Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET on TNT the No. 1 Western Conference Playoffs seed San Antonio Spurs will be back at home when they face the No. 8 Dallas Mavericks in a pivotal Game 5 of their Round 1 series that's currently tied at two wins each. Live stream Game 5 free by clicking this link; Spurs fans can find the radio broadcast on 1200 WOAI, while Mavs fans may do the same on 103.3 ESPN.
The Spurs are a bit hobbled after point guard Tony Parker sprained his ankle in Game 3, and struggled through Game 4. The Mavs, however, aren't counting on an easy road even if Parker's not 100 percent.
"They have a lot of guys on their team that are first priorities," Mavericks forward Vince Carter said. "It's not just one. Trust me. Whoever has the ball is probably the first priority."
Indeed, the leading Spurs scorer hasn't been Parker or longtime stalwart Tim Duncan--sixth man Manu Ginobili is leading the way with 19.3 points per game. Head coach Gregg Popovich expressed very little concern about the Frenchman moving forward.
"He didn't have a great game by any means, but it happens. He'll be fine," Popovich said. "I don't think the same guys are going to play great every night in a series."
On the flip side, Dallas has been game but will probably need more from star Dirk Nowitzki at some point. He's been held under 20 points for four straight games, and to 38.5 percent shooting from the field.
"He's missed some easy bunnies that I think he's rushed because now when they're open he's like, 'Oh, man I've got to get it up," Carter said of the struggling German. "He beats himself up over it. He'll play through it. He'll be fine."
Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle also vowed to do more in the way of freeing his ace scorer. "I'm working to try to help get him more," Carlisle said.
"In the playoffs, a lot of the game comes down to playing out of flow. When we're doing it well, the ball moves and it moves through the hands of the best players as much as possible."
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