[Dallas Morning News] Mac attack too much for Mavs

[Dallas Morning News]Mac attack too much for Mavs

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Mac attack too much for Mavs, 98-86

08:34 PM CDT on Saturday, April 23, 2005


By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News



With the shot clock running down early in the third quarter and the ball in Tracy McGrady's hands, the Rockets' superstar did what he had done all evening. He burned the Mavericks.

McGrady reared up over an outstretched Dirk Nowitzki and drilled a fadeaway 3-pointer for a 15-point lead and another dagger through the Mavericks' heart.

It was typical as the Rockets dominated Game 1 of the first-round series and scored a 98-86 win at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

McGrady finished with 34 points, six assists and five rebounds, easily winning the battle of the superstars as Nowitzki looked tentative throughout. The home-court advantage that the Mavericks worked so hard for in the 82-game regular season was lost in 48 mostly lethargic minutes.

The Mavericks looked totally out of sync most of the way. Though they got as close as 75-71, Mike James scored six points as the Rockets re-opened the wound to 84-73 with 5:50 left.

The Mavericks are 3-7 in playoff series after losing Game 1.

Before the game, Avery Johnson had hit on a point in his first playoff game as an NBA coach.

"There's no hiding," he said. "All your strengths and weaknesses come out."

The Mavericks' shortcomings certainly were on display for most of the first three quarters. Not until Jason Terry and Nowitzki led an 11-2 surge did the Mavericks show some life, cutting the lead to 67-60 with two minutes left in the third.

The Mavericks looked like a different team from then on. And their biggest advantage in the series, their depth, began to come into play. Sixth man Jerry Stackhouse and center Erick Dampier started to impact the game, and it was Stackhouse's three free throws after he was fouled outside the arc by McGrady that made it 75-71 with 9:16 to go.

Then the bottom fell out again.

The Mavericks were obliterated on the boards in the early going as the Rockets kicked away to a 24-14 lead late in the first quarter, courtesy of a 14-2 blitz that lasted five minutes. By then, the Rockets owned 14-5 rebounding advantage.

There were other problems for the Mavericks. Both centers had two fouls in the opening quarter, as did Houston's Yao Ming.

Not strapped by foul trouble was Nowitzki. It was the Rockets' defense that was giving him fits.

Nowitzki went 13:02 of clock time bridging the first and second quarters without a point. It was no coincidence that the Rockets opened up their double-figure lead during that same span. The Mavs were down, 39-20, after a McGrady 3-pointer and the Rockets' superior ball movement was finding all the holes in the Mavericks' defense.

It wasn't until the Rockets missed seven of their final eight shots in the half that the Mavericks made the difference respectable, trailing 52-40 at the break.

By then, it was obvious that Yao was not the key to the series. At least not on this night. He played only a single minute in the second quarter.

McGrady, meanwhile, was unstoppable. The Rockets ran a curl play on numerous possessions that got the 6-8 forward free on the right wing for jumpers, which he made whether a hand was in his face or not.

E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com.

 

Eddie Sefko's prediction - Mavs in 5: Rockets' 1-2 punch not enough for the Mavs 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 punch.