[jthig32]

Love Kelly Dwyer's breakdown:

To me, the strangest part about Dirk Nowitzki's(notes) night is that he could have had so, so much more.

I counted at least eight or nine open-ish, makeable shots for Dirk. Very makeable looks that could have, honestly, seen him toward 60 points in this win. He dropped 41, but I walked away from this game thinking about all the clean looks that spun out or just missed. This is how good his game is, right now.

41 points on 29 shots for Dirk in the win, with 12 rebounds. He didn't turn the ball over once, in 45 minutes. Not once.

That is so, so impressive. This isn't Ray Allen(notes), peeling off a screen to touch the rock for scant seconds before firing. Dirk's dribbling into traffic, through help, turning blindly over his other shoulder. He had the ball in his hands, constantly, and didn't turn it over. Once. Dirk is a marvel, and I'm glad he's still with us, at this level of potency, in November of 2009.

Should San Antonio have doubled Dirk, earlier? Sure. It would have limited Nowitzki's looks and scores in the third and fourth quarter. But it also would have given an immediate bent to Dallas' eventual adjustments, adjustments you don't want to be having to adjust to with a few minutes left in the game. You want those last minutes to be pre-adjustments, with you finally springing the trap and watching as J.J. Barea and Jason Kidd(notes) clang open jumpers.

And, really, it wasn't about Nowitzki. The man's a giant, but it wasn't about him.

It was about the turnovers. The ones the Spurs couldn't create (Dallas finished with five in a 53-minute game, glorious), and the ones the Spurs gave up (on 19 percent of their possessions, nearly four times the rate of the Mavericks). Toss in 17 offensive rebounds for the Mavericks, and you have a Dallas team that put up 22 more shots than the Spurs.

Think about that. This game went into overtime. Limit just a few of those miscues, watch that glass with a steelier gaze, and you could have this one. In Dallas. 22 extra shots.

Otherwise, impressive performance from San Antonio. No Tony Parker(notes), Manu Ginobili(notes) was out for most of the game, and they still made something out of it. 22 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and four blocks for Tim Duncan(notes). Great defense on Dirk down the stretch from Antonio McDyess(notes). Fine play in spurts from George Hill(notes).

Respect.

And turnovers.