Mavs vs. Spurs Game 7 articles

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Mavs standing at crossroads

If they lose, Mavs will have been there, done that; but if they win ...

[By David Moore / The Dallas Morning News]

SAN ANTONIO – The Mavericks have enough on their plate without worrying about the historical and psychological significance of Game 7.

Concerns over stopping Tim Duncan and an increasingly disruptive Manu Ginobili tend to shove these metaphysical matters into the background. But there it hangs, like so many banners at the AT&T Center.

This is a critical juncture for the franchise. A Mavericks win over San Antonio won't signal a shift in the balance of power in the Western Conference. But it will put an end to the imbalance that exists.

After wandering the desert for nearly a decade – a long time for Mavericks fans, but still a better deal than Moses got – the team returned to the playoffs six years ago. The Mavericks are 5-4 in playoff series since.

The Spurs are 13-3 with two championships.

The Mavericks met the Spurs in the Western Conference finals three years ago. The Mavs lost, 4-2. San Antonio eliminated them 4-1 two years earlier.

No matter how many changes the Mavericks have made through the years, and it's been a lot, they can't get past the Spurs.

"I think it's year by year," Ginobili said. "I really don't care what happened three years ago when we played them or if they lost last year. I just don't care. If it's Dallas, the Lakers or Nuggets, I just want to win because I want to win a championship."

Ginobili is entitled to feel this way because his team always beats the Mavericks. He should try life on the other end.

Michael Finley knows. Earlier this season, when the Mavericks and Spurs were locked in a race for the division title, Finley was asked the difference now that he played in San Antonio. The former Mavericks guard said he could look down in the standings rather than up.

This isn't a rip. It's reality.

San Antonio has won five division titles in six years. The Mavericks have none. The one season (2002-03) the Mavericks and Spurs finished with the same record, San Antonio earned the edge on a tiebreaker.

As if having Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker isn't enough.

Finley believes the Mavericks have undergone so many changes that beating the Spurs won't provide a cathartic release for the franchise.

"I don't think the past has a lot to do with the present," Finley said. "I could see if the coaching staff was still the same. I could see if the players were still the same. Then you could feel the anxiety of wanting to beat the Spurs.

"The only person on that team who has been beaten by the Spurs over the years is probably Dirk [Nowitzki]. He is the one guy who feels the pain of not getting over the San Antonio hump."

But he is the key guy. How long can Nowitzki continue to lose to the Spurs and not develop a complex? If Avery Johnson doesn't have any more success against San Antonio than Don Nelson had, how do you think he'll handle it? The validation Johnson craves is to beat the franchise he helped lead to a championship.

The Mavericks have pulled even with San Antonio, but they haven't pulled ahead. Until they do, they will be the annoying little brother the Spurs pat on the head, praise occasionally then dismiss as they go about their business.

"There is some kind of rivalry because of the Texas thing. And this year, the race was amazing to No. 1, so that created a little rivalry," Ginobili said. "Besides that, we're just two good teams playing each other."

Right now, the Mavericks are nothing more than a good team that challenges the Spurs from time to time.

Tonight will show if that has changed.

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Mavs-Spurs series fit to be tied

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – It would have been great for the Mavericks to sew up this series quickly. The blood pressure could have stabilized. That nervous tic might have stopped.

But where's the fun in that?

It's high anxiety in Dallas as fans have watched the Mavericks cough up a 3-1 series lead against the defending world champions. Through all the sky-is-falling stuff, however, it should not be forgotten just how special this best-of-7 match has been.

Game 7 tonight at AT&T Center makes this a super series. The competitive nature of the teams makes it even better. These kind only come around once every decade or so.

By at least one barometer, you have to go back to the NBA Finals of 1998 to find a more competitive series.

The Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs have played five games decided by five points or fewer. The last time that happened, the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz were playing for the NBA title, with the Bulls winning 4-2. The margins in those games: 3 in overtime, 5, 42, 4, 2 and 1.

