It was clear that San Antonio had a different game plan from the start.  It was actually kind of bizarre to see Tony Parker consistently step off open three point shots to dish it in to Tim Duncan or another Spurs player.   While Tim generally hits his patented bank shot, it also resulted in several turnovers on Parker’s part.

Parker, while trying to create plays for everyone else, became tentative in his own aggressive style. With Parker not playing the style that makes him great, no one else was able to consistently step up.  Michale Finley, while a great guy and a great shooter, was a brutal defensive liability.  He never really got it going from the shooting side either.  In the end Tim Duncan scored 30 and Tony Parker had 26 and other than Finley,  I could not tell you who was even on the court.

On the other end of the court,  Dirk Nowitzki had his best game of the series scoring 31 pts.  It was clear from his first few shots that his patented fade away had the range that night.  It was  a solid contribution from starters all around.  More importantly was that our role players played solidly. We did not give anything away when Dirk or other starters left the floor.  Josh Howard capped off an outstanding series, with 17 points, 8 rebounds and three steals. He had my permission to blow it out for his birthday!  This birthday celebration was probably more joyous than 2008 when he incurred the wrath of coach Avery Johnson after allegedly passing out birthday fliers in the Mavs locker room after losing to the New Orleans Hornet in the first round last year.  While it would be great to see a re-match in round two as we would have home court,  I would be shocked if the Hornets recover from the playoff record tying Civil War style beat down at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in game 4.

From a AT&T Arena standpoint, the Spurs fans were very subdued from the start almost if, while hopeful, dreading what they ultimately expected when the clock ran out.  Despite a valiant effort from The Coyote, the arena energy never got anywhere near game 1 or 2.  One gentlemen in the suite next to ours wagerd me a bottle of Cristal against a Mark Cuban autogrpahed ball  that the Spurs would take the series.  I usually do not wager but as he was willing to make the wager with the Mavs up 3-1 in the series as well as leading at the half,it seemed like one of the safer wagers I would make in my life.  As someone who has not won in Las Vegas since Bugsy Segal threw down a bet, I could not pass it up.  I will be shooting him an email that I don’t drink and to keep it on ice for the next time the Spurs win a championship.  How long does Cristal keep?  It could be a long wait.