San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs #1 vs. Dallas Mavericks #4

The Dallas Mavericks can look back at their Game 1 loss as an opportunity squandered. While the San Antonio Spurs can point to their victory in the series opener as the moment Tim Duncan rediscovered his playoff form.

Despite being the team with more rest following their first-round sweep of Memphis, the Mavs struggled down the stretch in their 87-85 loss to the Spurs in the series opener after leading most of the game. San Antonio wrapped up their first-round series in Sacramento 36 hours prior to Game 1.

Dallas failed to make a basket over the final 4:08, scored only 13 fourth-quarter points and had just 12 second-half field goals. The Mavs also missed six free throws over the final two quarters and leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki did not take the final shot as their final possession ended with Jerry Stackhouse's contested 3-point attempt from the left corner that fell short.

"Somehow, if I had a little more on it, then maybe we'd have a different feeling right now," said Stackhouse, who led Dallas with 24 points. "We came in here with the right attitude, right energy, but we let them take the game."

Nowitzki one of the favorite players by many sports betting fans finished with 20 points in 8-for-20 shooting; but had only two points and four shots in the fourth quarter. "There wasn't any rust," said Nowitzki, who was guarded by Bruce Bowen and former teammate Michael Finley for much of the game. "We played well enough to win the game, but didn't."

While the Mavs look for offensive answers down the stretch, the Spurs turned to an old standby for offense early in Game 1. Duncan exploited Mavs coach Avery Johnson's decision to not double-team the three-time NBA Finals MVP, scoring 20 of his 31 points in the first half and having his way with DeSagana Diop, Erick Dampier and DJ Mbenga.

"Timmy was awesome," said Tony Parker, who was not surprised with Johnson's decision. "A lot of people have been doing that lately because they thought he couldn’t score any more. That's a big mistake. When he plays like that, it makes it easy for everybody."

Johnson did not say if he would go back to double-teaming Duncan in Game 2, but defended his big men, saying, "They have got a tough matchup with Tim Duncan. Duncan is a whole other entity in his own. He has three championships."