In this series: 2, 22, 1, 5 in overtime, 1 and 5.

Yes, there have been other hotly contested series since '98. Sacramento and the Los Angeles Lakers had a blood-boiler in 2002 that featured six games decided by seven points or fewer. And in 2000, New York and Miami decided all seven of their games by no more than eight points.

But if your criteria for a classic NBA series are ultra-close games and that it goes the distance, this is your brand of ball.

"It's a huge game," said Dirk Nowitzki, who has averaged 25.5 points and 13 rebounds in the series. "It's win or go home. I don't think we're ready to go home.

"It doesn't matter what's been said, what's been written. It doesn't matter. It's one big game. It's a situation we all live for as competitors. We just have to go play."

Just about everybody involved believes it might be too close to call at this point.

As Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and assistant P.J. Carlesimo were walking to the team bus after the 91-86 win in Game 6, they passed by former Maverick and current television reporter Derek Harper.

Popovich motioned to Harper and said, "Flip a coin," making the universal heads-or-tails flip with his thumb.

"When you're in college, and you're watching the NBA, you say, 'Man, I wish I could be part of this Game 7,' " coach Avery Johnson said. "And now your wish has come true. So we're excited about it.

"We had a day off, which we all needed. We had a good practice, which we needed. And when we lose a game, we usually bounce back pretty strong. But we usually bounce back with Jason Terry."

They didn't have that chance in Game 6, when Terry was suspended. That was the latest twist in a remarkable series. The Mavericks started the series with Johnson's complaints about bear-hug defense by Bruce Bowen. Then the Spurs lost three in a row for the first time this season.

The Mavericks lost two nail-biters, one with Terry in San Antonio, one at home without him.

So now, it's Game 7, which is when you find out the most about NBA players. Do they step up or shrivel? Will they hit the pressure shot or clank it? Can they handle the hardest moment in sports?

Coaches, too, feel the heat. After six grueling battles, game plans become less important than mental preparedness. Errors in judgment will be just as costly as traveling calls and offensive fouls.

The odds say the Mavericks are more than 5-1 underdogs. In NBA history, the home team has won Game 7 82 percent of the time (77-17).

"It's just one game," Keith Van Horn said. "We've all played college ball for the most part. We know what one-game eliminations are like. This is what the game's all about."

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Dirk needs MVP-like effort tonight

[By Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News]

Throughout the regular season, coach Avery Johnson was reluctant to address Dirk Nowitzki's chances of being named the NBA's Most Valuable Player, an award in which he would finish third behind Phoenix's Steve Nash and Cleveland's LeBron James.

During the playoffs, Johnson has talked night after night of Dirk having "an MVP-type game."

If he has one left in him, he needs to display it tonight in the AT&T Center.

Nowitzki has transformed himself in his eighth season. He is a different player than he was a year ago. He is a far, far more efficient playoff performer, a far more determined competitor than he was a year ago. None of it's going to matter unless the Mavericks get the job done tonight.

Nowitzki has advanced his reputation around the league, moving in the direction of two-time MVP Tim Duncan. It's not there yet. And if his team loses and Duncan outplays him, then skeptics again will have their day questioning whether the Mavericks can win building a team around Nowitzki.

Nowitzki knows that with a Game 7 looming, it's all or nothing for his team, for himself, for everyone.

"It doesn't matter what's been said, what's been written," he said after the Mavericks' practice Sunday. "What's happened in this series doesn't matter. The pressure is equal on both teams. It's going to be an awesome game."

Nowitzki needs to have an awesome game from start to finish. The key for him in this series is the finish.

In all three Mavericks losses to San Antonio, Nowitzki has had the ball in his hands with about seven seconds to go. He has had opportunities to tie with a two-pointer (Game 1), win with a two-pointer (Game 5) and tie with a 3-pointer (Game 6).

He has not managed to get the ball to the rim on any of those three occasions.

In the opener, well guarded by Bruce Bowen, Nowitzki threw an off-target pass that Jerry Stackhouse managed to retrieve. Stackhouse threw up a 3-point air ball.

