Spurs-Mavericks Preview
By JUSTIN EINHORN
Posted Feb 04 2016 4:12PM
http://tinyurl.com/zunx7x7
The only teams to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in 2016 are the conference
leaders.
Almost all the good teams are beating the Dallas Mavericks this year.
The Spurs are among them, and they'll look to blow out their Southwest
Division rival for the second time in three weeks behind a surging LaMarcus
Aldridge on Friday night in Dallas.
San Antonio (41-8) can match the best 50-game start in franchise history, set
in 2010-2011, after notching the best home start in Western Conference
history at 27-0 with Wednesday's 110-97 win over New Orleans.
The Spurs' only losses in 18 games since Christmas came Jan. 25 to
league-best Golden State and five days later to East-leading Cleveland.
Dallas (28-24) did take the Cavaliers to overtime in a loss Jan. 12 and is
one of four teams to knock off the Warriors. However, since beating Golden
State without Stephen Curry on Dec. 30, the Mavericks are 9-11, which
includes a 2-9 record against teams above .500.
One of those losses came in San Antonio and was their most lopsided of the
season, 112-83 on Jan. 17.
"They're a great team. They play hard every single possession," Mavs guard
Wesley Matthews said that night. "Everybody that checks into the game plays
hard."
Manu Ginobili won't be checking in for at least the next month. He underwent
surgery for a testicle injury suffered Wednesday when he took a knee to an
unintentional knee to the groin from Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson.
Tim Duncan could miss a sixth straight game due to a sore knee, but the Spurs
haven't missed him this week because of Aldridge's play at both ends.
The All-Star forward set a season high with 28 points against Orlando on
Monday, then broke it Wednesday with 36. Aldridge also blocked eight shots in
those games and helped limit Pelicans star Anthony Davis to three points in
the fourth quarter.
"LaMarcus is feeling more and more comfortable all the time as the season
progresses," coach Gregg Popovich said.
As the prized offseason acquisition has gotten more used to his new
teammates, Aldridge has averaged 19.2 points on 55.7 percent shooting in his
last 14 games. His averages were at 15.4 points and 47.1 percent through his
first 31.
"The ball has been going in," said Aldridge, shooting 64.9 percent in the
last four games. "I'm taking the shots and making them. Playing more
confident and more like myself and I think that the team has fed off that
energy."
Aldridge had a game-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting against the Mavs last
month while outplaying Dirk Nowitzki, who shot 2 of 10 for four points. It
matched the lowest-scoring game of Nowitzki's career when playing at least 20
minutes.
The NBA's sixth all-time leading scorer has averaged 10.4 points on 35.1
percent shooting in the last five meetings. The Mavericks have lost the last
three, but those were all in San Antonio. The Spurs have lost the last two in
Dallas, their only defeats in the past 15 regular-season matchups.
The Mavs are coming off back-to-back losses to the Southeast Division's top
teams, 112-97 in Atlanta on Monday and 93-90 to Miami on Wednesday despite
Nowitzki's 28 points.
Matthews continues to struggle, averaging 7.8 points in the past six games
while going 7 for 34 on 3-point tries.
Dallas' other starting guard, Deron Williams, could miss a second consecutive
game with a hip injury. Backup Devin Harris is likely to sit out a seventh
straight with a sprained toe.
Those injuries and struggles of the backcourt have played a role in the Mavs
averaging 93.8 points in regulation over their past 13 games, though Spurs
veteran Tony Parker still considers them to be dangerous offensively.
"They create a lot of different matchup problems with Dirk and stuff like
that. They go small," he said. "... We just have to make sure we play good
defense and control the basketball."
簡單說明一些內容：
1.進入2016年，馬刺只輸過兩個分區的領先者，即騎士和勇士。反觀， 幾乎好
的球隊都能在今年擊敗小牛，包含馬刺，而且輸了本季最多的29分 (1月18號
112-83)。
小牛在2016年只拿到9勝11敗的戰績，面對勝率五成以上球隊更是只有2勝9敗。
2.Aldridge近況佳，他在馬刺頭31場比賽才平均15.4分，投籃命中率47.1%，但
過去14場比賽平均19.2分，有著55.7的投籃命中率，近四場更是高達64.9%。
Gregg Popovich也說：隨著球季的進行，他是感覺越來越舒服了。
3.Dirk明天會上，原本卡帥說過不會讓他連打兩天的比賽， 但這兩天看到的說
法，他是說看Dirk狀況，也不是完全照這個原則走， 所以也不是後天對灰熊
一定不會上就是。
Dirk過去五次碰到馬刺只留下10.4分和35.1%的投籃命中率。
4.小牛過去三次碰到馬刺都輸，但都是在聖安東尼奧， 馬刺在達拉斯也是吞下
二連敗。
5.Matthews持續掙扎，過去六場比賽平均7.8分，三分線34投7中。
6.小胖應該是會上(晨報隨隊記者提到的，但此文是說不會上)， 以精準度來講
，晨報那邊消息應該會比較準確點，但一切還是明天賽前揭曉。
他自己也說：我會上的，這對我們來講是很重要的三連戰(熱火、馬刺、灰熊
)。我們已經輸掉第一場了，現在有更多的壓力必須贏這兩場。
Tim Duncan不會上。
至於這兩天引起爭論的Kareem Abdul-Jabbar，小胖也站出來挺Dirk，表示不認
同這樣的看法。
"You're talking about two legends," Williams said Thursday after practice.
"The No. 1 all-time scorer in the NBA, a guy who has won championships and
made his print on this game. So when he talks, people listen.
"But at the same time, having grown up in the Dirk era and watched what
Dirk's done. I don't consider him one-dimensional at all. I would disagree
with that statement. I don't know what the context was. But I don't feel that
way. Ask me about Dirk's game and I don't think it's one-dimensional at all."