Say Goodnight, The Party's Over - 97-87

While Dallas made a valiant comeback (after a playoff-franchise-low eight points in the first quarter), San Antonio held it's ground and won the series with a strong fourth quarter. Tim Duncan (early in the game) and Manu Ginobili (late) combined to put the Mavericks away. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

With the best road record in the NBA, you expected the Dallas Mavericks to win at least one game on the road in the playoffs, right?

With the help of the referees (31 free throws attempts for San Antonio compared to 15 for Dallas) and some horrendous coaching from Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle (playing Erick Dampier and Rodrigue Beaubois and then refusing to play them down the stretch), the number seven seed was able to defeat the number two seed in the Western Conference.

"We're thrilled to beat them," Manu Ginobili said after the victory. "We're really proud of it."

Dallas got off to one of it's patented first quarter lulls, and it would come back to haunt them. The Mavericks scored a franchise-playoff low eight points in the first quarter, putting themselves in a 14-point hole that would grow to 21 (42-21) in the second quarter. Dirk Nowitzki (despite some early foul-trouble thanks to some dubious calls), Beaubois (who played from mid-second quarter on) and Caron Bulter were the only players for Dallas who were able to manufacture any type of offense in the first half. Thanks to Butler (12 points in the first half), Nowitzki (eight points), and Beaubois (eight points) the Mavericks were able to cut the lead down to 13 (47-34) to end the half.

"I'm not proud of the NBA," Mavericks' Owner Mark Cuban said. "I'm not proud of my inability over the last 10 years to have an impact like I want to. So I kind of feel like I owe the fans an apology."

The Mavericks actually took their first lead of the game, 57-56 after a Nowitzki 3-pointer in the third quarter, and managed to keep it close for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for Dallas, Carlisle forgot to play the horses that that brought him to the dance. Dampier, in the second half obviously, was able to keep Duncan in check enough to give Dallas a chance; while Beaubois gave the Mavericks offense when Nowitzki (four fouls) was in foul trouble. Roddy B scored 16 points for the Mavericks in 21 minutes of action, even though he played only the final 2:44 of game action. Carlisle opted to play Jason Terry (1-7 shooting, two points) for the majority of the fourth quarter, despite his game-long (series long) struggles. Along with Haywood (two points, seven rebounds) who couldn't seem to guard the middle or Duncan in crunch-time - which was the complete opposite of Game 5.

"As of right now the season is a failure," Terry said, following the loss.

Nowitzki (33 points), Butler (25), and Beaubois (16) were responsible for the majority of Dallas' points (86 percent of Mavs 87 points.). But the defense also allowed the Spurs to make 47.4 percent of their shots, led by Duncan (17 points, 8-17 shooting), Ginobili (26, 7-19 from field, 10-12 from line), and George Hill (21, 7-12 shooting).

Overall, Dallas made it a game, but their slow start and Carlisle's refusal to play the players that made things happen accounted for the Mavericks' loss. Also, I don't know how much more I can take from the NBA's officiating crew. There were many instances where I saw the officials swallow their whistle on the Dallas end of the floor, and then blow it more frequently than a Bunny-Ranch hooker on the Spurs end. It's ugly, I know, but this is just unacceptable for a league that's prides itself on being the best.

Dallas has lost three of it's past four first-round playoff series.

(More from D-Town Sports in the coming days. It's over but there's still much more to cover, including Dirk Nowtizki's future with the Mavs.)

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)