# GT: Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs



## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

*Dallas Mavericks [38-19] @ San Antonio Spurs [38-17]*
 | Thursday, February 28 2008 | San Antonio, Texas | AT&T Center | 8:00 pm ET | 
| *TV*: TNT | *Radio*: KESN-FM 103.3; KFLC-AM 1270 (Spanish) |


*Game Notes*

The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs have both been adjusting to the return of a point guard this week.

Although Jason Kidd’s absence from Dallas was about 11 years longer than Tony Parker’s time away from San Antonio, it’s the Mavericks that are clicking offensively going into Thursday’s meeting at the At&T Center.

The Mavs (38-19) lost their first game with Kidd after acquiring their former No. 2 overall draft pick from New Jersey, but they’ve since won three straight, scoring at least 98 points in all three games. Kidd has totaled 40 assists in those contests.

The Spurs (38-17), meanwhile, scored only five points in the first quarter of Monday’s game against Atlanta, but recovered for an 89-74 win - their sixth in a row - in Parker’s third game back. He missed the previous nine with an ankle injury.

“He’s coming around,” Spurs forward Tim Duncan said. “It’s going to take a couple of games. He’ll have some ups and downs for a little while.”

For Kidd, it’s been mostly ups since the trade. He had last played in Dallas during the 1996-97 season, when the Mavericks traded him to Phoenix, but he’s already changed the mindset of his new team to be more willing to pass and run.

The Mavs only have assists on 55 percent of their field goal this season, but that number is 68 percent in the last three games.

“It’s infectious. Everybody is infected with the passing disease. It’s fun to be a part of,” Dallas guard Jason Terry said. “How can you not enjoy running up and down the court with him out there?”

Kidd had 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the Mavs’ 102-94 win over Chicago on Monday, narrowly missing out on his 100th career triple-double.

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Jerry Stackhouse matched a season high with 23 points and center Erick Dampier had season highs of 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

Dallas won despite committing 21 turnovers.

“It was really fun to watch,” Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. “We just weren’t a very good passing team and now we’re trying to become a better passing team. Because of that, you may have some mistakes. But the way we’re starting to move the ball, I like it.”

The Mavericks could get some more inside help Thursday. They signed free agent Jamaal Magloire on Wednesday with hopes of replacing DeSagana Diop, who went to the Nets in the Kidd deal.

San Antonio also recently obtained a big man, as Kurt Thomas - acquired from Seattle last Wednesday - made his Spurs debut with nine rebounds in 13 minutes against the Hawks.

The Spurs shot 1-of-17 from the field in the first quarter, setting franchise lows for points and field-goal percentage in a quarter, but they outscored Atlanta 59-37 in the second half.

Duncan, whose career high of 53 points came against the Mavericks in December 2001, had 23 points and 10 rebounds Monday. Parker played his best game since returning, totaling 15 points and nine assists.

“I finally felt a little bit better,” Parker said. “I really got my second wind in the second half. The first half was not our best but the second was much better. I found a rhythm I felt myself coming back.”

The Spurs have won 10 of their last 11, allowing an average of 87.1 points over that stretch while retaking the Southwest Division lead.

They’re 23-5 at home this season, though they’d lost three straight to the Mavs in San Antonio before beating them 97-95 there without Duncan on Dec. 5. Manu Ginobili had 37 points in that game, while Parker added 23.



*Starting Lineups*





































*Tony Parker - Manu Ginobili - Bruce Bowen - Tim Duncan - Fabricio Oberto*

*vs.*





































*Jason Kidd - Jason Terry - Josh Howard - Dirk Nowitzki - Erick Dampier*


*Injuries*
*Spurs:* 
*Mavs:* 









​


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

I am so hyped for this game


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

The Mavs better win this one and erase some of the doubts.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

croco said:


> Duncan, whose career high of 53 points came against the Mavericks in December 2001, had 23 points and 10 rebounds Monday.


Jason Terry's career high was also against the Mavs - what do they think that has to do with this game, this team, or this year? That was 6 1/2 years ago! 

Anyway, I look for more of an indication of competitiveness, and how we work together on offense against a really good defense. I really don't put a lot of stock in a loss, but to win would be a nice confidence builder as this continues to come together.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

I heard an interview with Westphal on Sports Central AM1080 locally, and I couldn't agree with him more.

He said (paraphrase) Championship is not won or lost in one game, but this is probably the best NBA's been in a long time. As fans, we should all just sit back and enjoy the ride.

I am certainly looking forward to and will thoroughly enjoy this game.


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

It's not the stakes of the playoffs, but man you're right - just knowing how several teams' management stepped up, it's great for the fans.


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

xray said:


> It's not the stakes of the playoffs, but man you're right - just knowing how several teams' management stepped up, it's great for the fans.


unless youre fans of one of the teams that sold out


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

What the ****??? is all i can come up with.


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

I don't entirely agree with what happened on that last play, but I'm not going to blame the loss on that. Turnovers were what lost the game. 11 turnovers to 6 is hard to overcome. I was really impressed with Bass tonight. He was getting so confident. He made me smile  Also, I've come to realize that I really like having a pass first PG on the team. Kidd does such a great job with passing, some passes are really amazing. So... yeah. On a side note, I've decided that when Terry gets really angry, he looks scary. Heh. He needed to score more tonight though. He had a bad shooting night.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

Where's all the posts now that you guys actually played someone?

Haha...J Kidd is so great...7 pts and 10 assts...yippee.