In Game 5, Nowitzki faked Bowen into the air but didn't get the jump shot off quick enough, and Bowen made a great recovery to pin the shot and create a tie ball. Even after that, Nowitzki caught Jason Terry's air ball but didn't think he had enough time to come down with it and put it back up.

He didn't get off much of a shot, and the buzzer sounded.

In Game 6, Nowitzki got the ball in a bad position, deep in the corner where Michael Finley covered him, and he tossed up an air ball.

None of those were really great scoring chances, although the opportunity was there in Game 5.

But if Nowitzki is to do for his team what Duncan has done so many times for the three-time champions, he has to lead Dallas to victory tonight.

If Nowitzki is to move into the discussion of MVP candidates year after year, joining Nash and James and Miami's Dwyane Wade and perhaps Duncan for another season or two, he has to be the guy who elevates his play and helps the Mavericks advance.

His play has been very good in this postseason. After James' Cavaliers were eliminated in Game 7 on Sunday, no one still active in the postseason is scoring more than Nowitzki at 27.8. He's making more than half his shots. He's getting to the foul line 10 times a game.

He's doing everything you would expect a superstar to do. Now all he has to do is impose his will on the opponent. Make Spurs fans shake their heads the way Mavericks fans do when Duncan keeps scoring and scoring.

"Obviously, we lost two tough games, but the good thing is we were right there," Nowitzki said. "We had a chance to win Game 5 there, but I got my shot blocked down the stretch. We're confident we can win on the road. We've won in their building in this series already."

The Mavericks did that by burying the Spurs in Game 2. That's not going to happen in Game 7. It's all on the line, and victory is sure to be right there for either team to grab in the final minute.

Nowitzki has had his chances in this series. He can't afford not to deliver when opportunity knocks this time.

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Earlier Game 7 brought fire from coach

By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO - The speech, more than three years old, still rings in the ears of Adrian Griffin.

The Mavericks were minutes away from Game 7 against Portland. Minutes away from possibly the greatest collapse in NBA history.

So into the locker room he storms, a hurricane of a man with message and a purpose.

It wasn't coach Don Nelson.

"The air was out of our tires and we kind of strolled into the locker room real quiet," Griffin said. "We were just sitting there and all of the sudden Avery just busted in and started to talk to us about having a will to win."

Avery Johnson was an unofficial assistant coach on Nelson's staff, having been left off the playoff roster. Nelson turned the team over to Johnson, just as he did a little more than one year ago.

"It was just so moving that after he finished, we just jumped up and had new life," said Griffin, who along with Dirk Nowitzki, are the only two Mavs remaining from 2003. "It was like the Al Pacino speech in Any Given Sunday. It was like that, but more intense. Just like you'd see in Hoosiers. Just a storybook, movie script kind of speech, but it was real.

"Just to be a part of it was something special. It's funny that he started the year out dressed and ended the year as an assistant coach, but the impact he had in the playoffs was just like he was on the court with us."

The Mavs downed the Blazers 107-95 and avoided becoming the first team in NBA history to lose a series after leading 3-0. Tonight against San Antonio at the AT&T Center, the Mavs try to avert squandering a 3-1 lead for only the ninth time in league annals.

The franchise has played in four Game 7s, sporting a 3-1 record. The three wins are during the Dirk Nowitzki era, but each has come at home.

The Mavs' one loss occurred in 1988 against Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The Mavs haven't been closer to the NBA Finals since.

Until perhaps now. Though it's the semifinals, the Mavs and Spurs were clearly the class of the West during the season.

Many have called this series the true conference finals, even though the winner faces either the Los Angeles Clippers or Phoenix in the next round.

As for the pressure of a Game 7, Johnson can't think of anything better.

"I've been in a few of them and it's really high, but I think it's great," Johnson said. "It's the thing that you live for when you play this game. When you're younger, you're in college watching the NBA or in high school, saying, 'Man, I wish I could be a part of this Game 7.'

