If Jason and the Mavs eliminate the San Antonio Spurs from the first round of the playoffs tonight, it will mark the earliest that San Antonio has deparated the postseason since 2000.

Defense has been the name of the game for No. 2 and Co., and if they want to ensure that they’ll be moving on to the second round, they’ll need to bring the same defensive intensity tonight.

As Jason told DallasBasketball.com:  

“On the road it’s going to be hard. We understand how hard it is to win down there.

[They are] a veteran ball club, well coached, and there are no easy games. This isn’t going to be an easy task for us. We just hope we can keep it close and find a way to win it in the end.”

“[There is a] nothing to lose aspect for one team. They can throw the whole kitchen sink at you and if they lose they go on vacation. For that we have to just relax and take each possession one at a time and play defense. Again hopefully have it close late in the game where we can make a stop and then get a basket.”

“You just take one game, and we have it tomorrow. We have to look at it as a do or die situation for us. It’s a game 7. To be hungry, to win on the road is hard, and we understand how hard it is. The big thing is we are going down to San Antonio to play a game and we are going to try to win.”

If the Mavericks follow Jason’s approach and look at Game 5 as a do-or-die situation, then they will have a great opportunity to close out the series.

“[We have to] take shots when they present themselves. Dirk only took 9 shots. I don’t know the last time he took 9 shots in a 48-minute game without getting kicked out. That just shows that Dirk is being patient. But Jet got 17 shots up. For us, the role players, we just got to knock down shots when the present themselves.”

“That just shows that we can play defense. One of the big things for us is our tempo. We can’t change when we go on the road. We got to run and make things a little bit hectic. Make the tempo as if we are at home when it’s fast. But our defense was big these last couple of games and hopefully we can continue to do that in San Antonio.”

JASON VS. PARKER
For the Mavs to finish off the series, J-Kidd will need to continue to make Tony Parker work on both sides of the floor.

With Parker having to defend Jason in the post, he became extremely gassed in the second half, which helped No. 2 hold him to only 12 second half points. If the Mavs are going to win Tuesday night, they will need Jason to keep forcing Parker to play defense either by posting him up, or by having him run around constant pick-and-rolls.

Nowitzki talked with the Mavs Blog about the importance of slowing Parker down:

“We’ve got to make him work all game, and I think that’s what he did. He had 31 at the half and ended up with 43, which is an unbelievable number. But if you look at it, 12 points in the second half, that’s decent. That’s 24 for a game. We’ll live with that.”

“He’s phenomenal, but we’ve got to make him work for everything on both ends of the floor. Kidd posted him up a bunch of times in Game 4 down the stretch, just ride him and wear on his legs, because he’s the one who’s always creating.”

NEXT UP
The Mavs take on the Spurs at San Antonio Tuesday night at 8:30 pm CST on TNT.

This time, the Spurs aren’t letting any Mavs fans get into the building, refusing to sell tickets to anyone who lives more than 50 miles from San Antonio. The Mavs will have to rely on Jason’s veteran leadership to calm down the younger players in what is sure to be a very hostile environment.

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