dallas ahead to stay in a 99-90 victory Saturday. The Mavs gained a 3-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference series, putting them on the verge of ousting a Spurs team that has little beyond Parker and Duncan. “It’s obvious that that’s what we need to do. Those guys have to have the ball as much as possible,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Sure, we hope that other people step up and make shots and make plays. It didn’t happen enough.”

The AP reports: During a timeout early in the third quarter, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the rest of the San Antonio Spurs starters headed to the bench. They never returned. Humiliated since the opening tip, coach Gregg Popovich decided Game 3 of a first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks was a lost cause. Instead of hurting the Spurs with hard fouls—like Mavs center Erick Dampier threatened to do—Dallas slapped around San Antonio with tight defense, the return of Dirk Nowitzki’s shooting touch and the energy of their home crowd, producing an 88-67 victory Thursday night and a 2-1 lead in their first-round series… The Spurs’ backups weren’t much better, resulting in their fewest points ever in a playoff game.

InsideHoops.com notes: Dallas shot 47.2%, San Antonio just 32.1% and hit a disgustingly awful 2-of-17 three-pointers. Dallas had more rebounds, and double the assists San Antonio did… For the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki (8-of-12) had 20 points and 7 rebounds, Josh Howard (6-of-12) had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks… For the Spurs, Tony Parker shot just 5-of-14 for 12 points and not much else. Francisco Oberto had 10 off the bench. No other Spurs even reached double digits. Tim Duncan shot 2-of-9 and did nothing.

The AP reports: Tony Parker walked off the court with 38 points, a comfortable lead and a roaring Spurs crowd cheering him back to the bench with a Game 2 victory minutes away. Unlike the first game, Dallas was unable to pester Parker and the Spurs breezed to a 105-84 blowout over the Mavericks on Monday night. It evened the series and handed Dallas one of the worst losses in the history of the playoff rivalry… Parker had 27 points in the first half and finished 16-of-22 from the floor. It was a marked difference from Game 1, when the Mavs let Parker score 24 but made him a non-factor in the second half, when he made just two field goals… Jason Terry had 16 for Dallas, and Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd had 14 points. Josh Howard scored just seven points after torching the Spurs for 25 in Game 1… Tim Duncan had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Drew Gooden had 13 for the Spurs.

The AP reports: In a giant Game 1 road victory for the Mavericks, who hadn’t won a road playoff game or postseason series since going to the NBA finals in 2006, Josh Howard scored 25 points and Dallas stole the home-court edge in 105-97 victory Saturday night… Tim Duncan scored 27 points, and Tony Parker had 24 for the Spurs… Jason Terry scored 12 points for the Mavs, including two 3-pointers. But the NBA’s leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year took a backseat in the fourth to Barea, whose floating runner with 5:31 left made it 93-83.