Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Caron Butler poured in a playoff career-best 35 points to go with 11 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination with a convincing 103-81 Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Game 5: Mavericks Back Home, Trying To Avoid Elimination Against Spurs
Butler was the offense's focal point, hitting 12-of-24 shots and 8-of-9 from the free throw line for the Mavs, who will have to duplicate their season-ending three-game win streak against the Spurs to move into the conference semis. Dallas is facing long odds, however, as only eight out of 189 teams have responded from a 3-1 series deficit to advance.
Dirk Nowitzki chipped in with 15 points and nine rebounds for Dallas, which faces another must-win game on Thursday in San Antonio, where it lost Games 3 and 4 last week. Jason Terry added 12 points, while Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion each had 10.
"Our guys aren't going to mail it in," said Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle. "There is a lot of pride on the line in every game. The series isn't over, even though a lot of people are assuming that it is. This is one step. It's pretty obvious that it's going to be defense and the ability to get the ball in transition, where good things happen for us."
Tony Parker came off the bench and tallied 18 points -- 17 in the first half -- for the Spurs, who had won the previous three games in this series. San Antonio, which shot a putrid 35.9 percent from the field, got 12 points from George Hill and 11 from Tim Duncan in defeat.
"It was a case of (Dallas coming out) with the mental and physical toughness," said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. "Our starting group wasn't very good in either category. It was disappointing how we came out mentally. Closing out a series -- that game is always the most difficult game of the season, that's for sure."
Ahead by seven to begin the second half, Dallas blew the game wide open in the third.
The Mavs scored the opening 10 points of the third quarter, with Nowitzki’s jumper ending the run with Dallas holding a 63-46 advantage.
The margin eclipsed 20 during a brief stretch of five straight Dallas points, with a Marion layup providing a 75-53 lead with five minutes left in the period.
Dallas headed into the fourth with a healthy 82-64 cushion, and San Antonio never threatened in the final 12 minutes, as the Spurs’ starters were pulled from the game.
Dallas trailed by two early, but a 14-2 burst, capped by a basket and three- point play from Butler, gave the Mavs an 18-8 advantage midway through the opening quarter.
San Antonio whittled its deficit down to 27-21 entering the second, but seven consecutive Maverick points early in the next quarter gave the hosts a 36-23 advantage on a Jose Barea basket with eight minutes to play until halftime.
The Dallas lead stretched as high as 16 in the opening half before the Spurs ended the second period on a 7-0 spurt to get to within 53-46 at the break. Parker scored all of the seven points and had 13 in the quarter.
Since the NBA went to a best-of-seven format in 2003, no seventh-seeded team has advanced past the first round. Orlando, the East’s second seed this year, swept Charlotte in its first-round series...Carlisle has some experience getting out of a 3-1 series deficit, leading Detroit over Orlando in the 2003 first round...The Mavs improved to 25-11 at home in first round play...Dallas shot 44 percent from the field.
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