Ginobili's Nosebleed Goes Deeper Than The Heart of Texas

Whether or not the Spurs manage to finish off the Mavericks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs remains to be seen. Regardless of the end-result, Spurs fans can rest assured that this San Antonio Spurs team has proved a point.

While Spurs fans have spent the better part of the last few seasons listening to critics proclaim how old they were, the Spurs kept pushing along.

As teams like the Lakers, Celtics, and yes, even the Dallas Mavericks have gotten progressively older in recent years, the Spurs have actually managed to find ways to get younger in key areas with players such as George Hill, DeJuan Blair, and Richard Jefferson.

Whatever the criticism, apparently the Spurs organization wasn't listening; not Tony Parker, not Tim Duncan, and most assuredly not Manu 'Gi-nosebleed.'

After Ginobili fouled Dirk Nowitzki on the elbow with his nose—is Erick Dampier listening?—Ginobili proved what very well may end up separating his team from their I-35 rivals in Dallas.

Yes, the Spurs not only reminded their rivals, but the entire NBA: the oldest team in the league is indeed from Texas, it just isn't the team from the Alamo City.

Where the Spurs—especially Ginobili—showed a fire and a determination to win, the Mavs showed the exact opposite. While the Mavs had one good run in them to take a lead into the fourth quarter, it looked as if they had mailed the game in before tip-off for most of the night.

Before game time, the Mavericks seemingly already had fingers pointed everywhere but directly at themselves, including at referee Danny Crawford, not to be confused with Joey Crawford, who infamously challenged Tim Duncan to a fight during a match-up between the Texas rivals.

While the Spurs had perfect rotations on defense when it mattered, Rick Carlisle had his best defender sitting on the bench.

While the Spurs had two huge shots from their new 'sixth man' in Tony Parker, new addition Caron Butler of the Mavs was sitting on the bench.

It should have come as no surprise then when Jose Barea became flustered at attempts to contain Manu Ginobili; after all, any normal man would have sat out after a facial injury, yet there Manu was, right down to the end, seemingly playing with more fire the more the nose bled.

Although Richard Jefferson didn't show up on the scoreboard as much as he did in Game Two, anyone watching the game could tell the team was better with him on the floor as he was one more thing for the Mavericks to focus on, allowing Tim Duncan to remain as consistent as he has always been during the postseason.

Yes, it's true, defense wins championships; it was a common thread in all of the Spurs titles to this point. Another mainstay has always been three-point shooting as well. While the Spurs were shooting them, they didn't make a single one, just another baffling stat on a night in which the Spurs reminded the world that experience and age don't necessarily co-exist.

While no one knows how the series will end, one thing is for certain: Mark Cuban is growing uneasy.

He grows uneasy that the acquisitions that were supposed to take this Mavericks team over the top were sitting squarely on the bench with the game on the line. One would guess he feels a split between being angry at the coach he entrusted for sitting them and being angry at the players for not starting with more intensity.

Whatever the case may be, the Spurs are now in the driver's seat in this best-of-seven series, and look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead come Sunday evening.

Mark Cuban had just better hope his team stops long enough to stop pointing fingers at everyone else and take a look in the mirror, or else it may just be too late; after all, the Dallas Mavericks are the oldest team in the NBA.