|
 Dallas' 113-111 victory Friday night in front of a sellout crowd
at American Airlines Center sets up this first-round series for a
win-or-go-home Game 7 at San Antonio on Sunday night.
"At halftime I talked to him [Ellis] a little bit and just told him
to stay in attack mode, just keep his attacking energy up," Mavs
coach Rick Carlisle said. "The second half didn't start great, but
then when he came back in, he made huge plays. He made a huge 3,
attacked the rim, had one or two three-point plays. Then
defensively, he's all around the ball. I loved the way he bounced
back in the second half."
Ellis finished with 29 points and did his best work in the fourth
quarter.
The Spurs led 81-76 after three quarters and seemed to be on their
way to putting the series on ice until Dallas switched the momentum
with a 16-4 run to lead 102-94 with 2:55 left in the game. San
Antonio committed five of their 14 turnovers in the fourth quarter
"We turned it over," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said when asked what
went wrong in the final quarter. "I thought we bailed them out with
some poor shots and we turned it over at the same time. Bail-out
shots are basically turnovers also and they capitalized on them."
Trailing 108-105 with less than 30 seconds to go, Spurs point guard
Tony Parker, who had an otherwise brilliant fourth quarter with 13
of his 22 points, had his interior pass stolen by former Spurs
center DeJuan Blair.
Blair hit one of two free throws to make it a four-point Dallas lead
and then grabbed his 14th rebound on Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard's
missed jumper. Spurs guards Danny Green and Patty Mills both hit
3-pointers, the last with seven seconds left, to keep their faint
hope alive at 113-111.
The Spurs got the ball back with 1.3 seconds left under the Dallas
basket after Ellis inexplicably chucked it out of bounds while
fleeing Spurs defenders attempting to foul him. The inbounds pass
was deflected out near the Spurs bench and Mills' desperation heave
from the top of the arc didn't draw iron.
Blair returned to the lineup after being suspended for Game 5, and
he haunted San Antonio with a hustling 10 points, 14 rebounds and
four steals. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki started the game 4-for-4
and finished with 22 points on 11-for-20 shooting. Ellis was
11-for-22 from the floor.
"It ain't over yet," Blair said of the series. "Winning on their
court would be the best revenge, so we just got to bring it next
game. Everybody played great and we sustained the energy down the
line. We kept our head and hit some big free throws at the end."
San Antonio is in jeopardy of exiting the first round as the No. 1
seed for a second time in four seasons. This one would be
particularly tough to swallow after last year's heartbreaking loss
in the finals to the Miami Heat and having a league-best 62
regular-season wins this season. Popovich took home the league's
Coach of the Year award.
But it will all be for naught if they can't put away the feisty Mavs
in Sunday's showdown.
[to top of second column]
|
"It's a tough matchup, they're good, they can score, they brought
all the aggressiveness today," said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who
was limited to six points after averaging 19 in the first five
games. "And still we were up five with a few minutes to go and we
let it go. So of course it is disappointing, but it is what it is.
We have to go fight and go get it in Game 7."
The Spurs trailed by as many as 11 points early on, but six points
from 38-year-old Spurs forward Tim Duncan in the opening three
minutes of the second half quickly erased the Mavs' six-point
halftime lead and put the Spurs in front 63-62, their first lead
since 10-9. San Antonio completed an 11-point swing in the period
and took an 81-76 lead into the final quarter.
Duncan was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and finished with 16
points. Forward Tiago Splitter had 19 points, a career playoff high.
"Great series so far," said Duncan. "Thought we made too many
mistakes tonight. Giving up 37 points in the fourth quarter is too
much for us. Defensively we have to be more solid than that. Give
them credit. We're going to refocus here and go home for Game 7 and
see what we can do."
Dallas got off to the fast start it hoped for after its sluggish
beginning to Game 5 in San Antonio. The Mavs led by eight after the
first quarter and held off a Spurs charge in the second quarter
behind a strong rebounding effort that netted 12 second-chance
points for a 58-52 halftime advantage.
NOTES: Spurs F Tim Duncan passed Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on
the NBA list for career playoff games with his 217th (he's third
among active players). Oklahoma City G Derek Fisher ranks first
among active players and second overall with 244 and Lakers G Kobe
Bryant is second among active players and fourth overall with 220.
... Mavericks reserve C DeJuan Blair returned to the active roster
after serving a one-game suspension in Game 5 for kicking Spurs C
Tiago Splitter in the face during the fourth quarter of Game 4. ...
The Mavs entered Game 6 with a 15-17 record in elimination games and
0-7 all time in best-of-seven playoff series when they trail 3-2.
... Spurs G Danny Green's series high in the first five games was
six points. He scored 12 in the first quarter of Game 6.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
