SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs rode the wide shoulders of Tim Duncan to victory. Adidas y3 Sverige . 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. Adidas NMD R1 Herr Rea . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Adidas Continental 80 Sverige . Heavily-criticized after allowing a dozen goals on 58 shots in two games in Boston, Luongo continued his dominance at home. Hes now allowed two goals in three home games in this series. http://www.nmdsverige.com/ . -- Chris Tillman paid no attention to the Baltimore bullpen as it started to stir in the ninth inning.Sky Sports’ David Tanner has been reflecting on his time with Dutch great Johan Cruyff, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 68. If you dont play football to entertain the people, then whats the point of playing at all? - Johan Cruyff.One quote. One man and his ethos summed-up. I became acquainted with Cruyff over many years of interviewing him when he visited Scotland to play golf and I was also invited to meet him at his foundation in Barcelona.His views were always thought provoking, relevant and, unlike many footballers and administrators in this age of PR non-speak, he spoke his mind. And then some. A meeting with the former Netherlands international was, for me, the journalistic highlight of any year. Cruyff plays against Rangers for Ajax at Ibrox in the European Super Cup - but he chose not to play domestically in Scotland If a man was a business - and Johan made all aspects of football his business - that quote he gave me about entertaining football could easily have served as the Cruyff corporation mission statement.It certainly fits his approach through the various stages of his career as a football man: player, captain, coach, director, commentator, entrepreneur, visionary and, through the auspices of his foundation, a social benefactor and football missionary.His interviews, if he was in the mood, ran long and always had the feel of a sermon. This is my way and my way is the right way. You did not have to show blind faith to believe in this messiah - the evidence was there for all to see. As a player he won three consecutive European Cups with Ajax, before coaching Barcelona to their first European Cup win, laying out the plans for the Nou Camp sides youth system and style of play that produced the greatest team - a sequence of them now, actually - in the history of club football. Dutch legend Cruyff dies Dutch legend Johan Cruyff has died after a long battle with lung cancer at the age of 68. Without Cruyff there is no tiki-taka and, who knows, Lionel Messi may have just been an entertainer in a good side rather than the shining jewel in Barcelonas crown.I last spoke to Cruyff in the splendour of The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews after he had finished his round in the Dunhill Championship last October. He was late for our interview but this was no great surprise as word had reached me that he had been slow to get around the course. Cruyff in quotes Johan Cruyff: The Barcelona and Netherlands legend in quotes It did not seem important at the time, but the suggestion around the golf course was that it had been a struggle for the 68-year old to finish his round. Cruyff, with trademark confidence (I never found him to be arrogant), strode into the Road Hole restaurant looking fit and wearing a pair of his own brand of stylish trainers.He presented the figure of a strong and healthy man, which was at odds with the rumours of him finding his four-ball a test. I was genuinely shocked, therefore, to discover that days after our conversation, he had been given bad news by cancer specialists. Sky Sports’ David Tanner during a meeting with Johan Cruyff When I read the statement he issued just last month, I was convinced he was standing up bravely to cancer if he felt he was 2-0 up and promised that he would hold on to win his match with the disease.As a player, Cruyff was not as protected by the rules as Messi is now. The ban on the tackle from behind was introduced a decade after Cruyff had hung up his boots, outlawed after another Dutch icon Marco van Basten had been hacked into early retirement.A couple of years ago, I took former Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood to the Dunhill to meet Cruyff. After Calderwood had almost been knocked off his feet by the strength of a Ruud Gullit embrace, he steadied himself in time to hear the shout of CALDA-VOOD as Johan made a bee-line for him.Calderwood, like Cruyff, had taken his coaching badges under the legendary Rinus Michels at the Dutch FA and the Glaswegian played for Sparta Rotterdam against a veteran Cruyff in the Eredivisie. He admitted: Louis van Gaal [Calderwoods midfield team-mate] and I tried to kick him! Cruyff laughed at