Being the realist that he is, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn't wake up Thursday thinking he suddenly had a team of great free-throw shooters.

"We're still a lousy free-throw shooting team," Popovich said a day after his team hit 82.2 percent of its free throws in a 119-106 victory over the Mavericks in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

"We shot 'em well one night, but we've done that before," Popovich said. "We played 82 regular-season games and we ranked 26th out of 29 (teams), so to me, that means we are a lousy free-throw shooting team."

Still, the fact that the Spurs shot with confidence in Game 2 thrilled Popovich.