At 8:00 p.m. ET NBA TV will have a dandy of a playoff matchup tipping off, as the No. 1 seeded San Antonio Spurs will kick off Game 2 of their opening round matchup with the over-qualified No. 8 seed Dallas Mavericks. Live stream the game free by clicking this link; Spurs fans can find the radio broadcast on 1200 WOAI, and Mavs fans may do likewise on 103.3 ESPN.
The Mavs put forth a very game effort in Game 1 of this playoff matchup, and hung close despite an uncharacteristic off night from Dirk Nowitzki. His 4-of-14 performance yielded just 11 points, the worst output in seven years for the German. Dallas is shaking off the poor outing from their star, though.
"Dirk is our least concern," guard Devin Harris said. "He is going to get his shots and we know he's going to make them." Dirk's struggles were a bit more than just sloppy aim though-the Spurs acknowledged a concerted effort to bother him all night.
"We basically stayed with him a lot of times and we didn't help," Spurs center Tiago Splitter said. Splitter led San Antonio with 11 rebounds in Game 1. "That makes the other guys have to work a little bit more. So it wasn't just me and Boris [Diaw]."
Even Nowtizki noted he may not be able to have his way with the Spurs defense. "I don't think they're going to leave me much on pick-and-roll coverage all series," Nowitzki said. "I can't just sit out there and measure the wind and shoot."
His counterpart and longtime rival Tim Duncan, on the other hand, was the opposite of "off." Duncan netted 27 points and seven rebounds in a vintage performance. Tony Parker chipped in as well with 21 points, while swingman Kawhi Leonard posted a double-double.
None of Dallas' players approached that production outside of Harris, a reserve, so that may actually be encouraging since better performances are due to come.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.