Mavs Full Court Press

3-1 is quite a climb

Well, the Suns are alive for another day after beating the Spurs handily. Being down 3-1 is quite a mountain to climb, especially considering that they just won their first game of the series.

If the Mavs lose tonight, they will find themselves in a similar hole, but will have paced it differently with a Game 3 victory instead of Game 4. But really, what's the difference? You still have to win three straight against a team that has already bested you 75 percent of the series thus far.

So, can you call this a must win? With the steaming pile they ran out on the floor in New Orleans, you have to think that their odds heading back there for Game 5 aren't great. They won't be getting the calls like they've been getting here, and the Hornets are certainly more on their game there than in Dallas. So, in that respect, yes, it is a must-win.

-Scooter Hendon

PHX-SA: This bodes well for Mavs or Hornets

The Mavs and Hornets have to be happy about this double-overtime grindout in San Antonio. Whichever team comes out of the 2-7 seed matchup will play the winner of this series, and the more overtime games, the merrier. If it could go seven games, all decided in overtime, that would be great. Somebody call Mike D'Antoni and Gregg Popovich and push them in the right direction.

-Scooter Hendon

PHX-SA: Hack-A-Shaq in effect

One branch up the playoff tree, the Spurs are employing the ever-reliable Hack-A-Shaq strategy with 6 minutes left in the game. It worked, Shaq missed both free throws and the Spurs went down to the other end and scored. Mike D'Antoni promptly removed Shaq and he may not return for awhile. If the Mavs make it past the Hornets, you may be seeing more of this.

-Scooter Hendon

Down goes Dirk -- update

The replay doesn't look good. It looks like it could be an ankle or knee injury, as Dirk came down hard defending a Spurs fast break with 3:18 left in the third quarter.

UPDATE: Dirk was helped off the court. He can't put any weight on his left leg.

UPDATE, PART II: ABC's Michelle Tafoya says Dirk tried to put weight on the leg in the tunnel, but he could not do it. She made it sound like there was pain in the foot, but again, this is just speculation.

UPDATE, PART III: Tafoya confirms that it is a left leg AND ankle injury. Dirk has had X-rays, but the results aren't known yet.

-- garza, mavs lite

Watch out!

The Mavs could get taken out by all these falling bricks. The Spurs are shooting 11-of-51 (21.6 percent) with less than 10 minutes left in the third. The Mavs are playing good D, but make no mistake -- San Antonio simply can't shoot today.

-- garza, mavs lite

Tim Legler adds his two cents

The ESPN analyst had this to say about Jason Kidd and the Mavs:

Right before the trade deadline, the Mavs brought in Jason Kidd to keep up with the top teams in the West. They do have a winning record (9-7) since that trade. However, a closer look at the numbers shows every win they have has come against sub-.500 teams and every loss has come to teams with records above .500. At the time of the trade, I was in favor of the move. I still believe the Mavs are a better team with Kidd than with Devin Harris. Unfortunately one thing has become very clear; Kidd is no longer a threat to score. He has lost that quick burst to blow past defenders. He looks like he has lost the confidence to make an open jumper.

There in lies Dallas' problem. Other teams have recognized this and have begun to shade Kidd's defender towards either Dirk Nowitzki or Josh Howard. This creates some cramping and doesn't allow the offense to flow as freely as it did under Harris. The key for the Mavs to break out of this is simple. Kidd is not going to become a jump-shooter overnight. That means Howard and especially Jason Terry need to start stepping up their play.

Duncan struggling

Tim Duncan is 0-for-6 from the floor, with a turnover with 2:59 left in the first quarter. The bad news? Mavs are only up by one -- 14-13. This is no shootout, folks. The Spurs are shooting 3-of-17 from floor (17.6 percent). The Mavs are playing energetic defense, but the Spurs also look like they are still asleep.

-- garza

Pregame with Avery Johnson

The Mavs' head coach had a quite a bit to say:

What would it take to be a good afternoon?
Well, we'd like to play some defense similar to what we played last
game. I thought our defense was pretty good. Any time you hold one of
the better teams in the league to 34% shooting, and outrebound them
and 22% from the three-point line, you're supposed to have a shot at
winning the game. You know, our last nine possessions of that game,
we turned it over three times, we missed three layups, we missed a
free-throw or two. We just can't have that in the last two to four
minutes of the game.

Catching up with...the San Antonio Spurs

The Mavs continue their long nightmare against winning teams tonight, still looking for that elusive first meaningful win with Jason Kidd in town. If they can beat one team that would lift their spirits, it's this one. The Spurs are a major Mavs rival, and a win here would not only put the Mavs on a better mental plane, it would move them very close to jumping over the Spurs into the six-seed spot.

A few reflections from tonight's game

As expected, Tim Duncan ate the depleted Mavs front court alive tonight, scoring 31 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and shooting 12 of 20 from the floor. Jamaal Magloire was inactive in his first eligible game as a Maverick, so that meant Erick Dampier and Brandon Bass got to trade off guarding him. That evidently didn't work, and Duncan turned out to be a huge part of the game.

The matchup of Jason Kidd vs. Tony Parker wasn't quite what it was billed as, however. Parker is still slowed by the ankle injury that held him out for nine games, and is obviously not his usual self. But, Kidd wasn't able to utilize Parker's hindrance anyway tonight as Manu Ginobili was paired with him defensively most of the time. So, the longer, more agile Manu was able to hold Kidd to seven points on 3-of-8 shooting. Kidd was able to dish out 10 assists, but he wasn't even in the game for the last half minute and didn't impact the game as heavily as the Mavericks may have expected.

It's worrisome how the Mavericks are coming out of late-game timeouts with busted plays. They lucked out with two big offensive rebounds, which was the only reason they had multiple chances to tie the game. Maybe if that's Jason Kidd driving and dishing at the end of the game (instead of Terry driving and getting blocked ugly-style by Bruce Bowen), then things might have ended differently. Of course, that's assuming that Kidd was even quick enough to get into the lane to dish it out in the first place.

-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd