FanPost

Playoffs PGQ Round 1, Game 2 "Dog's 2nd Chance"

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Closing the Gap.

Game 2: Mavs vs Spurs | April 21, 2010

Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle

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Outrebounded, eh? Second chance points, huh?

Was it a case of poor shooting or poor defense in the first half: "We started out and missed, blew three coverages on the first three plays of the game and those are mental mistakes. They scored, Dirk had two fouls and it we were digging ourselves out of a hole from there going forward. In the playoffs you have to be very precise. You are going to make mistakes, but to start the game was a really tough situation for us."

On the team’s energy level: "Well, that is not a good situation to be in and when you are down 0-1 you come out and play a desperate game which they did. We are a veteran team and I think our guys understood that that is how they were going to play, but again, when you make mistakes that lead to easy baskets and fouls on your best player, it is going to put you in a hole. We have to go down there and win a game, it is as simple as that."

On the looks Dirk was getting: "We got a lot of good looks the entire game and had some tough looks with open shots and then there were other times when we needed to make one more pass or we needed to trust the pass and someone would be trying to make something happen and then turn it over. We didn’t have a lot of turnovers, it just seemed like everything was ill times. Hey, this is a tough series. These are two teams that are very good and you have to play your best."

On the play of Richard Jefferson: "Jefferson is a hell of a player. He has had some big games against a lot of teams, including us, this year. Look I am not shocked, he is very capable. To me the stat that sticks out to me the most is rebounding, 51-42. The second chance points, 23-9. That is a huge discrepancy and look, when the ball is in the air, it is anybody’s ball and they came up with all of those plays. They got the loose balls and they were more opportunistic."

On taking Shawn Marion out of the game: "Well listen, Shawn played well. It was coach’s decision to play some of other guys more than him. I don’t think it was anything they were necessarily doing, it was just s decision I made to go with other guys at certain times."

Did you run into a hot shooting team, or were you just slow on defense? "I would agree with probably both of those things. They were a hot shooting team and we were unable to keep them from being a hot shooting team. That is going to be the challenge, to be good enough defensively and be solid with our coverages and make them miss and be able to go get the rebound. Those were the two problems tonight. Game one, they only were able to get up 11 threes and tonight they made 8 out of 15, which is, if you go over 50 percent from three, is a tough number to overcome if you are on the other side of it."

Mavericks guard Jason Terry

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Can you borrow me some kerosin?

Did the Spurs do something different tonight the caught you guys off guard? "Oh yeah they were making shots. They didn’t make as many shots tonight as in game one, but they shot 48% and they were the better team tonight. We’ve got to take this one on the chin and now go down there and get ready for a good, tough, hard game 3."

How tough was it to crawl out of that first quarter hole? "It’s always tough and I think we went the first five minutes without scoring and that’s unheard of for us. We lost the rebounding battle, they beat us up on 2nd chance opportunities and that’s what the series is about making adjustments. We wanted to win this one and it didn’t happen and now we’ve got to put all of energy and our focus into game 3."

Why the slow start tonight? "I couldn’t tell you, I just know we got off to one. It can’t happen on the road."

Talk about the run when you guys were down 80-60? "We never were going to give up and there was plenty of ball game left. They started the 3rd quarter hot so for us we’ve got to pay more attention to detail and coming out and setting the tempo. They came out and set the tempo tonight. They were aggressive early and that’s what got them out to a good start."

"When we’re not hitting shots we’ve got to get stops there’s no question about it. When we got stops we didn’t come up with the rebound and we weren’t able to run out on them. This is not going to be easy; it’s going to be a tough task."

Mavs center Brendan Haywood

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Yeah, i'm overly excited sitting on a bench...How did you notice?


What did the Spurs do different tonight? "They came out more aggressive, they knocked us on our heals early and they did a great job on the offensive glass. They outrebounded us tonight and got a lot of second chance opportunities and that was the difference in the ball game."

"When we’re cold on the offensive end we’ve got to dig in defensively a little bit better and offensively have crisper ball movement and that’s when you really have to make sure the other team is getting one opportunity on the offensive end. We’ve got to lock up a little better and we didn’t do that tonight. They had way too many offensive rebound opportunities and they scored almost every time they got an offensive rebound."

Talk about the Mavs defense in the paint tonight? "We challenged shots in the paint and that’s all you can try to do and try to make it tough on them inside, but it was the second chances that hurt us and not our defense in the paint."

Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich

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Who's got the Winstreak-beard now, Nerds?

What were you able to execute so well tonight? "Well, we took care of the ball better tonight, and we didn’t foul. After last game I’d mentioned that we’d given up 20 points on turnovers and that we had fouled inordinately in that game and that we kept putting them on the line. And those two things we took care of for this evening, and it helped us win a ballgame."

How much more effective were you guys on the pick-and-roll tonight than the other night? "We just took care of the ball. It’s not because we ran pick-and-roll better or they didn’t guard it very well. As I’ve said, it’s a game of mistakes and people score. The games aren’t 10 to 8. No matter what anybody runs or no matter how anybody defends people are going to score. We just played sharper than we did the other night, and by that I mean not fouling and taking care of the ball. I don’t know what else to tell you."

