Game 1: Dallas Mavericks 105 San Antonio Spurs 97Analysis: The difference in this game was the bench play for the Mavs versus the Spurs bench. The Mavs had three players in double figures off the bench; scoring a total of 39 points on 17 of 31 shooting. The Spurs bench on the other hand scored just 14 points on 5 of 14 shooting. The good news for the Spurs is that I'm pretty sure that the Mavs bench won't play that well in every game of this series. You know Jason Terry is going to get his, but I'm not sure Brandon Bass and J.J. Barea will continue to put up double-figure scoring numbers. I wouldn't worry just yet if I was the Spurs, but to lose a game at home where they hit 11 threes definitely has to sting a little bit. If they take care of business in Game 2, they should be fine, but this looks like it might be a 7 game series, instead of the 6 game series I originally predicted. I still think the Mavs are going to have trouble stopping Duncan and Parker and the Spurs will be able to limit the effectiveness of some of the Mavs role players once the series goes on.
Key Players of The Game
Brandon Bass: Bass was excellent off the bench for the Mavs scoring 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting and pulling down 4 rebounds. The Mavs were +12 with him out on the court. I don't expect him to keep it up throughout the series, but he was a major part in the Mavs stealing home court advantage away from the Spurs with their Game 1 victory.
Tim Duncan: Duncan looked pretty much unstoppable in Game 1 hitting 13 of 24 from the floor and scoring 27 points. Surprisingly he only went to the line ONCE. Yup, that's right, only one time, and I definitely think that's a little fishy. In fact, I saw Duncan get hacked quite a few times without any call being made. My guess is that the Duncan and the Spurs will get to the line quite a few more times in Game 2 than they did in Game 1.
Josh Howard: Big game for Howard, who scored 25 points on 9 of 18 shooting. The Spurs might let Howard get off in this series, since they will probably be more focused on slowing down Dirk. If Howard does have a big series than the Mavs will probably win.
Michael Finley: The Spurs definitely have to be encouraged by the play of Finley in Game 1. Without Ginobili, the Spurs need either Finley or Roger Mason to step up as a third scorer and Finley did just that in Game 1 scoring 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 5 from downtown. Unfortunately it came in a loss, but I wouldn't expect the same result for the Spurs in future games if Finley can duplicate his Game 1 performance.
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