Dirk Nowitzki said after Game One that he wouldn’t be able to score more than 20 points against Bruce Bowen. So head coach Avery Johnson, sensing that his superstar was in need of a tampon change, pretty much wrote him out of the gameplan. He basically said, “Alright, fine, stick Bruce Bowen on Dirk Nowtizki, and we’ll forget about Dirk Nowitzki. You can win that one. But we’re going to put two or three other speedy little guys on the floor, and they’re going to attack the rim as violently and frequently as Reggie Evans at a gay orgy.” And it worked.

Dirk, though he was very efficient with his shooting, took just 11 shots. Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Devin Harris, and Jerry Stackhouse all took more shots than Dirk. Devin Harris in particular was outstanding… he’s going to be some kind of player, especially in that system. Dallas ran a lot of pick-and-rolls, a lot of pick-and-pops, some drive-and-kicks, and they really got whatever shot they wanted.

And the Spurs can be taken advantage of a little bit around the rim, especially if it gets Tim Duncan in foul trouble like it did tonight. Robert Horry is certainly not a rim-protector. Nazr Mohammed is not playing well. And Rasho Nesterovic is still, quite unfortunately, Rasho Nesterovic.

That’s the move that Avery Johnson made, so Gregg Popovich has got to come up with something now, something to keep the Mavs from getting to the rim so easily. And he’ll figure something out… great coaches and great teams adjust. There are major problems for the Spurs in this series, though. Manu Ginobili is not himself… he’s been playing like Vin Baker. Tony Parker’s banged up, Tim Duncan is banged up, and their bench is not that good.

The advantage has shifted to the Mavericks, without question. I’m not saying that the Spurs have to win Game Three, but they do have to show that they’ve figured some things out. And they’ve got to show that someone can help take the load off of Tim Duncan offensively… which is more difficult now that the Mavericks play some nice defense.