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Spurs 104, Mavericks 87: March 23, 2012
Kawhi Leonard slips inside for a shot in the first half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Manu Ginobili fouls Brandon Wright as he combines with Stephen Jackson on defense as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Boris Diaw is accepted on the bench by coach Brett Brown and Tony Parker as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Stephen Jackson reaches in and tips the ball away from Dirk Nowitzki resulting in a fast break score by Manu Ginobili as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Tim Duncan powers a shot over Brandan Wright in the first half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Tim Duncan clears his way into the basket by Ian Mahinmi in the first half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Danny Green loses the ball after being fouled in the lane as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Danny Green gets inside of Jason Terry for a layup as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Stephen Jackson winds his way through the middle in the second half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Gary Neal gets off a runner in the second half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Kawhi Leonard rolls in to score on a fast break against Jason Kidd as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Danny Green gets by Dominique Jones in the second half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Boris Diaw gets the assignment to guard Dirk Nowitzki in the second half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Tim Duncan and Danny Green stop Jason Terry in the lane in the second half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Tim Duncan runs into a block by Ian Mahinmi in the first half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Boris Diaw defends against Dirk Nowitzki as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Danny Green gets a pass backward over Jason Kidd as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
Shawn Marion loses control of the ball under pressure from Kawhi Leonard as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
DeJuan Blair pressures Dirk Nowitzki in the first half as the Spurs play the Dallas Mavericks at the ATT Center in San Antonio on March 23, 2012. Tom Reel/ San Antonio Express-News (TOM REEL / San Antonio Express-News)
By Jeff McDonald
The Spurs could have been content to sit tight.
With a roster good enough for second in the Western Conference, with an 11-game winning streak still fresh in their minds and a position about 25 general managers in the NBA would sell their first-born to acquire, the Spurs could have stood pat on a solid hand at the trade deadline.
Instead, the Spurs rolled the dice on a makeover that has changed the face of the team — and perhaps the Western Conference race.
When general manager R.C. Buford traded his starting small forward to bring back a prodigal son, signed a promising backup point guard and claimed a slick-passing big man from the free-agent pile — all in an eight-day whirlwind — it sent an unmistakable signal to his locker room.
“We’re trying to win this thing,” Tim Duncan said.
Friday night, the new-look Spurs were on display at the ATT Center, and the results were undeniable: Without Tony Parker — the only All-Star on the roster — the Spurs devastated the NBA’s reigning champions, choking out Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks 104-87.
Duncan had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili had 11 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, recovering from an uneven first half in his first start at point guard.
Danny Green led the Spurs with 18 points, and Kawhi Leonard added 12 and eight rebounds.
It added up to a significant victory, one that kicked off a back-to-back-to-back set that continues tonight in New Orleans and gave the Spurs (31-14) a six-game cushion in the Southwest Division.
It was also, as that noted purveyor of temperance and caution Stephen Jackson said afterward, just one game.
“You can’t be jumping the gun after one game,” Jackson said.
How thorough was the beating the Spurs administered Friday? They outrebounded Dallas 54-34, including a 12-4 edge on the offensive glass, and outscored the Mavs 50-16 in the paint and 21-7 in second-chance points.
Jackson had 10 points and eight rebounds. But his biggest contribution might have been his defensive work on Nowitzki during a short stretch in the first half. He appeared to so frustrate the big German that he sent the Dallas star into a game-long funk.
Nowitzki finished 5 of 21 and scored 16 points as Dallas (27-22) ended a four-game winning streak.
“He has an edge to him,” coach Gregg Popovich said of Jackson, who returned to the Spurs after nine seasons. “He’s a competitor.”
Boris Diaw, the newest Spurs player barely 24 hours off the plane from Charlotte, played nearly 16 minutes and made his lone field goal.
Signed on Friday after securing a buyout from the Bobcats, Diaw also helped defend Nowiztki, who missed 14 of 16 shots after the first quarter.
It was a surreal day for Diaw, who went from the NBA’s worst team to the thick of a title run overnight.
“I knew it was going to be pretty fast after the buyout,” Diaw said.
The Spurs put the game away with a 22-2 run in the second half, using a lineup that once would have been a hallucination: Gary Neal, Ginobili, Jackson, Diaw and Matt Bonner.
The only hole the Spurs showed Friday was at backup point guard, which could be filled once Patrick Mills clears up a visa issue.
“They obviously did not want to lose the season series,” Nowitzki said. “They came out with a little more fire.”
Nowitzki walked off the ATT Center floor worn and beaten, and this should concern Dallas when looking ahead to a potential playoff matchup. When Nowitzki shoved Leonard after a rebound with 2:04 left, drawing a technical foul, it was clear he’d had enough.
For the Spurs, it was off to New Orleans, in pursuit of the same goal they’d always had — winning this thing.
But thanks to their trade-deadline gamble, perhaps with a better chance of accomplishing it.
“We’re trying to be a contender,” Duncan said. “It’s good to see us making moves like that. Hopefully these moves pay off for us.”
jmcdonald@express-news.net