There were nerves when the lights at the AT&T Center dimmed Monday night. Tony Parker admits it.
He might have gotten a goose pimple or two during the pregame introduction video.
As his name rang out on the arena public address system for the first time since May 3, delighting a home crowd that had waited seven months to cheer him, there were no tears.
Parker made sure of that.
"Almost, almost" he said. "It was a lot of emotions."
As far as storylines go, Parker's return from a horrific knee injury to chip in on the Spurs' 115-108 victory over Dallas was a big one.
In May, it looked as if the point guard's Hall of Fame-bound career might have been over with the snap of his left quadriceps tendon. Monday, he was back in the Spurs' starting lineup, throwing in six points with four assists in a carefully managed 14:08 shift.
"It's hard to describe the feeling," Parker said. "I was just very excited and thankful to everybody for all the support. It was a great journey."
As far as Monday's victory was concerned, the Spurs' smallest starter figured less than their two tallest ones.
Using the twin towers of LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol against Dallas' small-ball lineups, the Spurs bludgeoned the Mavericks into submission.
Aldridge had a season-high 33 points with 10 rebounds, while Gasol scored a season-best 25 as the Spurs shook off a sluggish start to down the overmatched Mavs.
Aldridge is quickly becoming a Dallas killer. His new season best surpassed the 32 he scored in a Nov. 14 victory at American Airlines Arena.
"We were just trying to be dominant down low and take advantage of our size," Aldridge said.
The Spurs have become something of an anachronism in the NBA's small ball era. They still rely on a pair of big men to start the game.
Even Gregg Popovich, however, has succumbed to the league's fascination with going small. Often this season, he has taken to finishing games with Rudy Gay at power forward.
Gay was unavailable Monday, out with right heel soreness.
With Popovich ejected after a pair of technicals in the first half, acting coach Ettore Messina opted to stay big with Aldridge and Gasol for most of the second half.
It paid off, with Gasol supplementing Aldridge's 18 first-half points with 18 of his own in the second.
If Gasol's four-point play with 1:30 to go didn't finish Dallas, Aldridge's 3-point play seconds later did. It put the Spurs ahead by 10 with 1:18 to go.
In the end, the pair produced a historically dominant night for a Spurs big man tandem.
The last time the team's starting center and power forward combined for as many points was a Dec. 5, 2003 win over Orlando, when Tim Duncan poured in 47 and Rasho Nesterovic had 12.
Spurs coaches were pleased with their big men's effort Monday.
"To use a Pop word," Messina said, "they were demonstrative."
Yet in many ways the night belonged to the Spurs' seventh-leading scorer.
Simply by slipping on his No. 9 jersey, the 35-year-old Parker provided a boon to his teammates.
"It was a big lift, especially emotionally," said guard Danny Green, who ended with 12 points and a pair of blocks. "Just to see him out there, having him warming up with us. Everybody is just happy for him."
Parker's contributions to the win went beyond the box score.
The Spurs' offense enjoyed its better stretches with Parker in the game to start the first and third quarters.
His first basket of the season came on a vintage up-and-under move, putting Dallas big man Maxi Kleber on roller blades near the rim.
His third field goal came courtesy of a jumper to open the second half. That keyed a 15-5 run to help the Spurs regain the lead.
Throughout his time on the floor, Parker did his job getting his teammates into the right sets.
It is a role one the Spurs have often struggled to fill with Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray running things.
"Tony is a good player, obviously, but he is not 24," Popovich said before the game. "He is not going to come in and score 36 and make it easy for us. What he does give us is more basketball corporate knowledge that we don't have right now, some decision-making, some depth."
It didn't take a rocket scientist, or even a veteran point guard, to recognize the Spurs' best course of action Monday.
"We had a lot of advantage inside," Parker said. "It was an easy decision."
The Spurs' two tallest starters helped salvage a comeback night for the Spurs' smallest one.
Seven months after being carried off the AT&T Center floor, Parker walked out of the building under his own power Monday.
Of all the emotions he felt then, the most prevalent was relief.
"I'm happy we won," Parker said with a chuckle. "I was worried in the first half."
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
