Dirk Nowitzki is listening for a Spurs rally, but did not hear anything

Dirk Nowitzki goes off for 30 and the Mavericks still look like a team to contend with in the West.

Can San Antonio win a game this year?

It remains to be seen. The new Dallas Mavericks with the same old players beat the Spurs 98 – 91.

They still have to play without the injured Manu Ginobili until December.

It is a rough start.

Odds remain high the Spurs aren’t going to finish the year 0-82. It only seemed that way during the lowest moments of Tuesday night’s 98-81 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center, which dropped the Spurs to 0-3 for the first time in their NBA history.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points, Jason Terry chipped in 29 and the Mavericks had their way with the Spurs for most of the game — in the paint, on the glass and from the perimeter.

The last time the Spurs began a season with three consecutive defeats, the year was 1973, they were playing in the ABA, and Duncan had yet to be born.

“It’s uncharted territory for us,” Duncan said, striking a serious note. “We’re 0-3. We’ve played some bad basketball so far. What can you say?”
source

The Spurs have had slow starts before in the Duncan era and they do not panic.

“It’s the NBA,” Mason said afterward, “and it was one of those nights.”

The trouble for the Spurs is that they’ve had three of those nights, and here is where they are hoping history stops repeating itself.

Photo source Newscom

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By Guest Blogger, Kori Ellis

In NBA action on Thursday night, there were only two games on tap.

In a match-up of two of the league’s best teams, the San Antonio Spurs took on the Mavericks in Dallas.

The Mavs got up quickly on the Spurs and never really looked back. San Antonio tried to close the gap with several surges, but could never get the lead down to single digits.

Dallas was led a balanced scoring attack of Josh Howard (23), Devin Harris (18), Jason Terry (18) and Dirk Nowitzki (17).

The loss was the Spurs second of the season. Manu Ginobili filled the stat sheet for San Antonio with 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Tim Duncan had 24 points for the Spurs, while Tony Parker struggled. Parker hit only 1-of-11 from the field on the night, finishing with seven points and eight assists. Heading into the game, he was averaging 20 points a night.

The Mavericks have now beaten the Spurs in 9 of their last 13 meetings, counting both the regular season and the playoffs.

In the other game on the schedule, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Chicago Bulls, 112-102. Leandro Barbosa led the Suns with 25 points off the bench, while Grant Hill had 24 and Shawn Marion chipped in 21. Steve Nash finished the night with only 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, but dished 15 assists.

The Bulls record is now 1-6 as they sit in the cellar in the Central Division.

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Dirk is smiling with victory!

The Dallas shoot em if you got em Mavericks beat the Cleveland LeBrons.

LeBron was in foul trouble in the first half and went scoreless. He finished with only 10 points on only 11 shots. LeBron James made only 2 buckets.

If you play the Mavs and your superstar only scores 10 points, then you are going down.

There are a lot of experts that have completely written of the Cavs for returning to the finals. Some of those experts have to realize how balanced the East is as a conference and that LeBron will not have a lot of 2 bucket games.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas not only had 17 points, but 18 rebounds. The old guy can still play and Cleveland will need him.

Dirk Nowitzki is the heart and sole of the Mavericks, but tonight it was Jason Terry with 7 3’s and 24 points.

Now the big question is whether the Mavericks can win it all?

Let’s look at what they are saying in Dallas.

Do the Mavericks have the physical talent to win a championship? Yes.

Do the Mavericks have what it takes mentally to win a championship? No one knows. Based on historic collapses against Miami and Golden State, based on eight losses in their last 10 playoff games — three of them blowouts — the argument can be made that the answer is no. source

There are those that think the quick scoring teams like Dallas, Phoenix, and Golden State can not win titles, because they can not crank up the defense to get important stops. They are in essence just trying to out score you.

Do not count your intrepid author in this group. Golden State may not be ready, but Phoenix is primed and Dallas is right there next to them.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can Dallas win it all?

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