Mavericks Snap Four-Game Losing Skid, Beat Spurs 110-93

The Mavericks finally got back in the win column on Saturday night

Nov 16, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to pass as San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) defends during the first quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks returned home following a four-game losing streak to play the San Antonio Spurs. This was a must-win just to get back on track in the Western Conference, especially after it was announced that the Mavs would have Kyrie Irving and P.J. Washington available while the Spurs would be missing Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan. It would be an understatement to say they couldn't afford to lose this game.

Now only down Dante Exum, the Mavs rolled out Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Maxi Kleber, and Dereck Lively II as their starting lineup, and the Spurs going with Chris Paul, Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Harrison Barnes, and Zach Collins.

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The Mavericks started the game like they knew they had to win this game, getting out to an 11-4 lead in the first few minutes. It looked like they would finally break their slow start spell, but that would not be the case. The Spurs responded with Julian Champagnie warming up from deep while Dallas' offense went cold, allowing them to take a 28-23 lead into the second quarter after a bad foul with the clock winding down on Luka Doncic.

Dallas didn't attempt a single free throw in the first quarter while shooting poorly from three. Even if they were keeping the Spurs contained on the offensive glass, most of San Antonio's shots came from three. So even if they missed, as Zach Collins did with two straight air-balls to start the second quarter, they were making enough of them to keep the lead.

The Spurs kept a lead between three and five points for the first six minutes of the second quarter. It wasn't until Kyrie Irving hit a mid-range pull-up following a Spurs turnover that the lead got down to one again. He'd hit a jumper from the elbow to give them their first lead since the first quarter at 45-44.

Dallas would take an eight-point lead following back-to-back threes by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but the Spurs wouldn't go away, getting baskets from Chris Paul and Keldon Johnson to dwindle the Mavs lead to four at halftime: 55-51.

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The Mavericks started the game with an 11-2 run to take command, with (almost) everyone getting involved in scoring. The Spurs would respond with a 7-0 run to get the lead back to six, but Kyrie Irving was responsible for the next six points to push the lead back up to 12.

The rest of the quarter would be all Dallas, using elite defense to open up a 93-69 lead to close the quarter. They outscored the Spurs 38-18 in that period, shooting 13/21 from the floor while the Spurs were just 5/22. We'd been waiting for the Mavs to have a quarter like this, and it finally came in this game. Daniel Gafford coming off the bench was massive for this team, especially in the third quarter, giving them some legitimate bench scoring, something they haven't had this year.

With the game well in hand in the fourth quarter and another game on Sunday, Jason Kidd emptied the bench early as the Mavericks cruised to a 110-93 win over the Spurs and ended their four-game winning streak.

It was a balanced attack for the Mavericks, as Daniel Gafford and Kyrie Irving led the team with 22 points each. Irving added in eight rebounds and six assists, while Gafford had seven rebounds and three blocks, shooting 9/10 from the floor. Luka Doncic had 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists, but also had four turnovers, continuing a shocking stretch of high TOs from him. Jaden Hardy was the only other Mav in double figures with 12 points.

Dallas won this game despite shooting just 8/31 from three-point range, seven turnovers from their star guards, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, and 14 turnovers in total. The slow start was still there at the beginning of the game, as well. It was nice to get back in the win column, but the Mavericks need to be much better.

Without Victor Wembanyama, Zach Collins stepped in his place and scored 20 points but missed all five of his threes. Julian Champagnie had 13 points, Stephon Castle had 12, and Chris Paul had 11 and just three assists, tying a season-low for him. After the hot shooting start for the Spurs, they cooled off in the second half and finished just 11/40 (27.5%) from three and 28/88 from the floor (31.8%).

Dallas will play the second night of a back-to-back on Sunday against the OKC Thunder in Oklahoma City.

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