SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs rode the wide shoulders of Tim Duncan to victory. The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. So the veteran Duncan overcame a brief injury scare to score 27 points. The Spurs held Dallas to one field goal in the final seven minutes to rally for a 90-85 win Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. The Mavericks also went scoreless for 5 1/2 minutes during that stretch, their lone field goal coming with less than a second remaining. San Antonio won despite going 3 for 17 on 3-pointers and getting only 23 points from its normally potent bench. "We got killed on 3s in the first four outings this year," Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki said. "It was no secret; we stayed home a little more on 3-point shooters, but youve got to give them something, and Duncan in there is obviously still solid." Duncan scored nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the paint in the final quarter to help the Spurs overcome a 10-point deficit. "Timmy, hes not going to score 24 a game or anything like that," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Hes the base from which everything else occurs, whether hes scoring or not. It just gives us a comfort level and a point from which to operate. He plays (defence), rebounds, scores here and there. He just does his job." Parker had 21 points, and Manu Ginobili added 17. Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Tiago Splitter pulled down 11 rebounds for top-seeded San Antonio, which has won 10 straight against Dallas. Devin Harris scored 19 points for the Mavericks, who nearly pulled off a huge upset. The Spurs had insisted that what happens in the regular season doesnt matter, and they were proven right for much of the game -- much to the home fans dismay. Absent were the crisp passing, aggressive defence, bench scoring and 3-point shooting that made for the leagues best record. "Its always tough to change gears from the regular season to the playoffs when youre preparing for a team and theyre preparing for you specifically," Duncan said. San Antonio returned to its winning formula over the final seven minutes, taking an 86-81 lead with a 15-0 run. Splitter tied the game with five minutes remaining, rolling to the basket off a screen for an easy layup off a pass from Parker. The All-Star point guard then drove the lane for a layup and drained a 13-foot jumper, which he punctuated with a loud scream after Dallas called timeout with 2:45 to go. "I was able to push the ball and get some easy baskets," Parker said. "It got our confidence going, so once again defensively, the stops that we made helped us offensively." Dallas had taken an 81-71 lead when Brandan Wright completed a three-point play with 7:45 remaining. The Mavericks proceeded to miss their next 12 shots and committed three turnovers. "Defensively, we started making stops," Ginobili said. "We were at a point where they were getting to the rim. They were making shots and nothing seemed to work for brief periods. There was a point where we were down 10 where we made a couple of steals. We ran, we got fouled, we got a couple of easy buckets, and that changed our mentality." Nowitzki, who finished with 11 points, was 2 for 6 from the field in the final quarter. The veteran forward was closely defended by Splitter. "Theyre not necessarily unbelievably athletic and long, but they are very smart," Nowitzki said. "What they want to do defensively is take you out of your comfort zone." Duncan, wearing a heavy brace on his left knee, walked off the court gingerly with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter after banging knees with Monta Ellis. He did not get up as he customarily does during a timeout to greet his teammates. Duncan later left the court, followed closely by trainer Will Sevening and team doctor David Schmidt, returning a minute later limping slightly less, and he played big down the stretch. "I knew as soon as I felt it," Duncan said. "My leg just kind of went numb, so I knew it was hopefully just a charley horse. I knew I needed just a couple of minutes just for the feeling to come back and I would be fine." NOTES: Referee Joey Crawford screamed twice at a pair of scoring officials during a timeout, telling them at one point to do their jobs. Crawford, who once ejected Duncan for laughing from the bench during a game against the Mavericks, was booed regularly by the fans. Vapormax Damen Sale . You can see all the action on TSN2 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Chicago won two of three games during its stay at the United Center. The club began the homestand with a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh on March 1 and fell to Colorado on Tuesday before posting another blowout win in Thursdays tilt against Columbus. Nike Vapormax Fake Kaufen . -- The way Ted Ligety carved into turns looked so easy. http://www.vapormaxschuhe.de/vapormax-of...eutschland.html. -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. Vapormax Herren Günstig .com) - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo were named the NHLs players of the week on Monday. Nike Vapormax Herren Billig . Lost to Los Angeles in first round of playoffs. Losing Ilya Kovalchuk means some changes to the New Jersey Devils plan of attack, but they were active this summer