"Now your wish has come true, so we're excited about it."

All that's left is another speech.

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MAVERICKS NOTES

Terry ready to silence Spurs fans

By MERCEDES MAYER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- Mavericks guard Jason Terry isn't worried about the San Antonio fans booing him throughout tonight's deciding Game 7 at the AT&T Center. In fact, he hopes the Mavs can play well enough to quickly quiet the crowd.

But therein lies the big question: How will Terry, who was suspended for Game 6 for punching Michael Finley, play with the right amount of fire and keep his emotions in check while the Mavs play their biggest game of the season?

"That's a big thing right there, man," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said.

"We hope he comes out and just plays his game, be aggressive, and hopefully he'll have more energy than everybody else."

Terry watched the Mavs lose Game 6 from home, and said not being able to help was frustrating.

But he's excited to be back for Game 7, where he'll try to spread the floor to extend San Antonio's defense. Terry will be key in getting the Mavs back to a running game in which transition points are crucial.

He can also help raise the scoring average for the Mavs, who have scored 100-plus in their three wins and 97 and below in three losses in the series.

"We're going to let our emotions fly," Terry said. "It's going to be an emotion-filled game. This is not a time to hold back. This is a time to let it all out."

Where's Diop?

With the rotation changes for the Mavs because of Jason Terry's absence and with the Spurs dictating the tempo, DeSagana Diop ended up playing only six minutes in Game 6, which was the fewest minutes he's played since the Mavs-Spurs game on Nov. 5.

Diop played less than a minute and a half in the final three quarters after a 4 1/2 -minute first quarter.

Avery Johnson said Diop is limited because of matchups "and a lot of different things, and he's been fighting foul trouble the whole playoffs."

Diop, who picked up his fourth foul 28 seconds into the third quarter and was out the rest of the game, said he was a little surprised by sitting, but after watching the game he could see what Johnson was thinking.

"They put Keith [Van Horn] in and saw something they liked," Diop said. "He put Keith in there to stretch the defense."

Harris is human

Mavs guard Devin Harris has been a big reason the team won three games in this Western Conference semifinals. But the pressure of manning the backcourt without Jason Terry in Game 6 could have been too much.

"Devin probably had the worst game of his two-year career, and the kid's been great," Avery Johnson said. "A lot of the shots he's been making just didn't go in, and hopefully he can make a few more [in Game 7].

"It was a bad time, but that wasn't the reason we lost the game. We're hoping that Devin comes back strong and ready."

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Spurs can feel right at home

By DWAIN PRICE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- As great as they've been in recent years, the San Antonio Spurs know they probably would have one less NBA championship trophy if Game 7 of last season's Finals weren't played on their home court.

After six physical, up-and-down games, the Spurs won their third title in seven years with an 81-74 victory.

It's the same court where the score will be settled between the Spurs and Mavericks in their Western Conference semifinal.

After battling back from a 3-1 series deficit, the Spurs hope to have the advantage with the home crowd urging them on in Game 7 tonight at the AT&T Center.

So why is home court such a big deal?

"You're more comfortable, you sleep at home, you have your fans behind you when you make runs, and that's important at times," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said. "But it's the game being played on the court, and it's important that we understand that it's not given to us because we're at home."

In their history, the Spurs are 2-5 in Game 7s. Besides last year's matchup with the Pistons, their only other Game 7 victory occurred in 1979 -- when they resided in the Eastern Conference and defeated Philadelphia in a semifinal game that also was played in San Antonio.

The only Game 7 the Spurs lost in San Antonio was in 1981 to Houston in the Western Conference semifinals. The Rockets were coached by Del Harris, who now is an assistant coach with the Mavs.

When they were in the ABA, the Spurs lost a Game 7 at Indiana in 1974 in the Western Division semifinals. They also lost Game 7 at New York in the 1976 ABA semifinals, and at Washington in the NBA East semifinals in 1979.