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

I cant for the life of me figure out why Kidd wasn't on the floor the last possession. A time out out of th emade basket. thats makes sense Avery. Lets run a half court iso play against the greatest team ever at shutting you down for one play! How can the new guard lead if in these type of situations you have him on the bench. Way to show confidence! isn't this the exact reason we traded for Kidd?


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## t1no (Jul 10, 2005)

apelman42 said:


> Where's all the posts now that you guys actually played someone?
> 
> Haha...J Kidd is so great...7 pts and 10 assts...yippee.


Did you even watch the game? 


apelman42 said:


> Where's all the posts now that you guys actually played someone?


Where's all the posts where we said we are ready to beat the top teams in the league?
Nothing to do with the game... but look kid, if you are going to keep coming in the Mavericks forum with your negative posts, please gtfo.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

t1no said:


> Did you even watch the game?
> 
> Where's all the posts where we said we are ready to beat the top teams in the league?
> Nothing to do with the game... but look kid, if you are going to keep coming in the Mavericks forum with your negative posts, please gtfo.




Is someone disappointed that they lost to their in-state rival?

Don't worry, you guys still have Dirty Dirk...he'll lead you to the promised land...LMAO.

A Colts fan and a Mavs fan? How the heck did that happen? Smells like a bandwagon jumper.

"please gtfo"...yah that's real mature. Can't take a little heat? As long as Devin was getting bashed in here, I'm going to bash those that wanted him out of Dallas.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

Yo in seriousness though...you guys are gonna be pissed in the future. It's like when we dished Ray Allen for Gary Payton in Milwaukee. I'm not comparing Ray to Devin, but Gary and Kidd were/are the same. Kidd has probably one year after this year and then he's going to go in the tank...those that wanted Devin outta Dallas got their wish, and they're gonna wish they hadn't in a few years.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

If you are only posting here to bait you might as well be the guy to get out of here. This is a Dallas forum, most of us are fans of the team and entitled to have their own opinion. If you don't understand that I'm sorry, but I'm not going to allow baiting on this board.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

I was focused on the Nets game, but I was checking out the Dallas game also. Pretty competitive game for the most part. Kidd's benching in the dying minutes of the game is extremely questionable


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

apelman42 said:


> Kidd has probably one year after this year and then he's going to go in the tank...


Just to point out, his contract runs out precisely at the same time...:whistling:


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## xray (Feb 21, 2005)

The game was a pretty good indicator of what we have, and that's what I wanted to see. Like I said, a competitive loss is good enough for me against the Spurs right now. By the time we see them again, we should be clicking - I fully expect a win in that game.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

As much as I hated to see Kidd on the bench for the final play, I didn't think it was a bad move. You want your best scorers on the floor for that one play to spread the floor, so, if I had to choose between Stack and Kidd, I'd be leaning toward Stack.

Outside that play, I thought the game was great! That's only the 5th game after we had a change of guard (floor leader), and we hung tough until the final seconds AWAY from AAC.

Kidd got his double digit assists against one of the top grind-it-out half-court defense, so this little experiment just might pay off for Cuban. I do hope Kidd takes more shots. He only took 8 shots, and I'd prefer to see around 12 from him.

Oh... and I hope Michael "Booo" Finley would just retire already.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

edwardcyh said:


> As much as I hated to see Kidd on the bench for the final play, I didn't think it was a bad move. You want your best scorers on the floor for that one play to spread the floor, so, if I had to choose between Stack and Kidd, I'd be leaning toward Stack.


I disagree, you want the players on the floor who can make the best plays. If you have five shooters, you still need someone who can create, we were all happy that Dirk doesn't have to be that guy anymore. He has become a solid passer, but he should be a finisher, not a facilitator. And weren't you the one who said that you don't want to see Terry as the PG anymore ?  Never ever ?


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Dude.... don't get me started.

That was my beef with the play. I love JET as the 2 guard, not the PG. The shot should have gone to Stack in the corner for a three.....


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

Kidd would have delivered that pass right on the money.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

croco said:


> Kidd would have delivered that pass right on the money.


Good point.

FIRE AVERY JOHNSON NOW!


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

I mean if you trade for Kidd to get easier shots, it defies logic to think that he can't make a play when there is only a minute or a few seconds left. What is the point then ? Wait until the playoffs to see what he would do isn't cutting it.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

I really couldn't tell you....

Maybe AJ used an old JET-Dirk play? Maybe Kidd was too excited from making SI cover?

Bottom line is Dallas lost a very closely contested game against a top team in the West.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

edwardcyh said:


> .
> 
> Oh... and I hope Michael "Booo" Finley would just retire already.


Wisconsin guys are killin you guys lately...

I know you love Dirk because you're from Germany croco...I'll stop blasting him...


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

apelman42 said:


> Wisconsin guys are killin you guys lately...
> 
> I know you love Dirk because you're from Germany croco...I'll stop blasting him...


Yeah, I'm really known for being a Dirk homer. :greatjob: 

If you don't know nothing about someone stop acting like you do, it makes you look silly.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

apelman42 said:


> Wisconsin guys are killin you guys lately...


Devin killed us? It's more like Dallas *FREED* Devin.

My feelings toward Finley is quite public around here....


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

croco said:


> Yeah, I'm really known for being a Dirk homer. :greatjob:
> 
> If you don't know nothing about someone stop acting like you do, it makes you look silly.


Your love David Hasselhoff, drink beer all day, worship Dirk, and don't know the meaning of the word Witz.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

Haha, alright I'll stop being an arrogant SOB.

Good luck in the playoffs.


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