SAN ANTONIO, May 21 (UPI) -- San Antonio and Dallas meet Wednesday night in Game Two of the Western Conference finals.
The Mavericks made an astounding 49 straight free throws Monday night to walk
away with a 113-110 victory in Game One.
"Thank God for free throws," said Dallas Coach Don Nelson. "We're better than anyone in basketball."
Dirk Nowitzki made all 17 of his free-throw attempts, and Michael Finley all 10 of his as the Mavericks rallied from two large deficits. They erased an 18-point second-quarter deficit, and 14 with 8:05 left in the final period.
The Mavericks' excellence overshadowed San Antonio's own trouble at the line. The Spurs had plenty of their own chances, but missed 17-of-48 free throw attempts.
"What affected us most was missing free throws," said San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich. "When you shoot 49-of-50 and 31-of-48, you're giving the game away. We know it's a weakness. When you get to the final four teams, those things rear their head."
Dallas did more than shoot its free throws Monday.
The Mavericks allowed NBA MVP Tim Duncan to score 40 points, but he was forced into an air ball on a potential game-winning jumper with four seconds left.
Dallas had a plus-nine rebounding edge in Game One, with Nowitzki grabbing 15, the same number as Duncan.
The Spurs are trying to avoid an 0-2 series hole that, historically, has been near-fatal in the NBA playoffs. Only two teams in NBA history have won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home.
Losing notable leads has become commonplace in the conference finals.
For the second straight game Tuesday night, the Detroit Pistons played poorly in the fourth quarter and blew a big lead in an 88-86 loss to the New Jersey Nets in Game Two of their Eastern Conference series.
In Game One on Sunday, the Pistons made just 2-of-19 shots in the fourth quarter, both driving layups by Richard Hamilton, and suffered a 76-74 loss as New Jersey's Jason Kidd made a last-second jumper.
In Game Two on Tuesday, the defensive-minded Pistons blew an 11-point lead and also gave up 30 points in the final period.
The Nets now have won eight straight playoff games, the third-longest streak in NBA history. Five of those have come on the road, where they are 6-1 overall.
Game Three is Thursday in East Rutherford.
