[ddh33]

I was forced to watch this game from a family member's house with loud people who couldn't have cared less about this game. Needless to say, I had a long night.

Anyway, I thought the big difference in this game was all of the things that fans sometimes worry about. Dirk was huge. The defense was great. Dallas had other players step up and defeat the Spurs collectively.

I don't know about anyone else, but I was so proud of the team tonight. I thought this victory took a lot of guts. The Spurs don't lose at home. When they do, it's almost a fluke. So Dallas goes in and beats the Spurs at home against a team that still has plenty to play for and is breathing fire from their last loss at home.

First of all, Dirk better get some more talk in the MVP race. Seriously, who has done more for their team that this guy? Tonight, with all of the talk about how the Spurs are in his head, Dirk delivered in a big way. (By the way, are two games enough to get in someone's head? I don't remember people saying that Damp was in Shaq's head when he held Shaq to less than twenty a couple of times. Double standard, anyone?) Anyway, watching ESPN, I couldn't help but laugh. Michael Finley had as many good highlights as Dirk did. Why not? Finley hit at least two shots that I remember. Meanwhile, they did manage to show Dirk missing shots in the first half. Although they came back and showed him hitting shots in the second half, it's like they wanted to make clear that he had his problems or something. It really gets to feeling like no one wants to give him credit. I would also like to mention Dirk's solid defensive play on the night and his work on the boards. There was a time in the first half when I thought the lack of success on the defensive boards was going to cost this team.

Again, the defense did a great job. The Spurs shot 38%. Duncan and Parker combined for 23 points. As mentioned, there were some problems corralling rebounds in the first half, but the team did seem to get progressively better in that regard.

How about Josh Howard? Is there anyone now who doubts his importance to this team? The guy literally carried the Mavs in the first half. He will not back down from anyone in this league, and he shouldn't! I admired the way he worked all night, and his offense was huge. Having another player who can create his own shot and get into the lane for higher percentage shots is invaluable. He also did a great job of coming back and tracking down rebounds. 22 points, 10 rebounds, and intangibles that can't be measured. Do you ever wonder if this division might not have even been a race had he not missed all of those games?

Jason Terry also played a good game. Actually, the best part of his game tonight might have been his defense. He really worked hard against Parker, and he had plenty of help from his teammates. He played a controlled game though, and I liked the fact that he seemed more attentive to the defensive boards as the game went along. I would imagine the coaches made a point of letting the guards know they were going to have to help. 14-5-4 and 2 steals, and he played Parker to a standstill.

Jerry Stackhouse also had a nice, more controlled game. Stack still had a couple of turnovers, and I believe that a couple of them might have been on offensive fouls. I thought the key to Stack's game tonight though was making sure that San Antonio didn't have anyone they could hide their defenders on, and...

I believe that is going to key in the playoffs for the Mavs. At this point, I think most of us have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Dirk, Terry, and even Josh. But against good defensive teams, I believe the Mavs have to make sure that they have enough threats to keep their opponents honest. Duncan, for instance, can't be allowed to freely roam. He wasn't tonight. Whoever was being guarded by Timmy was aggressive and attacking all night long. Ginobili has a harder team cheating off and getting into passing lanes, and Bowen can't guard everyone. It doesn't change the fact that the Spurs are a great defensive team. But you can't commit suicide by playing 2-3 guys at a time who are no threat to put points on the board.

The Spurs had to pay attention to guys like Stack and Josh, and that was a huge key in the game.

Daniels didn't play many minutes, and he didn't play particularly well in the parts of the game I saw. I know that people want Daniels to be a good two way player, but there are times that he doesn't do a ton to inspire confidence. I think he has it in him, but consistency seems to be a problem. Fouls might have had something to do with tonight though.

Josh Powell is getting some meaningful minutes. He didn't embarrass himself. He had a nice jumper on the baseline that I thought was a big shot. If he can do that, keep his turnovers to a minimum, and keep bringing energy, he can do the job behind Dirk for those few minutes a game. I've actually been more surprised at how the coaches even play him at the 3 ahead of Daniels sometimes. I wonder who that speaks to more, Daniels or Powell?

If I look at the stats, it would be easy to say that I was mildly disappointed in Damp. I was disappointed because I want Damp to clearly be the physical force inside. I want him to be the dominant defender and rebounder on the floor when he's out there. Most nights I think he is. Tonight, there were times that I thought Oberto was completely nullifying him. At the same time, the things Dampier did don't show up on the stat sheet. I thought Damp played very solid defense against Duncan. He forced him farther out on the perimeter, and he bodied him up well. He also had a gorgeous behind the back pass to Powell for a dunk, and he seemed more aggressive in trying to score. I have a hunch that was by design. As mentioned, I don't think you can allow the Spurs to play 5 on 3. Everyone on the court needs to be a threat. Even though he didn't convert some of his shots, I thought Damp was a threat.

Diop played a solid game, but it was somewhat uneven. You could probably make a case that this was one of Diop's better games in a couple of weeks. The number that stands out is 4, as in blocks. He did do a very good job of helping out on penetration. But the number 1 also stands out, as in rebounds acquired in the 21 minutes he played. That won't cut it. On the bright side, he did hit a pretty big free throw in the crunch time.


I want to make sure I talk about Avery Johnson too. Coach had these guys ready to play. Not only that, he had his team playing very disciplined. The team continued to attack the basket even if they didn't get some calls they thought they deserved. The right people were taking the big shots. The team seemed to have a little different rotation and minute distribution as well. Now, none of this may end up mattering too much. The Spurs could still likely end up #1 in the West. But this game proves that Dallas is not just another step on the Spurs way to a matchup with Detroit. That's going to be a series. Either team can beat the other - at home or on the road. In the meantime, this team showed how tough-minded it is. They showed how competitive they are. They showed grit. That's the part that excited me most.