Wrap Up: Mavs Get A Feel For What 7th Seed Will Feel Like In Loss

The Dallas Mavericks could not walk out of AT&T Center with the victory, losing in a 112-106 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs.

Game At Hand:

San Antonio exhibit their offensive dominance in the first quarter, as they have all season. Tony Parker returned to the court after missing four games, scoring 12 points in the first period. The rest of the team helped Parker by outscoring the Mavs 14 to 8 in points in the paint.

Dallas had no answer for the Spurs 3-point shooters sinking wide-open jumpers, giving the home team a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter. The Mavs shot an uncomfortable 40% from the field and 38% from the free throw line. Vince Carter would not let his team fall apart that quickly in the game. Back-to-back three-pointers and a smooth reverse layup would produce a 14-6 Mavs run. Dallas ended the half trailing 47 to 48.

The Spurs tried to kill any momentum from the Mavs late in the thrid quarter. After the Spurs lead was trimmed to three, Manu answers with a 10 points in under two minutes to close out the quarter. By the fourth quarter, the Mavs could not gain ground and keep themselves in the game. Careless turnovers, easy missed jumpshots and layups, being outrebounded in the paint really put a crucial blow to Dallas’ comeback chances.

Inside The Numbers:

Free Throws were one crucial factor towards the Mavs losing this game. Dallas usually averages 80% from the free throw line, ranking top three in the league. The team shot a grueling 64% from the charity stripe vs the Spurs, compared to the Spurs 85% shooting from line.

Quotes:

“I thought Parker looked great again coming off a nice little 10-day break they can afford to give him, and he just comes in and looks great.” – Dirk Nowitzki

 

“He’s been an MVP candidate, really each of the last three, four, five years. Look, he’s that good and he was obviously fresh tonight. He hit shots that were the shots that were there. You’ve got to give him credit for that and we needed to be a little bit better on our coverages.” – Rick Carlisle

 

On Deck:

The Mavs start a two-day rest to rejuvenate after this two-game losing streak. The team flies up to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Wednesday night.

GO MAVS!