The Spurs' other Game 7 loss occurred at Portland in two overtimes in the 1990 West semifinals.

As expected, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the home team doesn't have a magical advantage when it plays a Game 7 at home. However, the home team has won 82 percent of the Game 7s, and it happened again Sunday when the host Detroit Pistons won Game 7 against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"It doesn't matter where it's being played and thinking about whether it's home or away," Popovich said. "It's just fool's gold."

Said Bowen: "You try to get that No. 1 spot, and this is the benefit of having one of the best records in the league. You don't necessarily go into the playoffs saying, "Hey, we want a Game 7.'

"But it's just the way it happened, and we're happy with that."

Especially if they do to the Mavs what they did last year to the Pistons.

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Impossible dream is not impossible

By RANDY GALLOWAY
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- This is not impossible. Not even improbable.

The Mavericks can come in here tonight, win Game 7, win the series, and move on in the playoffs.

In fact, I even think they will. Well, OK, I think they might. Well, OK...I bet they cover.

(Actually, my pre-series pick was Mavs in seven, figuring it would take a road win in the big finale.)

Whatever the case, logic says the General is plotting something different. Something radical in the way of change.

The Devin Harris move in Game 2 was genius, and helped turned the early course of the series.

But, not exactly to Avery Johnson's surprise, his man, Big Pop, has now countered, and turned the series back to the San Antonio way.

That was a slo-mo, ugly, decisive Game 6 on Friday night.

Still using the small lineup, the Spurs kept the game's tempo to a crawl. Gregg Popovich, you're good, man. Real good.

Not to bore you with numbers. Gawd, I hate numbers. But:

In the second half of all three losses in the series, the Mavericks have averaged less than 40 points. That's pathetic.

In the second half of all three victories in the series, the Mavericks have averaged more than 50 points.

That's says something about the Spurs defense tightening the second-half screws. It says more, however, about tempo. About keeping it half-court. Real slow, real ugly.

Said it before Game 1, still say it:

The Mavericks are going to win this series with offense. Or lose it because of a lack of...

Avery has to be plotting something that will keep the Mavs' offense moving for four quarters. In all three of the losses, the intermission total suggested the final score was headed for triple digits from both clubs.

In two of those games, the Mavs didn't get out of the eighties. In the other, they got to the high nineties.

Again, I'm guessing that Avery is drawing up something new for tonight, but, this just in -- he doesn't include me in his game plan details.

Jason Terry, of course, is back for this one, and, yes, he owes the Mavericks a huge night for one act of extreme stupidity.

Despite all the B.S. coming from the team owner about the Terry suspension, do not think the basketball people weren't livid with Jason over his dumb move.

Terry is also the kind of guy who cares deeply. A good guy and a good player. He will be hell-bent tonight to make things right with the coaching staff and teammates.

But that's also a concern. He can't go out of control.

Maybe the Mavs would have won Game 6 with Terry, maybe not. But when the revised backcourt of Harris and Jerry Stackhouse combined for 7-for-29 shooting, Terry's absence was that much more magnified.

Stackhouse, as awful as he was in Game 6 (4-for-15), is a hit-or-miss veteran who could come off the bench tonight and hang 25 on the Spurs. He's not the worry.

Harris, however, is another story.

Strangely, he suddenly regressed badly in Game 6. The kid has had a series that should have had his confidence level overflowing.

Instead, Devin suddenly looked, well, tentative.

Actually, I love this kid. I'm simply being nice here by using "tentative."

What Devin really looked was scared. Scared and confused.

Why? Don't know, except this is Harris' first full-time adventure with big-time playoff pressure. The longer a series goes, the more the personal pressure builds.

What Johnson has to hope is the presence of Terry will calm Harris, and get him back on course.

Notice here that thus far the only three names mentioned in this preview to Game 7 are the Mavs' guards.

Obviously, all factors will have to be clicking for the Mavericks to re-juice the tempo tonight, but if it does get rolling, then the guards will be driving the train.

