The San Antonio Spurs came into game four knowing that they needed a much better performance than what they put on Sunday afternoon. They did just that, coming out and quickly putting the Mavericks in a 20-point deficit. In the end, the Spurs walked out of American Airlines Center with a 93-89 victory.
The Mavericks battled back and at one point in the game was tied at 87 apiece. The Spurs then ran a simple pick and roll play with Tony Parker being trailed by Devin Harris. Nowitzki, who was in foul trouble most of the fourth quarter, was playing a bit too soft and the defensive exchange did not happen in time giving Boris Diaw time to float to the top of the key the go-ahead 3-pointer.
“It was just a regular pick-and-roll,” Diaw said. “We try to put Dirk Nowitzki in pick-and-roll because it’s harder for him than for [Samuel] Dalembert, for example, to switch on Tony. It’s harder for Dirk to be able to help and come back to the player that set the screen. That’s why I was the one on the pick-and-roll. That’s exactly what happened. He helped on Tony and he was a little late and I was wide open for the three.”
Before the game, both the Spurs and the Mavericks showed solidarity to the Clippers organization and protested the Clippers owner by wearing black socks.