After a terrible first half in which familiar problems plagued them, the Spurs put together a solid final two quarters to take care of business against an injury-riddle Mavericks team that beat them two days prior. De’Aaron Fox was one rebound shy of a triple-double in the 126-116 victory.
The Spurs talked about how their defense needed to improve after the loss on Monday, but early on it didn’t seem like the message had stuck. The stops were hard to come by, as the Mavericks were running off turnovers to score 14 first-quarter points directly after the Silver and Black coughed the ball up. The offense at a team level was disastrous, with the ball handlers lazily making passes to the corner when a Dallas defender was still there since there was no one to apply rim pressure to force the rotation. Individually, first Barnes and then Keldon Johnson got into the paint and found success, but both the starters — with an unrecognizable bad Chris Paul early — and the second unit looked completely incohesive on both ends. Without doing anything special, the Mavs were up eight after one, holding the Spurs to just 20 points.
As Jeremy Sochan took the center spot, San Antonio found some success in the paint thanks to his screening, diving and cutting. The problem was on the other end, where the Spurs still couldn’t get stops despite not fueling Dallas’ attack with as many live ball turnovers. The visitors led by as many as 11 early in the frame, which allowed them to stay in it after the Silver and Black finally upped their play. San Antonio dropped 44 points in the second quarter, scoring at will and finding more success as a team instead of relying as heavily on individualities. An offensive performance like that should have secured them a comfortable lead at the break. Alas, the Mavericks put together a 34-point period, thanks to some threes falling and Brandon Williams providing a spark off the bench and trailed by only two heading into the locker room.
The Spurs came out looking sharper to start the second half, with Bismack Biyombo playing well on both ends and the offense getting buckets against a Mavericks defense that started to crumble. The only thing keeping Dallas in it was a scorching hot Dante Exum, who scored 11 straight points and go a foul call that could have given his team the lead back. Fortunately, Mitch Johnson challenged the call, which was reversed, as Exum clearly hit Biyombo on the head with his off arm on a dunk attempt. The challenge changed the game, as San Antonio put together an 8-0 run immediately after to regain some separation. The visitors refused to go away, and complacency could have hurt the Silver and Black again in the same frame, but Keldon Johnson made sure that wouldn’t happen by answering every time the Mavs attempted to make a run.
Despite playing a good third quarter, San Antonio was only up 10 heading into the final period. A comeback by the Mavericks wasn’t out of the question but it didn’t feel likely either, as the Spurs seemed in control of the game by that point. Still, Dallas refused to go away. Both teams traded mini runs, but the visitors simply didn’t have the firepower without having the turnovers that helped them get out in transition in the first half and facing a more locked-in defense. De’Aaron Fox took over late and while the Silver and Black couldn’t get a blowout, the outcome of the game was never in doubt. The victory snaps a three-game losing streak, prevents the season sweep by the Mavs, and gives San Antonio a much-needed morale boost heading into two winnable games.
### Game notes
* Fantastic performance from Fox, who finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists. He’s not at full strength, but when he’s getting into the paint, good things happen. The Spurs need Fox to be aggressive. He’s not in San Antonio to fit in. He just needs to be himself.
* The three other veteran starters did their job. Paul was awful to start the game but found his bearings later on, Barnes was huge early with his drives, and Biyombo did a good job on defense, especially in the third quarter.
* Devin Vassell only scored 16 points on 14 shots and missed six of his eight three-point attempts but he had 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. The shots will eventually fall more consistently for Vassell, but it’s been encouraging to see him make his mark in other ways recently.
* Jeremy Sochan’s return really helped the Spurs. He’s overmatched at center against most opponents but the Mavericks are missing all of their rotation-level bigs. Sochan feasted inside in the fourth and helped on the boards, as always. He also made two of his five threes. His offensive output was especially valuable with Stephon Castle having his first bad game in a while.
* Keldon Johnson’s scoring numbers since the All-Star break are shocking. He’s averaging 17 points a game on 62 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc. We’ve seen good stretches from him before and that efficiency is clearly not sustainable, but Keldon is looking like an elite sixth man. Now let’s see if it lasts.
### Play of the game
Julian Champagnie, who has made just one of his last 14 three-point attempts, needs his shot to start falling soon, but hustle plays like this one will keep him on the court until it does.
### Next game: vs. Charlotte Hornets on Friday
The Spurs will host the Hornets and Pelicans on back-to-back nights.