San Antonio at Dallas, Final Score: Mavericks outlast Spurs, 102-98

Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images

The Spurs could not pull out a win against their interstate rivals on a rare national TV appearance.

The Spurs kept pace for most of the night, but the Mavericks caught fire from downtown late despite poor shooting from Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. Shooting 40% from three was the deciding factor that pushed the Mavericks past the Spurs.

DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 21 and 17 points, respectively, while Doncic led the Mavericks with 24 and Rudy Gay chipped in 18 coming off the bench.

Alas, the good guys could not catch the Mavericks, who got hot from downtown in the 4th and pulled away to win.

Observations

Luka Doncic returned from a four-game absence with an ankle injury.
Chris Webber listed the best rebounding guards in the league (e.g., Russell Westbrook, Doncic, etc.), but conveniently forgot one Dejounte Murray even as he was running across the court in front of him.
Patty Mills couldn’t hit from three, but his hustle and resulting steals gave the Spurs some easy points early on and got the team the lead to end the first quarter. lead to end the first quarter.
LaMarcus Aldridge seemed to be the only Spur providing any consistent offense for most of the night. He even attempted (and made one) two threes in a row for good measure.
Webber, Tim Hardaway Sr., and Gregg Popovich from the ‘93 Warriors were all in the same building tonight, and I was holding my breath for whether Don Nelson, Chris Mullin and Latrell Sprewell might show up too.
The night was largely a slow-paced, low-scoring affair compared to the Spurs’ offensive explosion against the Memphis Grizzlies their previous game.
The Mavs’ jerseys tonight look like Vanilla Ice was allowed to design them on Ninja Turtle Night. Go Ninja Go Ninja Go.