in their attempts to fill holes. Top Picks: Patrik Elias, Cory Schneider Even at 37-years-old, LW Patrik Elias can provide comfortable reliability to fantasy owners, even if 36 points in 48 games last season counted as his second-lowest per-game scoring rate of the last decade. Since 2006-2007, Elias has scored 426 points, which ranks 29th and given his role as the Devils offensive leader (particularly now that Ilya Kovalchuk is gone), Elias is a safe addition as a No. 2 left winger. There is a lot to like about G Cory Schneider who has a .931 save percentage over the last three seasons, the best in hockey among goalies with at least 75 games played and, by all rights, he deserves a starting job. Trouble is, the Devils have a future Hall of Famer on the roster and still havent given the slightest indication that Schneider is the starter. On the contrary, it doesnt sound like Martin Brodeur is prepared to take a backup role and the Devils loyalty to Brodeur could shape this decision. All of this makes Schneider a risky pickup, but if you believe that he will outplay Brodeur enough to take more starts, then Schneider has the potential to provide value as a Top 10 fantasy goaltender, maybe higher depending on how quickly he takes the lead. Value Plays: Following a season in which he scored just three goals in 40 games, there is an opportunity to buy low on the value of LW Ryane Clowe. Clowe adds to his value with hits, but his value is further enhanced in leagues with penalty minutes, as hes one of five players to have at least 225 points and 450 penalty minutes. Revel in the value that you get when people write him off because of last years goal-scoring anomaly when he had a 3.4% shooting percentage, compared to a career mark of 11.2%. Unlike Clowe, RW Michael Ryder is coming off one of his better seasons. In fact, hes scored 0.76 points per game in back-to-back years, his highest rate since his rookie season (0.78), yet Ryder is a potential value play because hes 33 and while hes a three-time 30-goal scorer, thats happened only once in the last six seasons. As a No. 3 right winger, he should be a capable performer. Likewise, 41-year-old RW Jaromir Jagr fits in about the same spot. He was productive last year, with 35 points in 45 games, but a playoff drought (no goals, 10 assists in 22 games) helps to sink his public perception. There is opportunity available in New Jersey for Jagr to play and fulfill a scoring role and he can still do it; not like he did at his peak, but good enough to hold down a spot on a fantasy roster. Sleepers/Breakthrough: Its difficult for the Devils centres to provide great fantasy value because they arent the same kind of offfensive producers as their wingers and, with centre being such a deep position, that makes Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac effectively sleeper picks, even though they are playing down the middle on the top two lines.dddddddddddd. Henrique overachieved offensively as a rookie, in 2011-2012, crashing back to earth last year when he managed five assists (along with 11 goals) in 42 games. If he fits between Clowe and Ryder, that line could score, but maybe not enough for Henrique to be anything more than fantasy depth. Aside from 2011-2012, when he tore his Achilles tendon, C Travis Zajac has been exceptionally durable, missing a total of two games in his other six seasons, but he also appears to be miles away from the 60-point scorer that he was when he had Zach Parise on his wing. Until he shows that he can produce more offensively, and playing with Elias and Jagr could sure help, Zajac is also a fringe fantasy performer. Over the last three seasons, G Martin Brodeur has a .905 save percentage -- Steve Mason and Mathieu Garon were the only goaltenders worse with at least 100 games played -- and hes 41, so its not likely to get better, but if the Devils are insistent that Brodeur is their starter, he could have value. 36-year-old D Marek Zidlicky has an offensive track record, though he hasnt scored as often (27 points in 70 games) in New Jersey and, over the last five seasons, his minsu-52 is fifth-worst among defencemen. Perhaps hell connect with Elias and Jagr on the power play, but its also possible you can do better than a 36-year-old with declining offensive numbers. C Andrei Loktionov has 15 goals and 26 points in 87 career NHL games, including 12 points in 28 games with the Devils last season. He has some offensive promise, but probably needs to secure a spot in the top six to be relevant for fantasy owners. Same goes for Damien Brunner, who had 26 points for the Red Wings last season and is in camp on a tryout. Rookies: There dont appear to be any prime positions for rookies in the Devils lineup, but there are a couple that could challenge for time during the season. Stefan Matteau played 17 games for New Jersey last season before he was sent back to the QMJHL, which resulted in a tumultuous time in its own right. Hes a big, physical winger, but maybe not offensive enough to generate fantasy interest. D Jon Merrill didnt have the smoothest path at the University of Michigan, but he had eight points in 12 AHL games at the end of last season. The 21-year-old is big and skilled, and may need more time in the minors, but he could play a significant role for the Devils before long. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '