Popovich: 'A lot of guys played like dogs'
Sounds like a winning formula. But, it wasn't. The Spurs lost two critical areas: The Mavs shot 20 more free throws for a 13-point advantage at the foul line, and 10 Mavs steals and four blocked shots were part of 17 San Antonio turnovers that led to 20 Dallas points.
But, the real killer -- besides 36 points from Dirk Nowitzki -- was the production, or lack of it, outside of the Spurs' Big Three -- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Those three combined for 71 of the Spurs' points in Wednesday's 100-94 loss in Game 1 of the their first-round series.
Antonio McDyess finished with 10 points, but no other Spurs players scored more than five points. Richard Jefferson had four points in 32 points. Matt Bonner had five in 19 minutes. George Hill, playing on a sprained right ankle, was scoreless in 18 minutes.
Popovich's assessment was harsh.
"We've got to have a few more people step up and play worth a damn," he said. "I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs."
Jeff Caplan
ESPNDallas.com
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Jeff Caplan
Jeff Caplan joined ESPNDallas.com in December 2009. Jeff covers the Mavericks, Rangers and colleges. He has a wealth of experience in the area, covering multiple beats in his 11-plus years with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
Marc Stein
Marc Stein began writing for ESPN.com in 2000 and signed on full-time in 2002 as Senior NBA Writer. He also makes regular appearances on "SportsCenter," "NBA Shootaround," "NBA Fastbreak," "NBA Coast To Coast," ESPNEWS, ESPN "First Take" and ESPN Radio.
Jeff "Skin" Wade
Jeff Wade joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2009. He is one half of "The Ben & Skin Show," heard weekdays from 9a-12p on 103.3 FM ESPN, and also works as sideline analyst for the TV broadcast of all Maverick home games.
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TEAM LEADERS
| POINTS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Dirk Nowitzki
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| Rebounds | S. Marion | 7.4 | ||||||||||
| Assists | J. Kidd | 5.5 | ||||||||||
| Steals | J. Kidd | 1.7 | ||||||||||
| Blocks | B. Wright | 1.3 | ||||||||||
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