Mavs hope wait fuels Finals run
By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
The Mavericks aren't used to sitting around waiting on a playoff opponent.
That's not to say they can't get used to it.
R&R, and a good bit of practice, are on the docket while they wait on San Antonio or Sacramento to emerge as the next opponent on the path to the NBA Finals.
Yes, the NBA Finals.
Avery Johnson has a special feeling about the team he's coaching, and special teams can do special things.
"I had that feeling when we lost three in a row," Johnson said Tuesday. "I had it when we won 13 in a row. I just had it.
"This is a situation where we can do something special. I've been telling them that all year. They have to believe it."
There wasn't much to doubt in a dominating first-round sweep of the Grizzlies, punctuated by Monday's 102-76 runaway in Memphis that moved the Mavs into the Western Conference semifinals for the second consecutive year under Johnson.
The playoff sweep, only the second in franchise history, leaves the Mavs in the unfamiliar position of watching the playoffs unfold. The Spurs-Kings series won't be done until Friday at the earliest or Sunday if it goes the distance.
Faced with possibly a week of down time -- the team took Tuesday off -- Johnson's staff mapped out a practice schedule taking into account whether San Antonio and Sacramento go six or seven games.
Johnson experienced breaks of eight and 10 days when he played with San Antonio en route to the 1999 title.
"It's time for us to try to get some rest, get some bodies healed and get back to practice because that's my favorite part of this whole deal," Johnson said.
Jerry Stackhouse called the break a just reward for maintaining a level of focus and consistency.
"We did a lot of things differently this year that we took advantage of with a good regular season," Jerry Stackhouse said. "We took care of our home-court advantage, we came on the road and continued to be a good road team like we've been all year.
"Now, we're kind of in the position Phoenix was last year, sitting and waiting for our opponent. Hopefully, it will bode for us like it did for them -- just being able to be rested, be sharp, be able to get in the gym at our own leisure and go from there."
After sweeping Memphis last year, the rested Suns opened the semis with a 127-102 rout of the Mavs in Phoenix on a Monday night. The Mavs' seven-game series against Houston had ended two days earlier.
The Mavs were spent just getting to Game 1.
"Last year, we came out of a series we were down really bad in," Johnson said of the 2-0 deficit against the Rockets. "It's still pretty miraculous to think about what we did.
"We put so much physical and mental energy in having to get back and then had to turn around in less than 48 hours and play Phoenix. I'd rather have it the other way."
Johnson credited his veterans -- namely Stackhouse, Darrell Armstrong, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry -- for the businesslike approach in finishing off the Grizzlies.
"We've grown up a ton in this series," Terry said.
Added Johnson: "Internal leadership did that for us. The times that I did go crazy during the year, I was trying to get that to come to the forefront.
"We're pretty consistent there now. There are times during the game I don't have to say much because the guys are doing the talking. I can just coach."
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