SAN ANTONIO — The last thing the Dallas Mavericks wanted to do was give Tim Duncan any more motivation.
The Mavericks had a miserable time trying to stop Duncan during the regular season, when he scored 25, 28 and 31 points against them for three wins by the San Antonio Spurs.
They may have lit a fire under him Saturday night.
Duncan saw teammate Derek Anderson crash to the floor after a midair collision with Juwan Howard, who got a flagrant foul on the play and was ejected. Anderson was left with a separated right shoulder and could miss the rest of the playoffs.
"We're upset about it," Duncan said Sunday. "We thought it was uncalled for."
Duncan went on to lead San Antonio with 31 points and 13 rebounds for a 94-78 victory. Game 2 of the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals is Monday night at the Alamodome.
"It's been physical, it's been intense and it's going to stay that way," Duncan said.
While the Spurs described Howard's foul as out-of-line and more than a "playoff hard foul," the Mavericks insisted that it was unintentional.
NBA officials refused Dallas coach Don Nelson's request that the foul be downgraded from a flagrant 2 to a flagrant 1. , said NBA officials decided to let the call stand but did not suspend Howard.
"There was absolutely no malicious intent on the play," Dallas guard Steve Nash said. "It was just an unfortunate injury. I really feel bad for Derek."
The crash came with 2.5 seconds left in the first half. Anderson leaped high for a dunk, and at the peak of his jump, Howard flew in swinging at the ball. He caught part of it, but his arm came down across Anderson's right shoulder while Anderson's arms were in the air. Anderson fell hard and later staggered off the court wincing in pain.
"I've never gone after anybody like that," Duncan said. "I never go near somebody knowing they're in the air like that or knowing they're going to be in the air like that and hit them like that."
Howard said he apologized to Anderson after they both left.
"It wasn't done intentionally," Howard said. "Like I said, I went for the ball to try to block the shot, and as I hit the basketball, my arm came down and got tangled with his. As his momentum was moving forward, he lost his balance and fell."
Howard said he spent much of the night and the following morning thinking about what happened.
"I've been in this league for seven years, and I never had a rap or reputation as being a dirty player or a player who goes out to try to give up hard fouls to hurt people," he said.
Now he must return to the Alamodome and face Duncan, who scored 20 points in the first half while Howard was guarding him.
"We know Duncan is going to get his," Howard said. "That's clear as day. He's been like that all season long. What's important is that we have to do a better job of containing him as much as possible."
Without Anderson, their No. 2 scorer, the Spurs will turn to their talented bench. Antonio Daniels, who hit three 3-pointers for 13 points in Game 1, will start in Anderson's place.
"Although Derek is a terrific player, I don't think it's going to change much," Nash said. "They're still going to be a team that goes inside first and then outside."
Limiting Duncan might help, but the Mavericks were most hampered in Game 1 by their poor shooting: Dirk Nowitzki went 3-for-13 for nine points and Nash went 0-for-4 for two.
"The shots that we were hitting in the first series and throughout the season, we were just missing," said Michael Finley, who had a team-high 17 points. "At least 40 percent of those shots we were in a good position."