Mavericks Defense Steals the Show Again 99-90 as Spurs now in 3-1 hole

Jason Kidd Playing Tight Defense on Tony Parker. Parker scored almost half of the Spurs points (43) for the game but was held to 12 points in the second half.

The Mavericks showed up again with yet another one of their best defensive performances of the season, holding the Spurs to 90 points and 44% shooting. Although Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined to go 25-42 from the field with 68 points combined; the entire rest of the Spurs team combined for a meager 6-28 from the field. Dallas let the stars for San Antonio get theirs' but didn't let anyone else on their team make more than 2 baskets. The three keys on defense for the Mavs:

1. Hustle, Hustle, and More Hustle: The Mavericks played this game like it meant more to them than it did to the Spurs. They took charges, got steals, and even got a few key blocks along the way.
2. Three Point Defense: The Spurs hit only 6 of their 23 attempts from behind the arc (26%). This was important because the Mavericks effectively turned the Spurs into a jump shooting team in this game. But they didn't allow many open looks, resulting in many S.A. misses.
3. Ryan Hollins: Hollins came into the game after Erick Dampier got into foul trouble in the third quarter. He played superb defense on Tim Duncan and helped control the paint getting 3 blocks and 8 rebounds in only 19 minutes of play.
   

Dallas scored 99 to beat the Spurs by 9 but only shot 38% from the floor. Josh Howard led the team with 28 points and Jason Kidd had 17 for a Mavericks team that relied on the three pointer (10) and offensive rebounds (14) to stay ahead in this game. The three keys on offense for the Mavs:

1. Rebounding: They out-rebounded the Spurs 49-35 and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 13 boards but the two headed monster at center was the big story. Erick Dampier and Ryan Hollins combined for 14 rebounds (8 offensive boards) and 12 points.
   
2. Long Distance: They shot 10-25 on their three pointers which kept them in the game and in the lead. Jason Kidd and Josh Howard led the way with three 3's each.
   
3. Josh Howard and Jason Kidd: Josh Howard led the Mavericks with 28 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Howard refused to be denied going to the basket, earning 14 free throw attempts and making 11 of them. Kidd was second on the team with 17 points and also had 7 boards, 7 assists, and two steals. J-Kidd consistently got his teammates open looks throughout the game.
   

Other news, notes, and random observations from today's game:

• Jason Terry continued to struggle going 3-17 from the field, scoring 10 points in 33 minutes. Terry took the most shots for the Mavs, but also missed many of them. He did have 4 boards, a steal, and a block though.
  
• Dirk Nowitzki only scored 12 points and had some pretty bad passes that led to him committing 3 turnovers . Nowitzki did have a crucial block and grabbed 13 boards for the Mavericks. It was his first double-double of this postseason. Dirk averages a dub-dub in the playoffs for his career at 25 ppg and 11 boards.
  
• It's hard to believe that this team pulled out a game against the Spurs with Dirk and JET combining to score 22 points and going 7-26 from the field.
• Antoine Wright played 11 solid minutes, scoring 9 points on 2 three pointers and a drive to the basket in which he scored and got the foul. Wright added a blocked shot and several solid minutes on defense in the second half against Tony Parker.
• JJ Barrea started again and scored 9 points while dropping 4 dimes. Barrea went out late in the 1st quarter on what appeared to be a problem with his injured shoulder. Barrea came back into the game later in the first half and appeared to have no lingering effects.
• Dirk Nowitzki was called for a defensive foul even though Tim Duncan hooked Dirk by grabbing him on the right ass cheek.
• The officials were especially testy with Mavericks players as Dirk was whistled for a T after he proclaimed that a call against him was "bullshit". Ryan Hollins was called for a T in the 4th quarter after he dunked the ball over Tim Duncan and yelled in excitement. Gregg Popovich, however, was not called for a technical foul even though he was repeatedly berating the officials throughout the game.

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker gave the Mavericks their best shot in this game, the only problem was the rest of their team couldn't hit any.This win puts Dallas thoroughly in the driver's seat as San Antonio would have to win the next 3 games of the series in order to advance to the second round. The Mavericks, meanwhile, only have to win 1 of the next three to close out this series. Yeah, you saw it here first: It's over buddeh!