|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
|
SHOT CHART
|
GAME FLOW
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Despite all the barbs the Los Angeles Lakers
have thrown, the San Antonio Spurs haven't fought back.
|  | | Tim Duncan had 32 points and 20 rebounds, while Dirk Nowitzki had 42 points and 18 rebounds in defeat. |
Now they're going to get their chance.
Tim Duncan had 32 points and 20 rebounds as San Antonio cruised
past the Dallas Mavericks 105-87 Monday night, sending the 1999
champion Spurs to the Western Conference finals against the
defending champion Lakers.
"This is the series everybody wanted," Duncan said. "I don't
know if we wanted it."
The showdown, which starts Saturday in San Antonio, will be the
first conference finals pitting the two previous NBA champions
since 1985. It's only the fifth such matchup in league history.
This one comes with some baggage to it. Lakers center Shaquille
O'Neal called the Spurs a WNBA team last summer and coach Phil
Jackson has said San Antonio's title deserves an asterisk because
it came in the lockout-shortened season.
"It's a good series to hype up, isn't it?" said San Antonio's
David Robinson, the target of some harsh words in O'Neal's recent
book. "They've been playing great basketball, their best of the
year, and our level of basketball has been extremely high. This is
exciting. No question this is a big series."
After blowing a chance for a sweep Saturday in Dallas, the Spurs
made it clear from the start of this game that they wanted to
prepare for the Lakers and not go back up I-35 for a sixth game.
Duncan and Robinson threw down dunks for San Antonio's first two
baskets and a 3-pointer by Danny Ferry put the Spurs up by double
digits within eight minutes.
The Spurs, who trailed by 17 early in losing Game 4, made 15 of
their first 20 shots and led by at least 11 for the final three
quarters.
"You could tell from the moment everyone walked in this morning
that everyone was extremely focused," said Antonio Daniels, who
set his playoff high with 19 points and nine assists.
Dallas, which had won four straight elimination games this
postseason, didn't have the energy -- or accuracy -- to come back.
Except for Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a career-high 42 points and
had 18 rebounds, the Mavericks resumed the inept shooting that cost
them the first three games of the series. Michael Finley missed 16
of 17 shots and Dallas was 0-for-11 on 3-pointers.
"Worst game of my life," Finley said. "Being that it was the
biggest game of my life, I didn't give my team a chance."
Dallas, which in the first round became the sixth team to win a
five-game series after losing the first two, became the 64th team
unable to overcome an 0-3 deficit in a seven-game series.
But the Mavs can feel good about their best season in 13 years.
They won 53 games and upset Utah in the first round.
"It's a disappointment to end the season on a blowout," said
Nowitzki, who had his fourth game with at least 30 points this
postseason, the first in a loss. "But maybe it's better than
ending on a one-point loss. That'd be even more frustrating."
O'Neal will make things tougher on the inside than Dallas' thin
tandem of Shawn Bradley and Calvin Booth. Shaq's Lakers, who
wrapped up a sweep of Sacramento on Sunday, split the season series
with San Antonio 2-2.
But the Spurs have home-court advantage against Los Angeles and
they're 5-0 at the Alamodome this postseason. The home fans were
already looking forward to the next round by chanting "Beat LA!"
in the final minutes against Dallas.
Steve Kerr, who won several titles playing for Jackson, doesn't
expect his former coach to fan the rivalry's flames.
"He might kill us with kindness to change things up a bit,"
Kerr said.
Another trait San Antonio will carry into the Lakers series is
its regular-season ability to blow out opponents.
After winning an NBA-best 40 games by at least 10 points, the
Spurs have won six of their seven postseason games by at least 13
points. Their average margin over Dallas was 15.5.
This is the sixth time the Spurs have made the conference
finals. They faced the Lakers in 1982 and '83, losing both times.
San Antonio's only NBA Finals appearance was in 1999, when it beat
New York for the championship.
Game notes
The last time the Western Conference finals featured the
two previous champions was Los Angeles-Milwaukee in 1972. Boston,
the 1984 champ, and 1983 champ Philadelphia met in the East finals
in '85. The other conference finals meetings between the last two
champions were Boston-Philadelphia ('58) and Minneapolis-Rochester
('52). The '52 and '58 matchups were during the era of two rounds
of playoffs. ... After making 18 of 19 free throws in Game 4,
Dallas missed three of its first 11. ... Although San Antonio has
made six conference finals, this is only the fifth in the West. The
Spurs played Washington in the Eastern Conference finals in 1979.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
San Antonio Clubhouse
Mavericks-Spurs Series Page
Shaq calls Spurs best team in NBA
Bryant's smooth groove lets Lakers sweep Kings
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Spurs' Tim Duncan pumps his fist after getting the basket and foul.
avi: 445 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN
Cable Modem
Coaches Gregg Popovich and Don Nelson had positive remarks about each other after the game.
avi: 2460 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN
Cable Modem
 Tim Duncan says the Spurs tried to take away the confidence Dallas built up in Game 4.
wav: 153 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dirk Nowitzki felt the Mavs needed to play their best in order to beat such a great Spurs team.
wav: 134 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
David Robinson and the Spurs responded well against a courageous Dallas squad (Courtesy: TNT Sports).
wav: 132 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
