Donuts: Spurs 92, Mavs 83 In Ugly-Ass Loss

   That’s two in a row.

   No, not two wins in a row this week for the Spurs as they play without Timmy and Tony. What do we care about that?

   That’s two in a row when it comes to regular-season Mavs losses in San Antonio when the Spurs are missing a pair of their superstars.

   A rough go in Ugly-Ass RiverCity on Wednesday, with the Mavs dropping a 92-83 decision to San Antonio’s JV squad. … and we analyze it all in Thursday Morning Mavs Donuts:

      DONUT 1: For the second time in as many regular-season meetings between the two rivals, San Antonio played without two of its major stars … and won anyway.

    Last February 24, the Spurs hosted the Mavs but were without Parker and Manu. At the time, we all saw it as a chance to close the gap between the two in the standings; Dallas had 33 wins and SA had 37 and the opportunity was there, just as it was last night.

    Final score back in February: 93-76. Pretty much just like it was last night.

   This time around, of course, the ankles of Timmy Duncan and Tony Parker kept those fellas in civvies. That should make a difference and provide Dallas a tangible edge, right?

    Wrong. Again.

     DONUT 2: A new wrinkle to this rivalry centers on Shawn Marion-vs.-Richard Jefferson, the battle of the new Texas wingmen. (Isn’t that a band?) Dallas considered trying to trade for Jefferson (and Vince Carter, among others) before settling on The Matrix, the thinking being that all three guys are on a comparable level as All-Stars and two-way talents … but that Marion would be the most financially-wise of the bunch.

    Taking on Jefferson would’ve meant taking on two years and $29 mil.

    Taking on Marion means taking on a new deal worth five years and $39 mil.

     The front-office decision makes sense. But how did it play out on the floor?

     Marion and Jefferson were frequently locked up together and The Matrix scored 11 points in a failed bit as Dirk Nowitzki’s second banana. Meanwhile, Jefferson played like a first banana, stepping up in the absence of Timmy and Tony to score 29 – a total that matched Dirk’s.

    ''We asked (Dirk) to do way too much,''said Jason Kidd, who contributed nine assists but too little else. ''We asked him to carry the load offensively and defensively and that was just not right for us as a teammate and as a team to put him in that position.''

     Nowitzki attempted to lead yet another comeback from a 15-plus-points deficit this season with 10 points in the final quarter. But he had too little help, including from a potential second banana in Shawn Marion.

      DONUT 3: If you are a “DUST Chipper’’ concerned about keeping Erick Dampier’s minutes down, you got your wish here; after the night before beating up Houston with 20 rebounds, 14 points and three blocks, Erick was allowed just 18 minutes of play and managed just one point and four boards. (The boxscore.) He wasn’t a factor at all in the second half (with just one six-minute stint) as Carlisle opted to go with SmallBall.

    To paraphrase Lou Grant: SmallBall is spunky. I hate SmallBall.

    Obviously, it has a place, especially as it allows the Fave Five to play together. But I am disappointed in the fact that while the other team is playing Boner at center, this team either couldn’t or wouldn’t get Dampier to work.

     DONUT 4: So the Mavs didn’t play Damp much because Carlisle opted to go with the Fave Five, eh?

    Not exactly.

    I’m going through my notes, my memory and the play-by-play with a fine-toothed comb. … and nope. Kidd, Dirk, Josh, Marion and Jet never played together. Not a minute.

     DONUT 5: Your DallasBasketball.com T-shirt is available! The “DallasBasketball.com classic’’ and “The UberMan’’ and the “Fish for Lunch’’ and “The DUST Chip’’ are yours for the taking! Please visit the DB.com Store today!

     DONUT 6: Much credit to the Spurs for creating what I really believe is an almost “collegial’’ system in which “freshmen’’ look up to the “seniors’’ and feel honored to step up to the varsity and into the “seniors’’ shoes.

