Whether hobbled or not...the Spurs got pasted yesterday in San Antonio. It was quite a site to see and Dallas is just the team to do that. If anyone is to take out the champs...leave it to Dallas or worse yet, the Pistons. Let's face it, Dallas has tons of athleticism, and it showed when Avery Johnson inserted Devin Harris to the starting line up and Josh Howard went nuts to the tune of 27 points. Devin Harris was driving to the lane at will. And Josh Howard was a plain beast...the stats don't do justice to how significant Josh Howard was. Throw in Jerry Stackhouse's ability to score and ofcourse Dirk's usual game...and you have (gulp) a championship squad.

Depth is the Dallas Mavericks' main strength. The two headed beast in the middle for Dallas in Desagna Diop and Erick Dampier, proved to be a true force in limiting Timmy D. When Tim Duncan got that forth foul in the middle of the 2^nd quarter, the rout came and Dallas' defense held San Antonio to only 16 points before the half. The two headed beast in the backcourt in Devin Harris and Jason Terry, destroyed Tony Parker and Nick Van Exel. The Mavs gameplan was simple, stay aggressive, and keep moving the ball. By the time the half was over, the game was a 'W' for the Mavs.

Expect Greg Popovich to make some major adjustments. And the three days of rest before game three will only help the Spurs. They've been hobbled all season. And they have to pull something out of their hats to win in front of the Dallas crowd. This indeed, will be quite a second round slugfest.

Can the Spurs limit the drives to the lane that seemed to come from Dallas on every possession? And can the Spurs get any type of offense from Manu Ginobili? The answer is wait and see. But none the less, the Spurs advancing will be a hard fought battle.