- And that's why you don't write off the season after game three.
- Fourth game and third starter at the 2. Jason Terry starts and the results were great. Unfortunately for Terry, Carlisle will never grow with this starting lineup on a regular basis because of the defensive implications.
- Jason Terry needs to play like that coming off the bench. 29 points, 6 assists, and only 3 rebounds despite being very aggressive going after his missed shots tonight. He was great.
- Speaking of going after your misses, Jason Kidd is really really good at that. If he were a better shooter he probably wouldn't have as many triple-doubles (rimshot!)
- Dampier and Diop played the entire game except the meaningless final two minutes, so it's pretty clear Carlisle prefers to have a true center on the court at all times. It's a definite change from Avery Johnson, which especially stood out tonight, as Avery often went small against the Spurs.
- Early in the third quarter I was ready to curse the TV when Duncan was switched onto Jason Terry and twice bit on a Terry pump fake on the same possession. On both occasions, all Terry had to do was jump and he'd get two free throws, but on the second time he instead blew by Duncan, made a layup, and got to the line for a three point play. Sorry for doubting you JET.
- The Tas Melas curse. I was ecstatic when Tas picked the Spurs to win during the "Book It" segment of The Basketball Jones this morning. He was 0-4 coming into tonight. He is now 0-5.
- Game changing moment: Early fourth quarter, San Antonio has just reduced the lead to 9 points, the crowd is finally into it, and I'm about ready to jump off my balcony (overstatement) -- Dirk stops the bleeding with a jump shot then scores 11 points in the next 5 minutes, and the game was all but over. Dirk finished with 30.
- No other way to say it, San Antonio is pretty bad. How can they lose to the Mavs at home when they are 0-2 (haven't been 0-3 since 1973!) and Dallas is on the second night of a back-to back? Ouch. For most of the game they looked much worse than Dallas did last night.
- I've been saying for about three years that I thought Bruce Bowen was done. Might I finally be right? He played just 12 minutes and didn't see the court in the second half.
- Everyone on the broadcast was talking about the rebounding, effort, and energy compared to last night, but you know what really helped? Shooting 53%.
- Dallas only attempted five free throws.
- Take a look at the Mavs +/-. Anyone stand out?
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