GAME 52: SAS (25-26) @ DAL (29-23) | 117-119 loss

[omahen]

Zinger didn’t touch him (though it actually was a foul on Luka).

He clearly did foul him. You could saw him on the bench gesturing what he did wrong.

[Hogmelon]

Not to belabor the obvious ...

The clear-cut difference-maker (and hands-down winner of the GAME 52 Anti-Dirkie) was Tim Hardaway Jr.

Good grief!

[Jason Terry]

Terribly reffed game especially in the first half. Spurs shot 54% and played desperate. Not too worried about this one

[ItsGoTime]

Terribly reffed game especially in the first half. Spurs shot 54% and played desperate. Not too worried about this one

Hey, the good news is we're not playing too terribly desperate...wait, what are we talking about?

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Spurs made sure the Mavs didn't sweep the season series, which has never happened in the history of both teams.

[Chicagojk]

What a wild ride the last week or so has been.   

I was expecting a tough game today.  The Mavs have had San Antonio's number this year and as we just saw when we played Utah, there was a strong focus to not get swept for the season.   Plus the spurs have had some tough, close losses lately and are dropping in the standings, so I was expecting good game from them.   Derozan and Murray were both excellent and Poetl is a really nice defending rim presence.  

Some good things for the Mavs though despite the loss.   KP and Luka for the second game appear to be playing off each other much better and combining their powers.   KP also got some putbacks baskets and some more easy looks.  Good signs.  Powell had a real nice game as well .  It will really be interesting to see what happens with the backup center minutes for the remainder of the year.  

This Mavs team really need Jalen and Hardaway to be good and efficient.  They have been for most of the year, but when they are off, you really feel it.   Hardaway was bad, but I feel the Spurs typically defend him well (maybe I am wrong).  Jalen had some big three pointers late, but his shooting was really inefficient tonight.  

There are not a lot of plays to call in .5 of a second, but is that your best play?   Can you at least get him going towards the basket?    Again, a very low percentage play with such low time, but that play was pretty poor.

[cow]

Not to belabor the obvious ...

The clear-cut difference-maker (and hands-down winner of the GAME 52 Anti-Dirkie) was Tim Hardaway Jr.

Good grief!

[omahen]

KP also got some putbacks baskets and some more easy looks. 

KP was great on offense, amazing performance. On defense we were again getting killed by drop cover defense. Poeltl sets a strong screen and SA had a ton of open mid range shots. If Mavs don't improve that, every team in the playoff is going to kill us using PnR. 

Hardaway was bad

This game showed how difficult it would be to incorporate another offense heavy guy in the lineup. With KP and Luka both having good nights it felt like there is hardly a ball left for any other guy. Especially in the first quarter. 

Still, offense was great, if only some of those wiiiiiide open corner threes would go in. Luka lost like 10 assists there. Defense was obviously a problem. But I found the game extremely entertaining.