LOS ANGELES, 21 May 2003 — They say charity begins at home, but the Dallas Mavericks took their act of kindness on the road.
German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki scored 38 points, including all 17 of his free throws as the Mavericks made a franchise record 49 consecutive from the stripe Monday night, to overcome the San Antonio Spurs 113-110 in the opener of the Western Conference finals.
“It was an incredible game, and somehow we found a will and a way to win,” Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. “We didn’t play a great game, and we couldn’t stop Duncan, but thank God for the free throw. We shoot it better than anyone in basketball and tonight we really needed it.”
The stunner spoiled a virtuoso performance by two-time league Most Valuable Player Tim Duncan, who finished with a career-playoff-high 40 points on 14-of-20 shooting, to go along with 15 rebounds and seven assists.
“They’re a high-octane team and the whistle was blowing left and right,” Duncan said. “They’re basically a jump shooting team, and when they can get 50 free throws in a game, where they’re shooting a whole lot of jump shots, it adds to what they do.”
“They made their free throws and we missed more than they did,” he added “It came down to free-throw shooting and staying aggressive.” Top-seeded San Antonio will host Game 2 of the best-of-seven series in the battle of Texas tonight.
Michael Finley scored 26 points and Steve Nash added 22 for the Mavericks, who grabbed home-court advantage despite shooting just 40 per cent from the field.
Trailing by as many as 18 points in the opening half, and 101-87 with eight minutes remaining, the Mavs closed on a 26-9 run that included 16 free throws, to complete the shocker.
“We played them well defensively down the stretch,” offered Nowitzki, who grabbed 15 rebounds. “They’re very good penetrators, but we made sure to take that away, and we contested every jumper.”
Finley’s driving layup gave the Mavericks a 111-110 lead with 14 seconds left. Duncan tried to regain the lead for the Spurs, but his shot in the lane over a triple team, fell short with six seconds remaining.
“How many air balls from six feet have you seen him shoot,” Nelson asked?
Nowitzki, who had 12 fourth quarter points, made two free throws on the other end, widening the lead to 113-110. After a timeout, Duncan was fouled but missed both free throws.
“It was huge to get this game,” Nowitzki added. “We came in believing we could get this game. We found a way to hang in there and give ourselves a chance at the end to win the game.”
San Antonio received 18 points from Frenchman Tony Parker, while Bruce Bowen and Argentine rookie Manu Ginobili added 14 and 12 points respectively.
Forward Malik Rose was forced to leave the game with a slight concussion after taking an unintentional knee to the back of the head by Mavs’ Eduardo Najara with 4 minutes left. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich credited both teams with “busting their butts,” but thought the game was lost at the free throw line.
“What affected us most was missing free throws but its not like we didn’t shot any,” Popovich said. “When you look at somebody who shoots 49-for-50, and we shoot 31-of-47, and miss 16 of those babies, that’s giving the game away. That’s been a weakness of ours the whole year, and tonight it reared it ugly head.”
Clippers, Sonics to Open
2003-2004 Season in Japan
The Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle SuperSonics will open their 2003-2004 seasons in Japan, National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern announced yesterday.
This will mark the sixth time the NBA has played regular-season games in Japan since 1990 and the second trip for both Pacific Division rivals. “The SuperSonics and Clippers are certainly two of the league’s promising young teams,” Stern said.
“I’m confident our loyal fans in Japan will ‘Love it Live’ when they enjoy the authentic NBA experience in an extraordinary state-of-the-art arena during the first week of the 2003-04 regular season.”
The teams will begin the season with a game on Oct. 30 and face each other again two nights later. The NBA season opener is slated for Oct. 28. Japan’s Saitama Super Arena also will host the 2006 World Basketball Championships.
In 1990, the NBA became the first professional sports league in the United States to hold regular-season games outside North America when the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz played two games at Tokyo Metropolitan gym. Two years later, the Sonics and Houston Rockets played two games in Yokohama, which hosted a two-game series between the Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers in 1994. The New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic drew more than 75,000 fans for two games at the Tokyo Dome in 1996, while the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings split two games three years later at the same venue.
