"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."
My Boog Pages
Wednesday, May 24
WE WIN!!!!
The Dallas Mavericks knocked off the defending champion San Antonio Spurs Monday night, winning in overtime to finish off the best series in years. The Mavs were better by the slimmest of margins - six of the seven games were decided in the last minute or overtime, and three of those came down to a final shot.
This time, the Mavs built a 20 point lead in the first half, and needed every bit of it as the Spurs fought back and tied the game in the fourth quarter. They traded the lead after that, until Michael Finley and Manu Ginobili hit back-to-back three pointers to put the Spurs ahead, 104-101, with half a minute left. (Jason Terry made a defensive error on Ginobili's three reminiscent of his play against Steve Nash in last year's playoffs. This time, he double-teamed Tim Duncan and was late getting back to his man.)
I gotta say, my heart was in my throat when the Mavs got the ball to Dirk Nowitzi. It's so hard to get three points when you absolutely have to, and as Dirk sized up the defense he clearly thought about launching a quick jumper. Instead he made a surprisingly graceful move to the basket, getting the ball up to the rim before being whacked by Ginobili. The ball trickled through - Dirk called it "a lucky bounce" - and Nowitzki calmly drained the ensuing free throw, his 15th in 16 tries, tying the game. For good measure he knocked away Tim Duncan's follow shot at the buzzer. It looked like a clean block to me, but whether legal or not, the refs weren't going to call anything at that stage unless Dirk hacked Tim's head off (SEE: Smith, Charles, vs. Bulls).
In overtime the Mavs bolted out to a quick lead and never gave it up, and they were on their way to the West Finals.
Duncan was clearly the best player in the series, but Nowitzki was right behind him. The difference was the supporting casts. For example, in Game 7 Ginobili, Duncan, and Tony Parker combined for 88 of their 111 points, with most of the rest coming from Finley. Their bench scored only 2. The Mavs had much better balance, both in the game and throughout the series.
I think Dallas is lucky that the Suns are up next. It would be easy for them to relax and coast in the next round, but with former Mav (and two-time MVP) Steve Nash coming to town, they won't have any trouble getting motivated. I don't think the Suns have the size to compete against Dallas - their starting power forward and center are really small forwards - but I'm sure they'll give it a try. My pick: Dallas in 6.