Hill made a couple big shots in the 4th quarter: "It’s huge for him and for our team, because he’s trying to get his confidence back and feel good about his game. So, making a couple shots and getting the minutes that he got tonight hopefully will help him in future games."

Talk about Jefferson’s performance: "Richard was huge for us tonight. He didn’t have a great game in game 1 obviously. But tonight he was in attack mode. He looked for his jumper, he drove it, he rebounded, he worked hard on D, he was really important."

Talk about the huge difference going home 1-1 instead of down 2-0: "Well, you already know that answer to that. Given the choice you’d rather be 1-1 than down 2-0. It’s a big game, but people come back from losses, and they will, too. We came back tonight; we were very focused and a lot sharper. I would expect that Dallas will come out and be quite sharp on Friday night and we’ll have our hands full."

Tony Parker is looking healthier; are you worried about when the games start being every other day?: "He’ll be fine. Every other day is great. Back-to-back is not great, but in the playoffs everybody’s got enough time to rest and Tony off the bench for us right now gives us that bench push that we need and you’ve got to have people coming off the bench that give you something and Tony’s been really good at it in his comeback here."

What gave you the confidence to not double Dirk a lot after what he did the other night? "I might just be dumb, I don’t know. As I said the game, Dirk’s seen everything. We’re not going to trick him with anything, or give him anything he hasn’t seen before. We came at him a little bit in different situations. Sometimes we didn’t, sometimes we did. But there’s nothing we can do that he hasn’t seen that’s for sure."

When things got tough in the 4th, Duncan really carried you: "We went to Tim just about every other time down the stretch and he came through by scoring and rebounding at the other end. And he’s always that guy that gets taken for granted because he’s been doing that for so many years just being an anchor for us. And he did a really good job of scoring when they cut to 6 or 8 and he really helped us keep the lead."

Spurs Guard Manu Ginobili

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Again this year? We'll see.

On their execution tonight: "We did [execute] today. Defensively we were much better today with more toughness. We didn’t turn the ball over, so it was a great overall effort."

On his big threes: "Some games they are going to fall, some games they won’t. But I had some good looks. They were concerned about Tony the whole game, and I was able to get away and I made a couple of those [threes]. That really helped me get it going."

On McDyess tonight: "He’s been huge. He does the kind of work that nobody sees that’s not flashy. He did a great job on Dirk. Last game too, Dirk just made like 10 tough shots. And then he’s knocking down big shots and playing with great aggressiveness. We’re proud of him and we need him to play like that."

On Jefferson tonight: "We needed Richard like that. He was so aggressive attacking the rim, getting fouls and sinking some important shots. So he was great. So was Tim. When it was really hard for us to score, he just made three buckets in a row and gave us some fresh air."

On a the big win: "It’s a much nicer trip after a win, so we’re going to enjoy it. But at the same time we’ve got to be so humble. This is a long series. We’ve lost at home to them many times, so we’ve just got to stay humble, keep working hard knowing full well that it’s going to be a long series."

Spurs Guard Tony Parker

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This suit cost me a full paycheck.

On his performance tonight: "I had a couple opportunities and they were not playing very good defense in the first half. I found my teammates and went to the basket, and it gave us a little boost in the first half."

On Jefferson tonight: "Richard played really good tonight. He played very aggressive, and that’s what we need from him. He has to play like that more consistently. We were looking for him. Pop called plays for him, and the fact that he had two or three layups at the beginning of the game helped his confidence and then he was making outside shots, so that definitely helped."

Did Jefferson have a different look in his eyes tonight? "Definitely. You could see it in his eyes that he was motivated. Nobody likes to play bad and he knew he didn’t have a good first game. Knowing his mentality we knew he was going to come back."

Game Pictures

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I want that Beer! Go score 100!

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Why you stop, Tony?

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Phantomime Karaoke

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Don't look..but.....Ball!

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Let me help you up...

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Mais bien sûr....

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'Nnnnnnnnggggghhhhh'

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Beeeeeeeeer!

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Air Pollution.

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The Referee abruptly ended the Over-30-Breakdance Competion.

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Jason Kidd shoots, Blair and the French surrender. Good Strategy.

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Greg Oden might be three-legged, but Tim Duncan is three-handed!

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Was soll das heißen, " I got no clue where the Beer is" !?!?

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Tony, we might get the booze tonight.... - I don't care. Bring me the Key to Pop's Winecellar!

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[*******] Censored.

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Aaaah! Somebody shot me!

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Alcoholics at work.

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Hey Guys, don't you want the Beer?

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2 guys from Jersey do.

Game Videos & Clips

Float

Voyage

Seal[clubber]

Recap

Dirk 'forced some' Nowitzki

Tim 'Every Day helps' Duncan

Rick 'Coaches Decision' Carlisle

Gregg 'I might just be dumb, i don't know' Poppovich

Manu 'Hopefully' Ginobili

Tony 'Definitely' Parker

Richard ' y'now ' Jefferson

George 'I dink' Hill

Game 3 Lookout

Summary:

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No longer arm's length.

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