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		<description>RUWT? News for Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs 4/28/2009</description>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:11:24 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Mavericks oust Spurs from playoffs with 106-93 win]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO(AP) -- Jason Terry galloped down court after one big
shot and Josh Howard skipped along the sideline after another.
For what the Dallas Mavericks were about to pull off, they might
as well have danced.

For the first time since 2006, the Mavericks are moving past the
first round.

And for the first time since 2000, the San Antonio Spurs are
not.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points in his first breakout game of a
lopsided series, and the Mavericks won a playoff series for the
first time in three years by eliminating the Spurs in five games
with a 106-93 victory on Tuesday night.

Besides closing another chapter between the Texas rivals, this
series seemed to signal more: that the Mavericks are much better
than their No. 6 seed might suggest, and whether the Spurs are
slipping into a new stage after winning four NBA titles in the
past decade.

"(We) went through a lot this year, a very turbulent year,"
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "Injuries. Ups, downs,
emotional stuff, and we really stuck together. We came together
at the right time."

The Mavericks advance to the Western Conference semifinals to
play either Denver or New Orleans. The Nuggets lead that series
3-1 and can finish off the Hornets on Wednesday at Denver.

Tim Duncan scored 30 and Tony Parker had 26 but again got little
help - the story of the series for the two-dimensional Spurs.
Predictions that the Spurs were doomed while Manu Ginobili sat
out the playoffs with a bum ankle appeared largely validated, as
San Antonio never got anyone to step up in his absence.

For Duncan, it's the first time in his career he couldn't lead
the Spurs past the opening round.

"They had more firepower than us. They played better than us,"
said Duncan, who never played in San Antonio's first-round loss
in 2000 because of a knee injury. "However you want to put it,
obviously they were the better team this year. That's all you
can say."

Getting to the West semifinals is a dramatic turn for the
Mavericks, who were a borderline playoff team as late as March
and got a public lashing from owner Mark Cuban after a listless
loss to woeful Oklahoma City. Dallas pulled together to win
seven of nine entering the playoffs, and has now won 11 of its
last 14.

The Mavs can also stick this to their Interstate 35 rivals: only
twice in the Duncan era have the Spurs been eliminated on their
home court, and both have came courtesy of Dallas.

Howard rang in his 29th birthday with 17 points, and may have
permission from Carlisle to celebrate this time. Howard enraged
former coach Avery Johnson last year when he didn't cancel his
birthday plans despite a blistering Mavs playoff defeat, but the
party may be on coach Carlisle after this series win.

"I think (Howard) probably is our MVP of the series," Carlisle
said. "He played great. He was there for us - a lot of big plays
that didn't necessarily lead to scores."

Howard's biggest gift to the Mavs: a momentum-changing 3-pointer
with 4:20 left in the third, which he celebrated by skipping
down the sideline and razzing the crowd. When Jason Kidd hit
another 3-pointer at the buzzer in the third, his teammates
jumped from their seats and spilled onto the floor.

They could sense the victory, and the Mavs put it away in the
fourth having never trailed. Terry finished with 19 points and
Nowitzki finally emerged after four relatively pedestrian games.

"The big key for me was I got into a good rhythm right away,"
Nowitzki said. "Made some shots, had some good looks right away,
and that usually helps get the confidence up and I was able to
carry through."

The Spurs, meanwhile, end their season the same way it started:
plenty of Parker and Duncan, but not much else. After combining
for 75 percent of San Antonio's points in a Game 4 loss, the duo
were again the only Spurs in double figures.

San Antonio lumbers into the offseason facing questions about
where its team, the NBA's winningest over the last decade, goes
from here. Along with the flourishes of another Southwest
Division title and 10th consecutive season with 50-plus wins,
there was also the ignominy of scoring the fewest points in
Spurs playoffs history in a blowout Game 3 loss.

The Big Three will be back next year for the Spurs, piloting
what is now a championship drought by their standards: San
Antonio has been a denied an NBA finals trip the past two
seasons, its longest lapse since the gap between their 1999 and
2003 titles.

"The Mavs beat the Spurs," coach Gregg Popovich said. "They're
the best team, and that's that."

