Spurs Basketball

Winford Boynes tossed in 21 points, Tom LaGarde grabbed 14 boards, and the Mavericks beat San Antonio by 11. I was in a half-full Reunion Arena that night 25 years and nearly eight months ago when Dallas joined the world of big-time pro basketball.

Of course, that wasn’t the biggest news of the day in Dallas, certainly not to a reporter for the Daily Oklahoman. The University of Texas beat the Sooners, 20-13, at the Cotton Bowl that afternoon in 1980. This would be one of many Dallas events to overshadow the city’s new basketball franchise for years to come.

It took two decades and the arrival of Don Nelson and Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki and Avery Johnson to finally get this thing right. It’s not Red Sox or White Sox in terms of waiting 80-plus years for redemption, but 26 years is a good test of faith in itself.

By that alone, the Mavericks should beat the Miami Heat in this intriguing matchup of teams that arrived in the league after Magic Johnson. Miami fans had only to wait 18 years to see their team win a conference title.

Those extra eight years should count for something in terms of courting destiny, especially considering the lean times that Mavericks fans endured.

In the decade of the ’90s, Dallas had the lowest winning percentage of any team in the NBA. Or NFL. Or NHL. Or Major League Baseball.

From 1990 through 1999, the Mavericks never made the playoffs and won 30 games once in that dismal stretch. The Heat has had some down times, too, but nothing compared to the Mavericks’ wander through the wilderness.

Nowitzki could not recite all those numbers in the wake of his team’s 102-93 victory over Phoenix. But he made it clear that he understood where this team had come from.

“When we first got here, it was rough,” he said. “I mean, we were in that old arena. It stunk. It was bad.

“When I first got to Dallas, nobody really knew us and you could go out anywhere. Nobody was paying attention to the Mavericks really.”

That was eight years ago. Everyone’s paying attention now. Everyone in Dallas. Everyone who follows the NBA.

The Mavericks – this still seems startling when you think about it in the grand scheme of things – are actually favored to win the NBA title.

Dallas won more games than the Heat this season. They beat the Heat twice, one of them so bad that Pat Riley questioned whether his team had what it took to become an elite team equal to the Mavericks.

That was a long time ago, and Riley has the Heat playing much better now, and the team does have Shaquille O’Neal, who loves to beat up on Erick Dampier in particular and Dallas in general. So this is no cakewalk to a trophy presentation for the Mavericks.

But this is a team that understands where winning comes from. It started under Nelson, and the team almost overachieved its way into the Finals three years ago before losing to the Spurs in six games.

Nowitzki was the star of that team, too, but that’s where the similarities to the 2003 team end. The 2006 edition is a team that went to San Antonio and won a Game 7 in overtime against a team as formidable and as championship-worthy of any team in the league.

This is a team that could speed up the Spurs when it needed to, could slow down the Suns when it had to.

This is a team that has believed it when Avery Johnson started talking about winning championships from the first day he was hired to replace Nelson.

This is a team four wins removed from joining the Cowboys and the Stars as Dallas teams to celebrate championships. Those four victories won’t be easily obtained, but beating Miami four times with the home-court advantage won’t be more difficult than beating San Antonio four times without it.

It has been a long wait. Since the Mavericks came to life 26 years ago, 15 franchises have been to the Finals.

Two new names will be added to the list later this week. If longer waits and humble roots count for anything, then Dallas fans deserve to be the ones cheering at the end.

A look at the adjustments that NBA playoff teams will make going into Game 7 of their respective Western Conference semifinal series Monday night:
Dallas Mavericks (4) at San Antonio Spurs (1)

Game 7: Monday night, 8 ET, TNT

Series: 3-3

Pressure point: The Mavericks get Jason Terry back, and that changes everything. With Terry missing Game 6 because of a one-game suspension, the Mavericks were without one of their top shooters — and that put a lot of pressure on point guard Devin Harris. The Spurs pressured Harris and forced him into 3-for-14 shooting and four turnovers.

Countermove: Harris has to go back to being a penetrator, and that should happen with Terry back. Tony Parker has to have a big game for the Spurs, as he was only 3-for-15 in Game 6. He is the quickest Spur and has to take advantage of that. He needs to get into the paint but also has to make the medium-range jump shot the Mavericks are going to let him have.

The big fundamental: Tim Duncan is averaging 30.8 points and 11.2 rebounds and is shooting 56.7%.

Countermove: The Mavericks are reluctant to double-team Duncan all of the time, but he is not only eating them up inside but getting them into early foul trouble as well. They have to try to force him a step farther from the basket, and whenever he puts the ball on the floor, they have to go after him. At the other end, Dallas has to attack him and try to get him into foul trouble.

Small ball: The Mavericks have a huge advantage in the quickness department and have to take advantage. They have made the Spurs adjust to them and play a smaller lineup, basically four guards and Duncan.

Countermove: Dallas has to force the tempo as much as possible and not let the Spurs walk the ball up and get it to Duncan whenever they feel like it. San Antonio cannot afford to let Dirk Nowitzki get off to a hot start. If he is making shots early, that opens up everything else.

***

Los Angeles Clippers (6) at Phoenix Suns (2)

Game 7: Monday night, 10:30 ET, TNT

Series: 3-3

Brand name: Elton Brand has been the dominant force of the series, averaging 30.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.5 blocked shots while shooting 58.5% from the field.

Countermove: Brand is getting good position down low and just turning and shooting over whomever is guarding him. The Suns have to deny the ball more and make him get it as far from the basket as possible. He has to be double-teamed, but they have to mix it up and make Brand make a decision. He is averaging so many assists in the series because he is reading where the double team is coming from. They still have to attack him and try to get him into foul trouble, at least. Also, Tim Thomas, the Sun he is guarding much of the time, has to start making shots to draw him away from the basket.

Board game: The Clippers are outrebounding the Suns by an average of 23 a game in their three wins.

Countermove: The Clippers are taking advantage of their size by pounding the ball inside and crashing the boards. Phoenix is so eager to run that it isn’t dedicating itself to screening out the Clippers and getting the ball first.

MVP attack: The Clippers are attacking Steve Nash at the defensive end, using Sam Cassell and Shaun Livingston to post him up. With Nash down low, it means he is the double-teamer a lot on rotations inside, and that is keeping the Suns at a disadvantage. That strategy is also not permitting the Suns to run because Nash is on the baseline so much that the outlet passes to him are more shallow, giving the Clippers a chance to get back in transition defense.

Countermove: The Suns still have to force the tempo and take those opportunistic three-pointers. They also cannot let Nash get stuck on the baseline. They might even have to put him on a bigger man to keep him outside, but whomever he guards just goes down to the low post.