Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 95 – NBA Blog

Game 5: Butler 35, Mavs beat Spurs

The AP reports:

Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood gave the Dallas Mavericks the energy, toughness and scoring they needed—in other words, everything the Mavs expected when they traded for them a few months ago.

Butler scored a career playoff-best 35 points and had 11 rebounds, and Haywood provided a strong inside presence at both ends in his first start of this postseason, keeping the Mavericks alive by leading them to a 103-81 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series.

The Spurs were outplayed most of the first half, but trailed by only seven at halftime. Dallas didn’t let them hang around much longer…

Butler’s performance turned Dirk Nowitzki into a sidekick. He had 15 points and nine rebounds. Jason Terry had 12 points, while Marion and Kidd each scored 10. Kidd also had seven assists and seven rebounds.

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 18 points. Half of them came during an 11-2 run at the end of the second quarter that gave the Spurs hope of pulling off another throttling third quarter, like they did to win Game 4.

Duncan scored 11 in 24 minutes and Manu Ginobili scored seven in 19 minutes.

Jamal Crawford wins Sixth Man of Year

As expected, Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford won the 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.

He deserved it. Crawford’s scoring off the bench was a huge part of Atlanta’s success this year.

The team finished with a 53-29 record and the #3 seed in the Eastern conference.

For more info on the award, with voting results and the guys that finished behind Crawford, click here.

Spurs double-teams contain Nowitzki

Todd Archer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports:

For the first time in the playoff series, San Antonio double-teamed Dirk Nowitzki from start to finish in Sunday’s Game 4. The result was just 10 shots by the Mavericks’ leading scorer and a 92-89 Spurs victory.

It was only the third time in Nowitzki’s last 49 playoff games that he had taken 10 or fewer shots.

He made four of nine shots in a Game 4 win against the Spurs last year, scoring 12 points, but the Mavericks won that game.

Nowitzki expects more of the same in Game 5.

“In Game 3, I had a pretty good second half,” Nowitzki said. “They figured, ‘We better get the ball out of his hands.’ They came from the beginning on the block. They came on the isolations up top. They just got the ball out of my hands, and we didn’t make enough plays on the weak side.

“I’ve still got to find a way, even with double teams, to pick my spots, be more aggressive. Obviously, 10 shots is not going to cut it.”

NBA fines Erick Dampier

Dallas Mavericks’ center Erick Dampier has been fined $35,000 for publicly criticizing game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Dampier was fined for comments made to the media following the Mavericks’ 94-90 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round on April 23.

More details tonight.

Mavericks in first round trouble

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports:

The Mavericks now are down 3-1 in the best-of-7 series that returns to American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Only eight times in NBA history have teams rallied from a 3-1 deficit. Rick Carlisle coached one of those teams when he was with Detroit, which came back to beat Orlando.

For the second time in a row in San Antonio, the Mavericks blew a game that was well within reach. They owned a 15-point lead in the second quarter and were still up by double figures four minutes into the third quarter.

But the Spurs scored 15 points in a row to go up 62-57. The Mavericks scored just 11 points in the quarter, with just two in the final seven minutes.

Game 4: Spurs beat Mavs for 3-1 lead

The AP reports:

Tim Duncan had a miserable 34th birthday and Manu Ginobili looked as bad at times as his bandaged-up nose. But George Hill scored 29 points and San Antonio beat the Mavs 92-89 on Sunday night to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round series.

Popovich called out his supporting cast after losing Game 1. But it was his Big Three who had little bark in Game 4.

InsideHoops.com reports:

It was a sight to see. Hill was awesome. And the energy of DeJuan Blair helped San Antonio a lot.

The Mavericks scored 31 points in the second quarter and 30 in the fourth, but just 17 in the first and 11 in the third.

For the Spurs, Hill scored 17. Ginobili had 17 points (just 4-of-16), four rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Richard Jefferson (6-of-9) had 15. Antonio McDyess and Tony Parker each scored 10. Duncan had just four points and 11 rebounds.

For the Mavs, Caron Butler had 17 but on 18 shots, with six rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki was a mere 4-of-10 for 17 points and 11 rebounds. Shawn Marion had 14 but on 13 shots, and seven rebounds. Jason Terry had 13 on 11 shots.

Game 3: Ginobili, Spurs take 2-1 series lead over Mavs

The AP reports:

Blood dripped from Manu Ginobili’s nose. He had caught an elbow from Dirk Nowitzki, then disappeared into the locker room while leaving a trail of red blotches behind him on the tunnel floor.

He didn’t know yet his nose was broken. That diagnosis would have to wait.

Ginobili still had work to do, so he patched up his gushing nose with a bandage and came back late in the third, then scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 94-90 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night…

Dirk Nowitzki made good on his vow after the Game 2 loss to hit the looks he got last time, scoring 35 points…

But Caron Butler never left the bench in the second half on Friday as coach Rick Carlisle instead went instead with Barea in the backcourt…

Aside from Game 4, Sunday is also when Duncan turns 34—but so far in this series, he’s looked practically ageless. He scored 25 points for the second straight game, and has the Spurs in position to possibly celebrate a commanding lead in this series if they can win on his birthday.

Tony Parker had 23 points off the bench while continuing to thrive in the sixth man role that Ginobili held for so many years.

Manu Ginobili breaks nose in Spurs-Mavs Game 3

Manu Ginobili suffered a nasal fracture in the third quarter of tonight’s Spurs-Mavericks game. X-rays taken at the AT&T Center confirmed the injury.

Tomorrow Ginobili will be re-examined by Spurs team physicians at which time he will undergo a CT scan. Additional details will be announced after this examination.

Game 2: Jefferson hounds Mavs, Spurs win

The AP reports:

Knowing he was among the guys Spurs coach Gregg Popovich thought “played like dogs” in the opener, Richard Jefferson bounced back by scoring 17 of his 19 points in the first half to help San Antonio beat the Dallas Mavericks 102-88 in Game 2 on Wednesday night. The win ties their first-round series at a game apiece, with the next two games in the Alamo City…

Tim Duncan was San Antonio’s second-half star, scoring 17 of his 25 points then, often just in time to douse Dallas rallies. He also had 17 rebounds…

Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki went from hardly missing in Game 1 to hardly making. The Spurs didn’t even smother him; merely knowing they were creeping his way threw Nowitzki out of whack. He missed six of his first seven shots, and even missed a free throw after having made 88 in a row.

“If they give me those same looks on Friday, I’ll take them,” said Nowitzki, who finished with 24 points, down from 36 in the opener…

Manu Ginobili had 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:48 left that he punctuated with a celebratory punch as fans began rushing toward the exits.

Tony Parker, still coming off the bench, had 16 points and eight assists.

Tony Parker OK with coming off bench

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

Spurs point guard Tony Parker admits he hasn’t quite been feeling like himself lately. He’s been feeling a little off, a little out of sorts, a little Argentine.

“I’m Manu Jr.,” Parker said.

Coming off the bench, it seems, can create quite an identity crisis. For the past seven games including Sunday’s Game 1 defeat at Dallas, Parker — like Manu Ginobili once did — has found himself in unaccustomed territory as a reserve.

In the Spurs’ 100-94 playoff-opening loss, Parker backed up George Hill and produced a Manu Jr.-like bench line: 18 points and four assists.

It is an arrangement Parker has told coach Gregg Popovich he’s OK with, even though he started all but seven of his first 662 career games.