Game 6 Preview: Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs

Point Guard

After going all supernova on us in Game 4, Cubits came back to earth. He turned in one of the few decent Spurs performances of the night, but sat for a lot of the second half once Pop realized the inevitability of a Game 6.

Kidd seemed to regain his footing a bit, and he was able to successfully post up at times, although the Mavs have got to be still hoping for more production from him. He too spent a nice chunk of the second half on the bench.

Advantage: Spurs

Shooting Guard

Rick Carlisle was absolutely eviscerated by basketball scribes for benching Caron Butler in Game 3 and giving him limited minutes in Game 4. Looks like Butler got the message, though, turning in the best playoff performance of his career. He had a hell of a game on Tuesday. Shut. Him. Down.

Manu said it himself--"I played like crap." Being Manu Ginobili, he made no excuses, although he certainly has any number of good reasons at his disposal. You know Pop will be watching him carefully tonight from the get-go. One of the main reasons we need to win this game is to buy a little rest and healing time for the Man With No Swagger.

Advantage: None

Small Forward

Time to see some of that aggressiveness, RJ! We need it now more than ever. Show us you know what it means to close out a series. Come out strong, play smart. Shawn Marion may not "see no fat lady," but it's your job to make certain he hears her tonight.

And although Shawn Marion has been quiet on court so far, I'm worried about him. As part of the Suns team that came back from a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs, he's confident that it can be done. And he's due.

Advantage: None

Power Forward

The rap on Dirk is that he's soft. Lacks that fabled "mental toughness." In potential elimination games, Nowitzki has averaged 28.3 points and 12.2 rebounds. So . . . yeah. We should all be so soft.

This is just a hunch. Total hunch. Tim Duncan will not be on the court tonight. We will be seeing Playoff Timmy. You may remember him from Game 2. Playoff Timmy is going to have a big night tonight. Playoff Timmy is going to get this win.

Advantage: Tied

Center

Antonio McDyess: he's no Rasheed Wallace. Thank Christ.

Brendan Haywood was a decided improvement over Dampier as a starting center. That's not saying much, considering Dampier has done exactly nothing in this series. So maybe I should put it this way--Haywood was really, really good on Tuesday. Our advantage at this position has disappeared. We have some big time adjustments to make.

Advantage: None

Bench & Role Players

Early foul trouble left DeJuan Blair flustered and largely ineffective in Game 5, but let's not forget that only two games prior he was being lauded for earning his playoff stripes. Let's hope he gets a lift from the home crowd and comes out in grizzly mode. Paging Matt Bonner . . . paging Matt Bonner . . . could Mr. Bonner please report TO THE FREAKING PLAYOFFS?

I'll still take our bench over theirs--I mean, please. We have Tony Parker coming off our bench. Terry can do his little airplane thing all he likes; it's never going to be worth more than 12 points. 15 max. Oh god I hope I don't regret saying that in public.

Advantage: Spurs

Coach

Pop has said time and time again that it's hard to close out a series. He's also said he doesn't need to give this team a pep talk--"they're grown men." Pop has the team he wants. Now he's going to leave it up to them to win this game.

So I was reading about this Carlisle guy, and apparently he coached the Pistons back from a 3-1 deficit to win a first-round series against the Magic. That was 2003. This is now, Ponyboy.

Advantage: Spurs