The Dallas Mavericks split their games against the San Antonio Spurs this week after dropping the second game, 126-116, Wednesday night. The team falls back under .500 to a record of 33-34, floating just above the Phoenix Suns for the final play-in spot.
The shorthanded Mavericks had seven players in double figures, led by Dante Exum’s 17 points and Brandon Williams’ 19 off the bench, but it wasn’t enough after a lackluster start to the second half. A deficit they were never able to recover.
11: Points all scored by Exum to start the third
Exum hadn’t scored all first half, and the team was down just two heading into the third. And then Dante exploded, going on a mini run all his own which fought to keep the Mavericks in reach. Unfortunately that 11-0 run also meant no one else on the team scored until the 5:42 mark in the quarter, and at that point they went from down two to down nine.
28: Fox points through 3 quarters
Spurs starting guard De’Aaron Fox could not be stopped by the Mavericks, even when Fox couldn’t hit from outside. Going 2-of-7 from three didn’t matter. He had 28 points through three quarters, which put San Antonio up 10 going into the final frame.
It also didn’t matter that he scored just four points in the fourth, the Mavericks could never recover from a cold third. He finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists.
3: Team offensive boards
It’s hard to win many games if you only grab three offensive boards as a team. The Mavericks tried making up for it by hitting 40-percent from three. But that wasn’t enough to overcome stale offense and little defense. A lack of size will always be an issue with this current roster. And it leaves small margins for error. They gave up 13 offensive boards, seven from San Antonio’s bench. That made a difference when the Spurs were just 31-percent from three. And with the Mavericks coughing up 18 turnovers, it’s an uphill battle.