Danny Green didn't take many shots, but he finished with an effective fg% of 150 on his two attempts. This is the first three he hit and it's always a welcome sight to see Verde's stroke so pure. Danny is hanging out at the wing as Tony Parker searches for room to operate near the paint. Jose Calderon takes his eyes off of Green for just a split second, but that was all it took for IcyHot to work his way to the corner where TP feeds him the ball for the triple. Marco Belinelli hasn't found his touch in this postseason, but he's still invested in this team and he is pumped up after this make.
Tony's ankle seemed to feel alright as the Frenchman got off to a hot start, scoring 10 points in the opening frame, and here we see him take on Dirk Nowitzki in the pain. Tony works around a Tiago Splitter screen, curls into the lane, is met by Dirk, and Parker uses the very top of the glass to get his layup to go. It's pretty crazy just how much of the backboard he uses.
It's the big Frenchman's turn to use the glass to score. Boris Diaw has the ball in the right corner with Brandon Wright on him so he attacks. Wright forces him behind the backboard, but Boris, with all of those sweet moves he has, gets the Dallas big to bite on a pump fake which frees Bobo to finish with a nice reverse. It's always a good time watching Boris use all of that junk in his game to score.
Here we'll see Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan run a pick and roll from the right wing. Manu darts through the lane with Timmy diving to his right while Dirk has to account for Matt Bonner in the corner. Devin Harris is beat as he goes over the screen and Samuel Dalembert leaves Timmy as he picks up Gino in the lane. The ever wily Manu sees this and feeds Tim with an incredible wraparound pass that Duncan handles and puts up for an easy deuce.
Next we'll see the Spurs inflict some damage in the transition game. Dallas has done a good job this whole series limiting the Spurs' ability to get out and score, but not this time. After The Manu picks up a loose ball the Spurs have a three-on-one, and Gino pushes the ball forward to Parker with Kawhi Leonard trailing. Tony dribbles once before giving up the rock to our young small forward who gathers and goes up for the slam. Monta Ellis arrives just in time to hack Leonard and send Whi to the free throw line for an and-one.
Bonus GIF content: Jeff Ayres with "The Hand"
Here we see Kawhi dribble drive to the elbow with Shawn Marion guarding him. He picks up his dribble and is in trouble, but it's no problem for Leonard who uses a couple of fakes to free himself of Marion before he gets a leaner to go off of the glass for the score.
The Spurs looked like the team we have come to love during this contest. Check out Manu make a cross-court pass to Boris DIaw. Boris fakes Marion into the air and then drives into the paint where he is met by Brandon Wright. With Wright forced to step up to stop Boris, Tim is left open deep in the restricted area. Diaw makes a nice shovel pass to Big Fun who immediately puts up a little layup for a couple of points.
This next one is too easy for the good guys. Timmy rolls to the basket as Manu has the full attention of two defenders at the three point line. Manu makes it look like he's going to shoot the three until the last moment when he delivers the ball the big veteran for the easiest points of the series. Mark Cuban is clearly bummed out which is always fun. More from Cuban later.
We always want Tiago to just dunk the damn ball, and he does just that on this pick-and-roll with Patty Mills. Splitter makes a strong move to the rack and Mills hits him in stride with a nice bounce-pass before Tiago throws it down for an and-one.
Bonus GIF content: Mark Cuban's aww shucks reaction.
You guys probably know how much I love Bobo, and it's this kind of stuff that leaves me particularly excited. Look at how awesome this pass to the diving Splitter is. Boris places the bounce perfectly between the two Dallas bigs and Tiago gets another and-one to go as Wright is too late to do anything but foul.
Bonus GIF content: Mark Cuban with another aww shucks reaction before returning to a seated position. That's as much fun as the score.
Check out Splitter as he patiently waits for Tony Parker to cut into the lane where he finds the Wee Frenchman with a sweet bouncer. I love how closely Dirk is playing the Brazilian at the elbow. That's a lot of respect for a guy that I think hit five shots all year outside of five feet. Tiago had it going on during the game, but especially so during the important and deciding final quarter. Tony converts the layup and Cuban again doesn't like it.
The bane of the Mavericks existence in the fourth still wasn't done. Here we see him battle down low for an offensive rebound surrounded by blue jerseys. He immediately goes up for the putback which falls through the net. You can almost hear Cuban groan as he looks away and sits back down.
Here's Tiago showing off his passing ability again. From the top of the arc he puts another bounce-pass on the money to Patty Mills, who hangs in the air, works the ball out of Dirk's reach, and gets a tricky reverse layup to drop. It was a lot of fun to watch Tiago shut up his detractors. This is such a smooth play.
Let's finish this edition of GIF Breakdown with one more highlight from Tiago. Splitter receives the ball from Tony at the left side spur, a place where Tim is much more comfortable working from, as Parker cuts through the lane. Sparkles makes the simple little pass to Tony which leads to an uncontested layup that puts the Spurs up nine. Dirk, who balled out for his side in the quarter, looks deflated.
Tiago played one heck of a game, finishing with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists while playing good defense against Dirk all night.
Alright, Pounders, that's it for this GBD. See you guys after the Spurs hopefully close out the series on Friday night in Dallas. This team is so easy to root for.