By Paul Levine May 10, 2006, 15:47 GMT
Los Angeles - After dropping a tough opener, the Dallas Mavericks didn't get down on themselves. Instead, they got even.
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, pumps his fist in celebration after draining a shot late in the second half of game 2 of the Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs NBA Western Conference semifinals game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday, 09 May 2006. Dallas won 113-91 to tie the best of seven series at 1 game apiece. EPA/AARON M. SPRECHER
Josh Howard had 27 points and nine rebounds while German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki collected 21 points along with nine boards as the Mavericks routed the San Antonio Spurs 113-91 Tuesday night in Game Two to knot their Western Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.
'Game One was a tough loss but we didn't play well enough on both ends of the floor to win,' Nowitzki said. 'If you want to beat the world champs, they're not going to give it to you, you have to take it. That's what we did tonight.'
The Mavericks dropped Sunday's opener, 87-85 when Jerry Stackhouse missed a potential-game winning three-pointer off a broken play that Dallas coach Avery Johnson took the blame for. However, the NBA's Coach of the Year made another move by inserting speedy Devin Harris as his starting guard. It paid off, as Harris had 20 points and slowed down Frenchman Tony Parker, who finished with 15.
'We had our eyes on this round for Devin to come out and play for us,' Johnson said. 'And he played a game for us tonight.'
Although the Mavericks got back in the saddle in the Texas tussle, Johnson didn't allow himself to get too high after the win.
'We're not 20 points better than the Spurs,' he said. 'They're still the champions. One win by a team in the Western Conference semifinals doesn't mean anything has been taken away from them. I know they're not going to play like this in Game Three.'
Stackhouse chipped in with 19 points for Dallas, which hosts Games Three and Four Saturday and Monday after taking the home-court advantage.
The up-tempo Mavericks led by four after one before breaking open the game in the second period by outscoring their opponents 32-16 for a commanding 58-38 halftime cushion. They kept the defending champions scoreless for the final 6:59.
'That one quarter they really got out on us,' said Tim Duncan, who led the Spurs with 28 points and nine rebounds. 'That was the difference in the game, right there.'
'They were getting to the basket and making plays at the rim. They were getting easy ones and they were giving us tough ones. It all compounded itself in that quarter.'
The Spurs were never able to close the margin under double digits in the second half.
'We have no excuses,' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. 'There's no way around it, they kicked our butts tonight.'
Elsewhere: The Detroit Pistons found out there's no relaxing when LeBron James gets going.
Rasheed Wallace scored 29 points and Tayshaun Prince had 20 as the Pistons held off a late charge by James to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-91 for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
James tallied 23 of his 30 points in the second half, including 14 in the final quarter, when the Cavaliers cut a 22-point deficit to five in the final minutes before coming up short.
'The one thing about the Pistons is that you can't get down on them because it's so hard to come back because of how defensive- minded they are,' James explained. 'The one thing I like about our team is we kept our composure tonight and gave them a run for their money.'
The best-of-seven game series shifts to Cleveland for Games Three and Four Saturday and Monday.
Detroit's Richard Hamilton netted 17 points, Chauncey Billups had 15 while NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace finished with 10 and 15 rebounds.
The Pistons appeared to be headed for their second straight blowout win following Sunday's 113-86 demolition. James was limited to just seven points as the Eastern Conference champions led 52-36 at halftime.
The gap grew to 22 in the third quarter before James came alive. He went over around and in-between Piston defenders to score nine late points that cut the deficit to 78-60.
'We had the game going so good throughout three quarters that I thought we got a little relaxed,' Billups admitted. 'We kind of went away from our defensive schemes and LeBron started to hurt us.'
Cleveland drew to 87-78 before Ben Wallace made a put-back off his own miss and Rasheed Wallace followed with his fifth 3-pointer to open a 92-78 advantage with 4:34 remaining.
James wasn't finished, though.
He converted a three-point play to make it 92-87 with 1:13 left. Hamilton, however, answered with a game-sealing one of his own at the other end with 58 seconds to go. James and Hamilton traded free throws in the final seconds.
Cleveland's Drew Gooden had 17 points to complement James.
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