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SAN ANTONIO -- Faced with the possibility of having a second straight season end with a Game 7 loss, the San Antonio Spurs played with emotion and let Tony Parker have some fun. Larry Donnell Jersey . Parker scored 32 points and the San Antonio led by as many as 31 on its way to a 119-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, closing out a stressful first-round series Sunday in seven games. The finale featured Tim Duncan diving into Dallas bench to save a ball and the Spurs reserves continually on their feet to celebrate baskets. But no one had as much fun or hit the floor more than Parker. The All-Star point guard was 11 for 19 from the field and 10 for 13 on free throws as Dallas was unable to keep him from attacking the lane, despite a series of hard fouls. "I just knew that I had to be aggressive if we wanted to have a chance to win the game because of the strategy that the Mavericks chose," Parker said. "They just dared me to score." Manu Ginobili scored 20 points, Danny Green added 16 points and Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points apiece for San Antonio. Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Dallas. Last season ended for the Spurs with a Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Facing a much earlier end, San Antonio rode a raucous home crowd and overwhelmed Dallas. San Antonio advances to face the fifth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers, who upset the Houston Rockets in a six-game series. The series opens Tuesday in San Antonio. The Spurs got off to a quick start as they had done at home all series, but the Mavericks were unable to respond as they did in winning Game 2 on the road. Leonards 16-foot jumper gave San Antonio an 18-7 lead 6 minutes into the game and the lead swelled to 29 with 2 minutes remaining in the first half. "We gave ourselves a chance but today we got hit by a tidal wave early," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "They had their best game today and we just werent able to do quite enough to stay in it early. "Its hard when you get hit with an onslaught early the way the guys did." Nowitzki struggled through much of the series, but the Mavericks pushed the Spurs to the brink of elimination behind strong post-season performances from Monta Ellis, Vince Carter, Devin Harris and DeJuan Blair. "On the court what confounded us was that theyve got shooters all the way around," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Dirk Nowitzki gets a crowd, if you double him you, you leave a lot of other open shooters. So we played him pretty much one-on-one, so we could stay at home a little bit better. That and the ability to shoot it; spread the floor, run the sets that Rick does and the speed of Harris and Ellis was tough for us to handle." Dallas also played a physical series. There were two technical fouls and two flagrant fouls in Game 7 and two more flagrants reversed upon review. Parker was assessed a technical with 31.6 second left in the first quarter after making a layup on and jawing with former teammate Blair as the two ran down the court. The two had been talking to each other all series and Parker was clearly frustrated at times with the hard fouls committed by Blair on his drives earlier in the series. But Parker said it was all in good fun. "I was just laughing with DeJuan," Parker said of the technical. "Thats why it was so funny to get a technical for that, because I was not even cursing at him. DeJuan played four years (for the Spurs). He lived for a year at my house. I love DeJuan." Blair was later assessed a flagrant foul for elbowing Ginobili in the face on a drive. After the foul, Blair stared down Popovich, who was screaming at officials over the severity of the foul. The flagrant foul energized the Spurs, who went on a 14-2 run to take a 51-27 lead with 8 minutes remaining in the first half. "Everybody was active and kind of focused," Duncan said. "We had very little mistakes." San Antonio never led by less than 14 points in the second half. NOTES: The Spurs were 7-0 in games decided by three points or less during the regular season but were 0-2 against Dallas in such games in their first-round series. . Sundays game between Dallas and San Antonio was the 50th post-season game this season. It was also the fifth Game 7 of the first round. "I think its great for basketball and for the fans," Popovich said. "It drives all the coaches crazy. (But) for the game and everybody, its been a wonderful thing. " ... Blair was booed heavily each time he entered the game or committed a foul. Robert Ayers Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens goaltenders dogs Motty ("short for Mozart") and Duke got loose overnight. Rashad Jennings Giants Jersey . The Stars were up 3-1 in the third. Stars and Jets will meet at the MTS Centre Sunday night (TSN Jets, TSN 1290) in what is a must win for the Jets. The Jets and Stars will meet in Dallas later this month, the Stars have two games in hand.LAWRENCE, Kan. -- There were moments of frustration for Kansas coach Bill Self, moments where hed angrily call a timeout or attend a post-game news conference and glumly bemoan another uneven performance. There never was a moment where he lost faith in his team. Now, after enduring the nations most brutal non-conference schedule, the sixth-ranked Jayhawks are proving to be exactly what the pundits thought theyd be: The Big 12s premier team, one that already has a substantial lead in the conference as the race nears its midway point. "We have grown, but were just now to the middle of the season. Thats whats so strange," Self said. "The big thing is that were playing with more energy and were starting to understand how were going to score -- not just running an offence to run an offence. Were not a tough team by any stretch, but are playing tougher than we did earlier in the season." Thats certainly been evident in the results. After a loss to fifth-ranked San Diego State ended the Jayhawks 68-game non-conference winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas has ripped off seven straight wins through arguably the toughest part of its league schedule. It began with a win at No. 23 Oklahoma, and continued with wins over four straight teams that were ranked in the Top 25 -- Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Baylor. After a blowout win at TCU, the Jayhawks beat the No. 16 Cyclones for a second time on Wednesday night. Now, theyll head to No. 25 Texas with essentially a two-game lead in the Big 12. You catch the game on TSN2 on Saturday at 12am et/9pm pt. "Im not surprised at all," junior guard Naadir Tharpe said. "I knew it was going to be a matter of time until everybody just let water run off their back and start going out there and just playing. That is what I feel like dudes are doing right now." The most important of them may be Andrew Wiggins, the highly touted freshman. After fits and starts to begin his college career, the 6-foot-8 swingman and projected lottery pick in the Junee draft has gone on a tear. Charles Brown Giants Jersey. Wiggins scored a career-high 27 points in the win over the Horned Frogs, and then bested it with 29 points against the Cyclones earlier this week. Hes averaging more than 24 points over his past three games. "I would say I feel more comfortable on the court," Wiggins said this week. "A lot of things are slowing down for me and my teammates are looking for me." Hes also starting to create his own shot, something that he was reticent to do early in the season, prompting Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg to say hes "oozing with confidence. "Thats scary," Hoiberg said. "With that athleticism, that length and that speed, the kids got it all. When hes knocking down shots, not too many better." There arent many teams better than the Jayhawks right now. Since the start of league play, the nine-time defending champions are putting up a Big 12-leading 84 points per game. Theyre just a half-point out of second place in scoring defence, and their scoring margin of 12 points per game is seven better than second-place Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks (16-4, 7-0 Big 12) also lead the league in field-goal and 3-point percentage, rebounding defence and margin, blocked shots, assists and, well, you get the idea. "They have a special group," TCU coach Trent Johnson said. "At every position, they have somebody who can score. They can attack you, so you really have to be on your toes." After the Jayhawks, Texas may be the next hottest team in the Big 12 heading into Saturdays game. The Longhorns (16-4, 5-2) have rattled off five straight wins, the last three coming against ranked teams in Iowa State, Kansas State and Baylor. The Jayhawks will represent the first time in school history that Texas will have played four consecutive Top 25 opponents. "Theyre young. Theyre not quite as young as we are, but theyre young and fast, probably as fast as any team well play," Self said. "Theyre obviously playing their tails off." ' ' ' |
