Spurs to bury Mavericks in Game 2

The Dallas Mavericks must be worried. Two-time NBA MVP has now found his old, killing form. Tim Duncan dumped 31 points on the Mavericks in Game 1 of their Western Conference showdown. Dallas has to figure out how to effectively defend the Spurs forward while protecting the perimeter.

Duncan dominated Game 1 with 31 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks as the Mavericks single-covered him. When they double-teamed him, it often resulted in open perimeter shots. The Mavericks have a dilemma.

By single-covering Duncan, they were able to stay up on the Spurs’ shooters, effectively taking away the three-point shot, which was a key weapon in San Antonio’s last series against Sacramento. They shot 43.2% from three-point range in that series and made eight a game. In Game 1 they were only 3-for-13. Dallas has to vary its coverage of Duncan or challenge him to have another big game.

Mavericks heart and soul Dirk Nowitzki had his poorest game of the playoffs with only 20 points in Game 1 as pesky defender Bruce Bowen smothered him with what Mavs coach Avery Johnson called "the bear-hug defense."

Nowitzki doesn’t have to score 30 for his team to win, but he has to make the few open shots he gets. He was only 8-for-20 in Game 1. He has to put the ball on the floor to create space. The Spurs are double-teaming him off the pick-and-roll, and he can expect that to continue. He may have to do more of a pick-and-fade to get open.

Spurs point guard Tony Parker made key shots in Game 1, and his penetration made things easier for Duncan. His Mavericks counterpart Jason Terry is more of a scorer than a playmaker but missed 12 of 18 shots and had only one assist in Game 1.

Look for Terry to be more aggressive going to the basket, and don’t expect him to have another poor shooting game. Dallas creates openings inside with its perimeter game since it doesn’t have a low-post presence. Terry has to make shots for that to be effective. Keeping Parker out of the paint is a high priority for the Mavs.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 9th, 2006 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Basketball, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, NBA Basketball, NBA Draft, NBA Finals, NBA Playoffs, San Antonio Spurs, Sports, Sports Betting, Sportsbooks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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