One way or the other, Avery wants his offense rolling again on a fast track. But how? What does Johnson do different? What is he planning? Got no answers for you, but I'm just saying it will be something new.

No way Avery will be merely a bump on the bench tonight, "hoping" that things change. He will attempt to force that change.

Meanwhile, the Spurs are happy with slow and boring, which means a Game 7 philosophical collision.

Mavs vs. Spurs. The General vs. Pop.

Oughta be some big fun.

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It's about trust

Mavs counting on each other in series finale

By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- Once, Avery Johnson could hardly stand talking to David Robinson.

The heart and soul of the San Antonio Spurs were the closest of friends, but there was a time when Johnson didn't understand Robinson. He didn't understand why Robinson couldn't reconcile his Christian beliefs with the cutthroat nature of playoff basketball.

The breaking point came when Houston defeated San Antonio in the 1995 Western Conference Finals. Johnson mercilessly called out Robinson in front of the entire team, saying the franchise center would never lead the Spurs to the title.

The Little General and the Admiral drifted apart.

"We were really angry after our loss to Houston," Johnson said. "That was just tough on everybody. Not pointing the finger at David, I was just so emotionally drained from that series, it had a lingering effect. Maybe we didn't talk as much as we did in the past summers, but it didn't last long."

It lasted long enough and bothered Johnson enough that he sought guidance from his lifelong pastor. Bishop Lester Love's words were simple: "David isn't you."

Robinson wasn't wired like Johnson. He didn't burn like Johnson burned.

That's OK, Love said. Acceptance runs both ways.

"That was a big turning point for me, because David always accepted me," Johnson said. "He accepted me, he accepted my flaws, and my teammates did, too. I wasn't always the perfect leader that everybody painted me out to be."

The lesson never left Johnson's heart. As the Mavericks enter Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals tonight against San Antonio at the AT&T Center, trust is at the center of Johnson's coaching ethos.

So even if he's upset with Jason Terry or disappointed with Devin Harris or unsure how his team will respond, trust doesn't waver.

Johnson had it when the Mavs were leading the Spurs 3-1. He had it when Terry took himself out of Game 6 with a punch.

He's not going to let trust waver at 3-3.

"I'm not flawless as a coach," Johnson said. "The biggest key for me is not X's and O's or some cute drill in practice. It's my relationship with my players. That's the thing I'm banking on. I don't have anything else."

Johnson has coached the Mavs through one Game 7, a 40-point blowout of Houston in the last year's first round. But the Rockets aren't the Spurs.

San Antonio is the defending champion. Former two-time MVP Tim Duncan is playing like one again. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, for all their struggles at times in the series, have made huge contributions.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has adjusted and readjusted in this series, going small and controlling the second-half tempo in the last two games.

The Mavs realize they're in for a fight. Getting to three wins is nothing compared to the fourth.

"If you're a competitor, you have to fight through some stuff," Dirk Nowitzki said. "You've got to learn from the lows and don't get too high with the highs. We're up 3-1 and we're real high, and next thing you know, we lose two in a row.

"We had to fight through Jet being out, but now it's one game we've got to win and that's how we have to approach it. Everything else doesn't matter at this point. What happened in the series doesn't matter. It's one game. We've got to win it."

Johnson expects Terry and Harris to bounce back after separate disappearing acts in Game 6. With Harris it was just a poor game, but Terry put the Mavs in an almost unforgivable bind with his suspension.

"If we have an adverse situation, we're not going to run from it and back down," Terry said. "It tends to bring the best out of us, as it should. But both teams are going to be fighting adversity."

Josh Howard left for San Antonio with a chip on his shoulder. Johnson played with one for 16 years.

"I don't really have nothing to say because I'm [ticked]," Howard said. "I don't like to lose. We were up 3-1 and should have closed the series out, but things happen."

Just as something happened between Johnson and Robinson. The divide would bring Johnson and Robinson closer than ever before.

They won a title together -- San Antonio's first -- in 1999.

Johnson trusts he can do it again.