Sweet! Good to see the Mavs back in the postseason, and even better to see them get a solid win against a quality opponent like the Spurs, who present a tougher challenge this year than last.
Coming into tonight my feeling about this matchup was that Dallas boasts the single best player, SA boasts the best triplet, and Dallas has more quality depth filling out the back end of the 8-man rotation. To my eyes the game pretty much bore that out. For the Mavs, Dirk was simply playing at a different level, and Kidd and Caron had some brilliant moments to help balance out TD and TP, who now play second and third fiddle, respectively, to Manu the franchise Spur. Just as importantly, though, the complimentary guys on the Mavs (even JET, who gets a pass here because of a couple quality plays late and the ineffectiveness of RJ and Hill) to-a-man outplayed their pecking-order counterparts on the Spurs. Add it all up and you've got a contested but well-deserved game 1 win.
Bring on game 2.
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"He's coming off the bench aggressive right away, looking for his shot. If he has any daylight, we need him to shoot the ball. We know it's going in."
-Dirk Nowitzki on Jason Terry, after JET's 16 point 4th quarter against the Pacers.
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