San Antonio, May 23: Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs managed to hold off Steve Nash and the hard-charging Dallas Mavericks with a 119-106 victory to even their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece. Duncan took charge down the stretch and single-handedly stopped another raging rally by the Dallas Mavericks, leading the Spurs to a 119-106 victory that evened the Western Conference finals at one game each. As they did in Game One, the top-seeded Spurs led virtually the entire game. This time, they held on handily thanks to Duncan, who had 32 points and 15 rebounds as he flashed the form that has made him the two-time NBA MVP. The third-seeded Mavericks were trying to stage a repeat of their comeback in the opener, when they erased an 18-point deficit and stunned the Spurs with a 113-110 win. They dug themselves a 28-point hole in the first half on Wednesday, then shot their way out of it, pulling within 103-94 on a 3-pointer by Michael Finley with 5:40 to go. Duncan answered with a 15-footer. Nick Van Exel converted a driving three-point play to make it an eight-point game, but Duncan scored inside, rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Van Exel and blocked a shot by Dirk Nowitzki, leading to Tony Parker's layup and a 109-97 lead with 3:53 to play. After Van Exel made a 3-pointer, Duncan coolly passed out of a double-team to rookie Manu Ginobili, whose 3-pointer made it 112-100 with 2:32 left and took the mettle out of the Mavs.


Malik Rose scored 25 points off the bench and led a procession to the foul line by the Spurs, who sank 37-of-45 free throws. Rose made 15-of-18 and Duncan 10-of-13. It was a huge turnaround from Game One, when San Antonio made 31-of-48 free throws and Dallas sank 49-of-50.


Bureau Report