Mavericks' fouls help Spurs pull even at 1-1

SAN ANTONIO -- First there was foul trouble for Dirk Nowitzki, and then he got hit with a technical foul. Next came serious foul trouble for Nowitzki, which was followed by the ejection of Don Nelson.

More technical fouls and ejections quickly followed in a game that seemed to be all but over by the time the tempestuous first half was over.

Dallas did manage to make a late push, but Tim Duncan's 32 points and the Spurs' early 24-for-24 free throw shooting were too much to overcome Wednesday night, and San Antonio defeated the Mavericks 119-106 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

The Spurs evened the series with Game 3 set for Friday at Dallas. Perhaps that will be the night that a low-key officiating crew is assigned to the game.

Following a Game 1 that featured 72 personal fouls and 98 free throws, notoriously hot tempered referee Joey Crawford called four technical fouls in the first 10:11.

The Spurs went to the line 28 times in the first half and made 26, with Malik Rose going 13-for-14 while shooting a majority of the technicals.

The second half consisted of little more than waiting to see if any more individual technical fouls would be called -- none were -- and whether the Mavericks could make an improbable comeback with assistant coach Donn Nelson Jr. running the team.

They got within eight, but no closer.

Rose finished with 25 points, Tony Parker had 19, Stephen Jackson 17. San Antonio made 37 of 45 free throws.

Michael Finley led the Mavericks with 29 points and Nowitzki had 23.

Things started going poorly for Dallas midway through the first quarter -- and they quickly got much worse.

Nowitzki was called for his second foul with 7:39 remaining in the period for slapping at the ball as Duncan went up for a shot. Nowitzki turned to Crawford to complain, and Crawford immediately gave him a technical.

Jackson made the ensuing foul shot to give the Spurs an 11-7 lead, and Nelson took the risk by leaving Nowitzki in the game with two fouls.

With 4:49 left in the first, referee Ted Bernhardt whistled Nowitzki for his third personal -- a questionable call as Nowitzki defended Rose under the basket. That forced Nelson to remove Nowitzki from the game, and Nelson was soon gone himself.

During a timeout with 2:46 left, Nelson walked along the sideline with his hands at his side and stood there staring at Crawford. When Crawford motioned for Nelson to go back to his bench, Nelson shook his head "No."

Crawford gave him a technical, turned and walked away while Nelson stood his ground. When Crawford looked back at the scorer's table and saw Nelson still staring at him, he quickly hit him with a second technical, saying "You! Two! Outta here!"

A layup by Duncan with 1:31 left in the first completed a 17-2 run and gave the Spurs a 33-16 lead, and Duncan hit a jumper at the buzzer to make it 35-24.

Jackson had a fast-break layup with 6:53 left in the second quarter to complete an 18-3 run that gave the Spurs a 55-29 edge, and the lead reached 28 on a three-point play by Rose with 2:16 left before halftime.

San Antonio led 69-44 at the break, and Dallas got within 17 in the third before Nowitzki picked up his fourth and fifth fouls -- the latter of which was a questionable call by Crawford on which Nowitzki allegedly fouled Rose on a breakaway. It led to a three-point play that gave the Spurs an 87-67 lead.

A 17-6 run ending with a three-point play by Nick Van Exel made it 105-97 with 4:58 left, but Duncan had a 15-footer and blocked a jumper by Nowitzki, leading to a breakaway layup by Parker that upped the lead to 12 with 3:51 left.

Notes: Crawford also called a technical foul on Van Exel late in the first quarter for rolling the ball to him after the Dallas guard was called for a charging foul. Referee Dick Bavetta broke Crawford's string of consecutive technical fouls at four when he called one on Bruce Bowen for pushing Raef LaFrentz after the two were getting untangled late in the first quarter. Bernhardt whistled Spurs center Kevin Willis for a technical foul late in the second quarter. ... Dallas F Eduardo Najera was held out because of a thigh bruise. ... Shawn Bradley started for Dallas in place of LaFrentz. ... The team that has won Game 1 in the Western Conference finals has won the series 16 consecutive times.