the memory before adding: I jumped over the tackles...easily.If Calderwood and Van Gaal could not stop him in his tracks, Cruyffs smoking habit did catch up with him in later life. Cruyff won three Ballon dOrs during the 1970s Ex-Aberdeen and Manchester City striker Duncan Davidson told me recently he had turned out for Toronto Blizzards against Cruyff, who played in the old North American Soccer League for LA Aztecs and Washington Diplomats. Duncy was the last Blizzards player out after the interval and was surprised to see a cloud of cigarette smoke in the tunnel.Cruyff was responsible for the pollution and was happy to keep the rest of the players waiting uuntil he had finished his cigarette. Adidas Continental 80 Dam. Davidson was surprised that a top athlete was such a heavy smoker. He was amazed when Cruyff then scored from the centre circle from the re-start.The greatness of Hendrik Johannes Cruyff is all the more startling when put into historical context; he was only the third full-time professional football player in the Netherlands. I noticed that he smiled when he spoke about that historical curiosity.The KNVB had resisted calls for the introduction of professionalism until the mid-1950s but those first pro-contracts were part-time arrangements. Had Cruyff been born just a few months earlier, his development could have been stunted by the semi-professional players need to divide sporting activities with work outside the game. His timing was always immaculate, of course. Cruyff changed football Johan Cruyff changed the shape of football forever through his philosophy, says Guillem Balague With his formative years played out against a backdrop of revolution in the Dutch game, it is perhaps no surprise that he was not short of an opinion on how the game should be played. And he certainly knew how to deliver his views.The quote at the start of this article was typical of his many bites at Jose Mourinho. Cruyff accused the former Real Madrid boss of having a win at all costs approach to the game which was the polar opposite of his footballing vision.In our last sit down in October, he surveyed the flux at Chelsea and blamed the extraordinary collapse of the defending Premier League champions on Joses ego and what Cruyff felt was his desire to be centre of the attention at his club. Some famous names from the game pay their respects to Johan Cruyff He said: Its probably because of his background, where he has never been cheered by 100,000 people, or whistled at by 100,000 people. Maybe its because of that, maybe because of the interest from the press, but I dont think he is educating children to play football or educating for life.Even Lionel Messi was not exempt from a tongue-lashing. Cruyff felt it wrong that the worlds greatest player could not speak English, saying: Barcelona is a global club. Messi is a global player. So he should learn to speak to everybody using the language of the world - English.He loathed Mourinhos behaviour but Cruyff adored Josep Guardiola.Cruyff told me of his first meeting with the teenage Pep upon taking the head coachs job at the Nou Camp in 1988: I was being given a tour of the training facilities. I asked one of the coaches who he thought was the best youth player at the club. The answer was Guardiola. At the time he was in the third team! I immediately promoted him to play with the better players. The Barcelona team celebrate after beating Sampdoria 1-0 to win the 1992 European Cup final He told me of his regrets at not being able to play in England and the wonderful ambience of the stadiums in Britain.He had offers but deals did not quite come off. In the early 1980s, Leicester Citys Jock Wallace tried to lure him to Filbert Street after falling in love with the player while watching him play for Ajax against his Rangers side in the first European Super Cup in 1972.Around the same time, Scottish Division One side Dumbarton made a bold attempt to sign the Dutch great. Manager Sean Fallon, assistant to Jock Stein when Celtic lifted the European Cup, travelled to meet Cruyff in Holland but, despite considering the unlikely move, he spurned Dumbartons offer.I was shocked and saddened by Johan Cruyffs death and will miss my annual drink with him in the Old Course Hotel, but I suspect we will all be cheered by watching his legacy in action when his star pupil, Pep, takes over at Manchester City next season. Another member of Barcelonas 1992 European Cup-winning Dream Team, Ronald Koeman, is already sprinkling some of the Cruyff stardust on the Premier League with Southampton.Footballs greatest visionary will still inspire on-field greatness long after his passing. Cruyff as Barcelona manager in 1992 Also See: Cruyff changed football Dutch legend Cruyff dies Cruyffs dream team Tributes paid to Cruyff ' ' '