Notes: The AT&T Center took some precautions against the
spread of swine flu, setting up hand sanitizer stations around
the arena and arming ushers with wipes for fans who wanted them.
There are three confirmed cases of the virus near San Antonio.
...The Mavericks shot 13 free throws in the first half to San
Antonio's two. This season, the Mavs were 28th in the NBA in
free throw attempts. ... Spurs F Drew Gooden, acquired during
the season for the postseason push, didn't play.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nba]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nba/news/95154-Mavericks-oust-Spurs-from-playoffs-with-106-93-win</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nba/news/95154-Mavericks-oust-Spurs-from-playoffs-with-106-93-win</guid>
				<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:02:31 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Mavericks-Spurs Preview]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press Writer

Dallas At San Antonio, Game Five, 9:30 p.m. EDT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) --  Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's usual ballcap at
practice is stitched with four Larry O'Brien championship
trophies, like jewels on some crown of NBA titles.

But the way things are headed for the San Antonio Spurs, there's
no need to rush to make room for a fifth.

Tim Duncan has never lost a first-round playoff series, and only
once since the Spurs won their first championship in 1999 has
San Antonio not advanced in the postseason. But down 3-1 to the
Dallas Mavericks, the third-seeded Spurs must win at home
Tuesday night in Game 5 or their season is done.

"We haven't been in that position very often," Popovich said
Monday. "It is what it is. You just play the games and deal with
it."

It was a typical, non-alarmist Popovich response. But it's been
anything but a typical postseason for the Spurs, who are saddled
with trying to become just the ninth team in NBA history to
storm back from a 3-1 deficit and win a series.

Unmoved by the daunting task facing San Antonio are the
Mavericks, who want to seal their first playoff series victory
in three years and not be lulled into a Game 6 back in Dallas.

"We should know the importance of closing a team out when you
get the chance," Mavs forward Dirk Nowitizki said. "But they're
a great team with a lot of pride that plays well at home."

The Mavs have been here before: Up 3-1 against the Spurs in the
2006 conference semifinals, San Antonio rallied to even the
series and forced Dallas to wrest the series in overtime of Game
7.

"I've never lost in the first round," Spurs guard Tony Parker
said. "It's just a different situation. Right now, Dallas is
just playing better than us. We've been down 3-1 before, and we
came back and gave us a chance in Game 7. So that's the
motivation right now, to take care of Game 5."

The Spurs haven't been ousted in the first round since 2000,
when Phoenix booted San Antonio in four games while Duncan sat
on the bench with torn cartilage in his knee. Since then, San
Antonio has been pushed to the brink in the first round only
once, beating Seattle in a decisive Game 5 in 2002.

"We've put ourselves in this hole," Duncan said. "We're either
going to step up and win this game or we're going to go home. We
face reality."

San Antonio knows the drill: Stage a miraculous comeback, and
it's the Spurs' smart and tested playoff veterans who put them
among the few NBA teams who can out of such a big hole. Lose,
and they're an aging and fading NBA power whose better days are
behind them.

After losing in five games to the Lakers in the Western
Conference finals last season, Popovich bristled at the
suggestion that age always doomed the Spurs. He could say the
same in this series, since the Spurs appear more in need of
better shooters than younger legs against Dallas.

Role players, always essential to San Antonio, have fizzled this
series. Duncan and Parker combined for 75 percent of San
Antonio's points in a 99-90 loss in Game 4, and it still wasn't
enough. The duo made 25 of 42 from the field, and everyone else
had 6 of 28.

It appeared to underscore how much the Spurs are missing Manu
Ginobili, who is out for the playoffs with a stress fracture in
his ankle. The Mavericks have taken notice, too, that his
absence alone makes this hardly the same Spurs who stormed
through the playoffs in previous seasons.

"They're missing a big part of what has been the nucleus of
their team" Mavericks guard Jason Terry said. "Manu Ginobili is
35-40 percent of their offense. When you're missing that, it's a
big hole."

Duncan, however, said Ginobili's absence is no excuse for the
unfamiliar position the Spurs find themselves.

"Being down 3-1, we didn't expect to be here," Duncan said.
"Losing Manu ... obviously takes a lot from our team. We came
into this series not saying 'poor us' or whatever, we came into
this series thinking we have a chance and we can win it.

"We're still of that mindset. We'll see what happens."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nba]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nba/news/94823-Mavericks-Spurs-Preview</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nba/news/94823-Mavericks-Spurs-Preview</guid>
				<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:00:50 GMT</pubDate>
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