Heart of a champion; Spurs force Game 7

05.20.2006

Dallas, TX (Basketball News) - San Antonio made all of the plays down the stretch in a true team effort and the absence of Dallas guard Jason Terry played large, as the Spurs forced a deciding Game 7 with a 91-86 victory over the Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

Manu Ginobili scored a game-high 30 points, including a pair of free throws with 15.2 ticks left that extended San Antonio’s lead to 89-86. The Spurs, who finished third from the bottom in free throws made during the regular season, converted all 15 attempts from the charity stripe in the second half.

Tim Duncan scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds while Michael Finley added 16 points for San Antonio, which displayed its uncanny ability to get the crucial stops and convert the pressure shots in a playoff atmosphere.

The Spurs now run with all of the momentum back to the River City for Game 7 at the AT&T Center on Monday.

The Mavericks will walk there after failing to capitalize on a Game 6 in front of a raucous home crowd. Dirk Nowitzki poured in 26 points and grabbed a franchise playoff-high 21 rebounds while Josh Howard contributed 17 points for Dallas, which has lost six straight Game 6s.

Dallas looked lost on the offensive end in the fourth quarter without Terry, who was suspended one game for punching Finley in the waning seconds of Game 5. Guards Jerry Stackhouse and Devin Harris combined to shoot 7-of-29 from the floor.

Without Terry, San Antonio focused on Nowitzki in the closing seconds, and the forward missed a game-tying three with six seconds left before Tony Parker iced the contest with two free throws.

DAL SAN

Post your comment:

No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only.