Duncan leads Spurs past Mavericks

SAN ANTONIO – Avery Johnson should’ve known better than to underestimate Tim Duncan. Especially in the playoffs.

In the opener of a second-round series against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Johnson took the calculated risk of letting his former teammate go against his centers with only limited help.

Duncan, a three-time Finals MVP who teamed with Johnson for the Spurs’ 1999 championship, made the strategy backfire by scoring 20 of his 31 points in the first half, giving his worn-out teammates the lift they needed to pull out an 87-85 victory Sunday.

“Timmy was awesome,” teammate Tony Parker said. “When he plays like that, it makes it easy for everybody.”

The Spurs were playing just 36 hours after closing out their first-round series in Sacramento, while the Mavs had been off since Monday.

Bruce Bowen hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:15 left that ended up being the winner. His biggest contribution, though, was pestering Dirk Nowitzki into a forgettable game with what Johnson called “bear-hug defense.”

Nowitzki was 8 of 20 for 20 points after averaging 31.3 in the first round. It was a bit of redemption for Bowen after not living up to his first-team All-Defense reputation against Sacramento’s Bonzi Wells in the first round.

“You don’t want people talking bad about you,” Bowen said.

Parker said he wasn’t surprised that Dallas didn’t aggressively double-team Duncan.

“A lot of people have been doing that lately because they thought he can’t score any more,” Parker said. “That’s a big mistake.”