     Not to denigrate the talent of the JV Spurs at all – with DeJuan Blair and George Hill and Roger Mason to go along with “young senior’’ Tony Parker, they may be developing the next generation of very good Spurs teams. But I give lots of credit to Pop here; he calls on Keith Bogans or whomever, and Keith Bogans does as he’s told.

    Specifically, that meant 13 points and 3-of-6 from the arc as the starting 2-guard, along with pretty close to shut-down defense on a handful of Mavs.

   “That's what Keith Bogans does,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

    Is it? Keith Bogans is a shut-down defender AND a perimeter stud on offense?

    OK. Welcome to the College of Pop, Keith Bogans.
    ''I remember walking out in the second half and we were starting four guys that are new for this team,'' said Jefferson. ''To have a little success, to give some new guys some extra minutes in the season, is good.''

     DONUT 7: I said after Josh Howard’s season debut last week that “The Josh Watch’’ is far from over, that his surgically-repaired ankle would require continued monitoring.

     Is that what the second half in SA was all about? “Monitoring’’?

    Second night of a B-2-B and all that, so maybe the wear and tear on J-Ho’s ankle caused him to call it a night with just five minutes in the last two quarters? Josh totaled eight points on 2-of-11 shooting and really didn’t seem to be all there.

      Colleague Gina Miller at ThatSportsGirl tweeted after the game that Josh termed the ankle issue an "unexpected speed bump" right now.

     To which I retort, not trying to be a dick or anything: Six months?! Six months after ankle surgery, no real work in training camp, no participation in the first handful of games of the season, a great deal of care and planning so we don’t yo-yo through the season as was the case with Josh and his health a year ago, and. …

    We’ve still got “speed bumps’’? “Speed bumps’’ that mean the man might be worthless on the second night of B-2-B’s? Which means a fourth of the season?
     Speed bumps?!

   DONUT 8: There was a feistiness to it all and that is a good thing (though I wouldn’t think it was so grand had Antonio McDyess’ elbow decapitated Dirk Nowitzki.) Heck, even some of the pretty plays were gritty plays. Example:

     In addition to Bogans nailing a 3 to close the first quarter, Manu Ginobili did the same thing to end the second quarter. Defender Jason Kidd was glued to Manu for those final 10 seconds as the Spur brought the ball up the floor and only came unglued when Ginobili “created space’’ for himself (the Mavs didn't like the contact but I didn't even see any contact) and then knocked down a buzzer-beating 3 to put the Spurs ahead 51-38 at intermission.

    That play was all about bumping (to get that space, if indeed that's what happened) and about bruising (the psyche of the Mavs).

    DONUT 9: Thanks for all the positive feedback to our first edition on 103.3 ESPN Radio of “Mavs Magazine.’’ We’ll do it again next Saturday and every Saturday through the NBA season, from 10-to-11 a.m., on the Mavs flagship station, 103.3 ESPN Radio!

    Oh, and thanks, too, for the response to my work on the Mavs pregame show with hosts Ben & Skin. That’s going to continue to be a regular deal, so. … most game nights and every Saturday, we serve you Fish on 103.3 ESPN Radio!

    DONUT 10: A season-low point total (83) and a season-low shooting percentage (35.4)? Damnit, there goes the “They-Can-Win-When-Shooting-Sub-.500’’ Theorum.

   DONUT 11: About DeJuan Blair: Here’s a tale that says Dallas was in hot pursuit of the kid in last summer’s NBA Draft. 

   My view on this? Don’t tell me about the labor pains; show me the DeJuan Blair.

   DONUT 12: Do the Mavs take any solace in the fact that SA’s heavy reliance on perimeter shooting – quite effective here, as the Spurs made 14-of-34 3-point attempts – is the same tendency contributed greatly to Dallas’ drubbing of the Spurs in the first round of last year’s playoffs?

    Not until May, I suppose.

   DONUT 13: When all was almost all said and done, the Mavs found themselves down just four points with under four minutes to play.

  “Hey,’’ said Dirk, “we still had a chance.''

  Yes. Against a Spurs team playing two stars down, the Mavs were almost as good as San Antonio. Again.