Everything you needed to know about the new Dallas Mavericks came in one play tonight. Michael Finley, now a Spur, took the ball to the hoop for a layup, only to be met by an airborne Jerry Stackhouse cleanly swatting the ball out of bounds. After the play, Stackhouse stood menacingly over Finley’s crumpled form and delivered a long, arrogant staredown. So intimidating was Stackhouse’s glower that refs proclaimed it taunting and rang up a technical foul for the behavior. No matter; the Mavericks had already dispatched the Spurs on this particular evening.
These days, the Dallas Mavericks make game-changing plays on defense. They are tough enough mentally to bounce back from a late-game gaffe the may have cost them game 1 against the Spurs (by Stackhouse, no less) to thoroughly impose their will on San Antonio in the Spurs’ own arena. They appear to be more athletic than the Spurs and equally fierce, with a bit of a swagger. When was the last time a team so thoroughly dominated the Spurs in San Antonio with this much at stake?
The play I described also says a lot about the Spurs. They still possess a dominant Tim Duncan, a heady Bruce Bowen, an active Manu Ginobili, a clutch Boby Horry, and a banged-up but effective Tony Parker. But this is also a team of Nick Van Exel, whose petulance got him tossed tonight, and Michael Finley. Please add Brent Barry, Beno Udrih, and Rasho Nesterovic to the list. The Spurs’ supporting cast is a collection of slow, aging, offense-only players who couldn’t cover a senior citizen glued to the floor. They also lack mental toughness, as evidenced by Finley’s punking. Believe me, Mavs fans are familiar with the shrinking violet that is Michael Finley, so I know from Adam on this one.
Bowen is hounding Nowitzki mercilessly, but Josh Howard, Devin Harris, and even Stackhouse left the San Antonio perimeter players with windburn. The Mavs blew past them to the cup with impunity tonight, and for all the post-game talk of the Spurs “making adjustments” for game 3 on Saturday, I’m afraid there may be no answer to this particular problem.
The Mavs are now the team with more two-way players. They possess the speed advantage to boot. The Spurs can attach Bowen to one guy, but after that, all other defenders are immediately exposed. Ducan is a fine defender in the post, but he can’t cover Dirk if they move Bowen to the explosive, aggressive Howard. Don’t believe me? Check the tape of the last regular season meeting between these two teams. Howard molested Duncan for 15 in the first quarter, and in the second half, Popovich moved Bowen to Howard and switched Duncan to Dirk. Nowitzki summarily annihilated the Spurs down the stretch.
For the first time in their recent history of mild playoff success, the Mavs seem to have all the answers. They can go big or small, most of their players can cover as well as they score, and most of the mismatches seem to be in Dallas’ favor. Will Dallas win this series? TBD. But the Mavs have a new attitude (don’t you miss the Pointer Sisters?) and the Spurs can burn the midnight oil all they want but it won’t make their players faster or younger or more capable defensively.
I was fortunate enough to be in the AT&T Center tonight in Mavericks gear. Many a Spurs fan had a go at me until tipoff, from which Dallas immediately established themselves as the aggressors. If the Mavs remain as intent on getting to and protecting the rim as they did on every single possession tonight, I may be lucky enough to dump my remaining monthly fun money into an appearance at game 5, which could be a clincher — just not in the way Spurs fans are accustomed.
WOOT!