Jason and the Mavs headed back home with their opening round playoff series split 1-1, losing 105-84 after they were unable to recover from the San Antonio Spurs fast start.

No. 2  was one of the few shining lights for the Mavs offensively, finishing with 14 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. He talked with DallasBasketball.com about why the Mavs were unable to matchup with the Spurs Monday night:

“We never got any boards and we never got any steals. We gotta learn from those mistakes.’’

As J-Kidd pointed out, losing the rebounding battle 44-28 and not having one steal in the first half doesn’t allow a team to win on the road. Luckily for the Mavs, they now head back to the friendly confines of American Airlines Arena. In order to maintain home court advantage, Jason told Dallasbasketball.com that the will have to:

“We gotta look at what we did right in Game 1 and what we did wrong in Game 2.’’

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Mavs were one of the better teams at home this year, going 32-9 during the regular season. So home court advantage could play an important factor in deciding this series.

Jason told the Star-Telegram that home court advantage is a fragile thing, especially against a veteran club such as the San Antonio Spurs who isn’t afraid of playing on the road. Still, as J-Kidd told Dallasbasketball.com:

“We came in here and won one. So now we got to go home and protect home court. … figure out a way to go win two games and then come back here again.’’

NEXT UP
The Mavs return home to play the Spurs Thursday at 7:30 pm CST on NBA TV.

RELATED STORIES
Mavericks 84, Spurs 105 (ESPN.com, Apr. 20th, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290420024
Spurs 105, Mavs 84: Your All-Access Pass (Dallasbasketball.com, Apr. 21st, 2009)
http://www.dallasbasketball.com/fullColumn.php?id=1547
For Mavericks or Spurs, advantage of home court tough to discern (Star-Telegram, Apr. 21st, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1328650.html
Dallas Mavericks have home-court advantage, but there’s plenty to worry about (Star-Telegram, Apr. 21st, 2009)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1328640.html