Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs look to rebound from a Game 1 loss tonight, when the take on the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their Sportsbook round series.
Dallas rode the hot hand of Dirk Nowitzki to a 100-94 win over San Antonio on Sunday night as a 4.5-point favorite. Nowitzki netted a game-high 36 points on a near-perfect 12-of-14 shooting and a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe.
Usually when the Mavericks and Spurs meet up San Antonio blankets Nowitzki with double and even triple teams. For some reason they backed off on that defensive scheme in Game 1 and Nowitzki made them pay for it. Expect that to change tonight in Game 2.
While Nowitzki was hitting almost every shot he took on Sunday night Caron Butler chipped in with 22 points and Jason Kidd nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.
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Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 27 points and eight rebounds, while Manu Ginobili had 26 points and six assists. Tony Parker scored 18 points off the bench, but the rest of the Spurs lineup combined to score only 23 points on 10-of-26 shooting. Antonio McDyess was the only other Spurs player to score in double-digits with 10 points, while Richard Jefferson had only four points on 1-of-4 shooting.
The Mavericks win on Sunday night was their fourth straight versus the Spurs and they have also won seven of their last eight against San Antonio. The Mavs were also 7-1 ATS in those games and they’re a 4-point favorite in tonight's matchup.
Also on tap tonight is Game 2 between Charlotte and Orlando. Despite off-nights offensively from Dwight Howard and Vince Carter the Magic defeated Charlotte 98-89 as a 10-point favorite. Jameer Nelson picked up the offensive slack with a game-high 32 points and Rashard Lewis had 19 points.
Carter scored only 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting and Howard had only five points after running into early foul trouble. Howard still did deliver on the defensive end with seven rebounds and nine blocked shots.
Gerald Wallace had 25 points and 17 rebounds for Charlotte and Stephen Jackson labored through a hyper-extended left knee while scoring 18 points. Jackson is listed a probable for tonight’s game, but according to him there’s no chance he’ll miss the game.
Orlando’s win on Sunday night was their ninth in their last 10 games against Charlotte. The Magic are a 9-point favorite in tonight's game.
