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Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavericks star forward scored 38 points and snared 14 rebounds while making all 17 of his free throws. But he also did something rarely seen this side of the Pecos: He made a key defensive stop. With Dallas clinging to a one-point lead, his alteration of Tim Duncan's shot was crucial. |
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Stephen Jackson. The Spurs forward continued his erratic playoff performance by shooting 2-of-9 with three turnovers, including a botched dunk attempt. That line wouldn't look out of place in the Nets-Pistons series, but in the West's wild Game 1 it stuck out like Bill Walton at a Mensa convention. |
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Duncan's missed free throw -- Dallas shot 49-of-50 from the line, but San Antonio made just 31-of-48, and the exclamation point came when the back rim expunged Tim Duncan's first free throw with four seconds left and the Spurs down by three. That miss snuffed any last flicker of hope that the Spurs could still pull it out. |
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Bennett Salvatore has taken the "Whistle while you work" idea a bit far. Game 1's 72-foul explosion was no surprise to those in the know: Since the second round began, there have been four playoff games with 57 or more fouls, and ol' B.S. worked all of them. His games have averaged 58 fouls -- the most in any other game is 56. Please, David Stern, stop the madness. |
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Photo Credits: Nowitzki (AP), Duncan (AP), Salvatore (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images), Jackson (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) |
