Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
San Antonio disposes of Dallas to set up the much-anticipated final.
©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 15, 2001
SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs have been called a WNBA team by Shaquille O'Neal and had their 1999 championship discounted by Phil Jackson. Now the Los Angeles Lakers are going to find out how good the Spurs are.
Tim Duncan had 32 points and 20 rebounds as San Antonio cruised past Dallas 105-87 Monday night to close their second-round series and send them to the Western Conference final against the defending champion Lakers.
Their showdown, which will start in San Antonio, will be the first conference final pitting the two previous NBA champions since 1985. It's only the fifth such matchup in NBA history.
After blowing a chance for a sweep Saturday in Dallas, the Spurs made it clear from the start that they didn't want to go back up Interstate 35. Duncan and David Robinson scored San Antonio's first two baskets on dunks and the Spurs led by double digits within eight minutes on a three-pointer by Danny Ferry.
A short jumper by Malik Rose in the closing seconds of the first quarter put San Antonio up by 11. The Mavericks would not get that close again.
Dallas, which had won four consecutive elimination games this post-season, did not have the energy -- or accuracy -- for a comeback.
The Mavs resumed the inept shooting that cost them the first three games of the series, with Michael Finley missing 16 of 17 shots and Juwan Howard starting 2-for-12. Howard finished 5-of-16 for 14 points. They also shot 0-for-11 from three-point range.
Dirk Nowitzki, playing with a new right front tooth to replace the one that was knocked out in Game 4 Saturday, scored a career-high 42 and had 18 rebounds. It was his fourth post-season game with at least 30 points, the first in a loss.
The Mavs, who in the first round against Utah became the sixth team to win a five-game series after losing the first two, became the 64th team unable to overcome an 0-3 deficit in a seven-game series.
But Dallas can feel good about its best season in 13 years. The Mavs won 53 games and upset the Jazz in the first round after losing the first two games.
Robinson had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Antonio Daniels scored 19 and had nine assists for the Spurs.
O'Neal will make things tougher on the inside than Dallas' thin tandem of Shawn Bradley and Calvin Booth. The Lakers, who finished off a sweep of Sacramento on Sunday, split the season series with San Antonio 2-2.
But the Spurs have home-court advantage against Los Angeles and they're 5-0 at the Alamodome this post-season.