Round 2: Tonight 8:30 pm

The bad news is that San Antonio will be ready to play tonight and will be extremely motivated to avenge losing on their home court Saturday night. The Dallas Mavericks will have a difficult task tonight in winning their 2nd road game in a row, plain and simple. The good news is that if Dallas can get up on the Spurs early, there is a favorable chance that they can demoralize this team. I know it sounds strange considering they have won 4 championships in the last 10 years, but I've got news for you: this is not a championship caliber team.

Three Keys to Victory:

1: Josh Howard vs Michael Finley.
Howard allowed Finley to score 19 points the first game of the series. That is nearly 10 points above his season average and also is unacceptable. J-Ho must give Fin respect on the defensive end because (as he showed in game one) he can still drain an uncontested 3 or mid-range shot. On the offensive end Howard must continue to drive to the basket because, frankly, Michael Finley cannot guard Josh Howard. When Josh pulls up and shoots an off balance shot, he is giving Fin an easy out. Overall Josh should win this matchup hands down, although Finley held his ground game one.

2: Dampier must again control the paint.
Damp is turning into a double-double machine! OK maybe not, but he did get a dub dub last game and his presence was clearly established down low. If he can continue to make Tim Duncan work for his baskets without fouling him and keep a lid on Tony Parker under the basket; the Mavericks will win this series. Of course, those are the Spurs two best players and this key is much easier said that done.

3: How is San Antonio going to stop Jose Juan Barrea?
The little man got whatever he wanted Saturday night. He made easy baskets, when he was covered he dished it to the appropriate player for an easy score, and he even gave Tony Parker trouble on the defensive end. Popovich is a master of matchups and I have good feeling Bruce Bowen will have a good amount of time on JJB (If Barrea starts does Bowen?). Jason Terry would like that. I garauntee without Bowen on him JET might have done a bit better than 12 points. Basically they can pick their poison. Bowen is their only reliable perimeter defender so Pop might want to break out the cloning machine, because with the Mavs role players playing this well they are going to be hard to stop. Regardless, San Antonio's interior defense will have to get better if they want to shut down the Mavericks offense or at least not allow 54% shooting.

It will be a difficult game, the Spurs will not go quietly and with a win tonight will even the series 1-1. But the Mavs still have home court.

No-witzki? No JET? No Problem. Mavs take home court 105-97.

Actually Dirk was there as was Jason Terry, but both had sub-par performances by their standards. 19 points and 8 boards for Dirk (foul trouble in the first half), and 12 points for Terry, but Josh Howard along with the Mavericks bench stole the show Saturday night in San Antonio.

Three Keys to victory for the Dallas Mavericks:

1: The Bench:
The Mavericks bench combined to shoot 17-31 from the field and outscored the Spurs bench 39-14. This wouldn't normally be a huge deal if it was Terry leading the way, but Terry only scored 4 points in the second half. The majority of the damage came from the poorest man's Steve Nash: Mr. Barea. Not only did he provide an extreme energy boost off the bench (the turnaround at the 5:00 min mark in the 2nd coincided with him and Bass coming off the bench) but he also provided some tough defense against Tony Parker, drawing 2 offensive fouls against him in crunch time of the fourth quarter. JJB finished with 13 points and 3 assists, but his +17 while he was out there shows his affect went beyond his numbers. Let's not forget Brandon Bass, the Animal only missed 2 out of the 9 shots he took scoring 14 points along with 4 boards and a not too shabby +12 point differential out there. Bass and JJB both had the highest +/- on the team. JET, although not the 20 ppg scorer he had been during the regular season, did shoot 50% from the field and nailed a couple of threes. That's the best thing about this win; JET (and Dirk) didn't have to carry the load, the rest of the bench showed up big tonight. This is definitely a good sign if the Mavs plan on going deep into the playoffs.

2: Erick Dampier:
Going back to the regular season this was the 4th time in the last 6 games that Damp has recorded a double-double. 11 points, 10 rebounds, and spectacular block on The Big Fundamental that sent many fans off their couches here in Mavs land. Although Duncan came ready to play (27 points and 9 rebounds) Dampier made him work for every basket he got. Although he did rack up 5 fouls, the Spurs didn't shoot many free throws (Duncan was 1 for 1 from the line) which helped keep the flow of the game in the Mavs favor. More importantly, Big Damp controlled the paint and didn't allow Mr. Longoria to get many of the easy baskets he normally does. Tony Parker missed 13 of the 22 shots he took, largely because of the big man defending him at the rim without fouling him.

3: Josh Howard:
After a shaky first quarter which included 2 wild passes thrown into the 5th row along with ill advised shots and defensively letting old man Finley take him to school on the offensive end; J-Ho came to life from the 4:00 mark of the second quarter on. Howard began to show the same positive tendencies he had shown the last 5 games of the regular season. He led the team with 25 points and threw in 4 boards, 3 assists, and a steal while shooting 50% from the field. Josh started with 4:00 minutes left in the second quarter. He scored 9 points to close out the quarter which coincided with the Mavericks cutting the deficit (after being down by 13) to 45-49 going into halftime. J-Ho scored the majority of his points when the Mavs began to take control in the 3rd quarter. He scored 13 points in the quarter, while also making a great pass on a resounding dunk from Erick Dampier. Howard didn't play in the fourth quarter because his ankle began to stiffen up. But he didn't have to, as he had dropped 25 in the first 3 quarters.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry combined for 31 points and the Dallas Mavericks still beat the San Antonio Spurs by 8 points. Unbelievable effort from the role players tonight as the Mavs made the Spurs fans file to the exits with about a minute and a half left in the game. What is going to happen when Dirk and JET get going and if the rest of the team keeps playing with this chip on their shoulder? Talk amongst yourselves.
Final score 105-97.



Side Note: During the first quarter, Dirk Nowitzki was being consistently beat-up by SA defenders so he decided to let the referees know about it. Just before Dirk started walking over to the bench after receiving his 2nd foul, the PA announcer decided he was going to tell Dirk over the Arena loudspeaker to "stop whining".
Number 1: This is outlandishly unprofessional to talk to a player on the opposing team over the loud speaker period, even more so when you are antagonizing said player.
Number 2: Isn't it ironic that someone who announces for Crater Face and the Palms Up Gang (see picture above) would call out a player from the other team for whining? Tim Duncan is one of the whiniest players in all of sports but somehow he has this reputation among commentators [who haven't watched a game featuring the team they are commentating on] that he "never complains" and only does when "he knows its a foul".
Number 3: I say its payback time. Humble Billy Hayes anyone? Next time Duncan goes palm's up at the AAC: "Stoooooooooooooooooooooooooop whining bitch"