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Putting it on the line Free-throw shooting disparity the difference in openerPosted: Tuesday May 20, 2003 2:56 AM
SAN ANTONIO -- "Thank God for the free throw." Mavericks coach Don Nelson wasted little time getting right to the story Monday night after his team’s Game 1 victory over the Spurs in the Western Conference finals. "We really shot it tonight." Like his team from the charity stripe, Nelson was on the money. The Mavs made an incredible 49-of-50 foul shots Monday night to overcome Tim Duncan’s brilliance and steal home-court advantage. You don’t have to be David Robinson, with a degree in math from the Naval Academy, to know that’s a sizzling 98 percent. You also don’t have to be Coach of the Year to know it can be the difference between winning and losing. "They shot 50 free throws, but it’s not like we didn’t shoot any. We shot 48," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who took the high road and declined to criticize the tight whistle. "That’s the way the game was called tonight." Indeed, San Antonio has no one to blame but itself for Monday’s loss. Yes, the officiating crew of Bennett Salvatore, Ron Garretson and Greg Willard got carried away. But the game was officiated evenly for the most part, with 36 fouls called on each team. The difference was that the Mavs took full advantage, conducting a virtuoso symphony of string music. After missing their first attempt (shame on you, Eduardo Najera!), they proceeded to rip off 49 straight. Dirk Nowitzki (17-of-17), Michael Finley (10-of-10), Nick Van Exel (7-of-7) and Steve Nash (6-of-6) all were perfect. Meanwhile the Spurs (31-of-48) clanged away like a 3-year-old with a set of cymbals. Dallas’ spectacular foul shooting was no fluke, either. The Mavs led the NBA, converting 82.9 percent of their attempts during the regular season. All of their key players are excellent from the stripe. Dallas employs its own free throw shooting coach, a pal of Nelson’s who has been around since their Golden State days. The Mavs also spend extra time shooting foul shots at practice, sometimes as many as a 100 per day. "We’ve shot them well all year, that’s the bottom line," Nowitzki said. On occasion, the Mavs even try to use the free throw as a defensive weapon. In the second quarter of Game 1, Nelson began having his players intentionally foul San Antonio forward Bruce Bowen, a 40.4 percent foul shooter. The Bruise-a-Bruce strategy didn’t exactly work as planned -- he sank 5-of-10 -- but it might have helped take the Spurs out of their offensive rhythm. Certainly all the whistles didn’t help San Antonio, which had enough problems trying to contain Dallas’ perimeter scorers. After leading by as many as 18 points in the first half, the last thing the Spurs wanted to do was give the Mavs free chances at the line with the clock stopped. "They’re a high octane team, they get up and down and the whistle was blowing left and right," Duncan said. "They get all those free throws, it just adds to what they can do." Foul shots have been a problem all season for San Antonio, which ranked 26th in the league. In Game 1, they became more than a problem. They became the difference between victory and defeat. "We know it’s a weakness," Popovich said. "You get to the final four teams, those things rear their head." The Spurs can only hope it doesn’t wind up costing them a chance to win the NBA title. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for SI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
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