Not even the great J.J. Barea could stop Tony Parker in Game 2.
The Dallas Mavericks' coaching staff seems to believe Barea must play a prominent role at point guard to give the Mavs their best chance to win, something that doesn't seem to be a great sign for Dallas. After a late first-half push to close a 21-point deficit to 11 at halftime, Barea even started the second half in place of Antoine Wright. For a portion of the third quarter, Jason Kidd deferred possession to Barea to quicken the team's offensive pulse, as he did in Game 1, against the Spurs' aggressively stepped-up defensive effort.
Parker, who matched the Mavs with 19 points in the first quarter, and the Spurs weren't fooling around.
Now the Mavs head back to Dallas tied 1-1 and wondering what they're going to get from their veteran point guard in Thursday's Game 3. Dallas reserves Barea and Brandon Bass led the comeback in the Game 1 victory, saving a quiet outing from Kidd, who struggled with a stomach issue.
No one led anything in Game 2. Kidd had 14 points at the end of the third quarter. However, his two assists and three rebounds told more of the story of why the Spurs led 85-63 entering the final quarter.
The Mavs' offense never clicked and Kidd's few rebounds took away the prime trigger for their transition game. His low assist total (five) went hand-in-hand with Dirk Nowitzki's (3-for-14 shooting) and Jason Terry's (6-for-15) cold nights from the floor.
Meanwhile, Parker rode roughshod for 38 points, his third game of 37 or more in now six games against the Mavs this season.
If the Mavs can't stop Parker, and apparently they can't, then Kidd, the orchestrator of the Mavs' offense and in some ways their defense, too, must lead the Mavs with much more fire.
The reserves received their acclaim for snatching Game 1. If the Mavs have plans to advance out of the first round for the first time since 2006, they'll need their stars to play like stars.
SPURS 105, MAVERICKS 84: Josh Howard couldn't replicate his 25 points in Game 1 as he scored just seven points in 30 minutes in Game 2. Dirk Nowitzki joined him with a cold night, going 3-of-14 from the field for 14 points. Jason Terry had a team-high 16, but didn't heat up until the game was all but over. Tony Parker dominated with 19 of his game-high 38 points coming in the first quarter. When the Mavs made a run late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter, the Spurs never panicked this time and held the Mavs to 40.3 shooting. Tim Duncan had 13 points. Drew Gooden came off the bench for a helpful 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
