Spurs Rise from Dead Late vs. Mavs, But Fall Flat in OT Thriller

The Dallas Mavericks outscored the San Antonio Spurs 16-7 in overtime after a thrilling end to regulation.

In the middle of one of their better winning stretches of the season, the San Antonio Spurs hosted the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center Wednesday night with a higher chance at getting a win than usual.

The Mavs were without star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving due to injuries that are adding some uncertainty late in their season. Desperate for a win to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race, Dallas had some fortune of its own with Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan out for the Spurs.

And in what turned into a thrilling back-and-forth overtime affair despite the lack of star power, it was the Mavs (35-35) who got a much-needed 137-128 win to get back to .500 after bursting the gates open in the extra session.

The Spurs seemingly had their fate sealed in regulation, but had Keldon Johnson's redemption and Maxi Kleber's poor judgement to thank for somehow forcing the game into overtime.

Despite Dallas maintaining possession a 121-119 lead with 1.8 seconds remaining after Johnson missed two free throws, Kleber tossed an inbound pass way out of bounds to the opposite baseline and not in the reach of Christian Wood. San Antonio was able to advance the ball while having no time run off in what was a gift-wrapped second chance.

Fittingly, Johnson was the one to play hero with an alley-oop to tie the game at 121-121 with just ticks remaining.

But the Mavericks outscored the Spurs 16-7 in overtime and tied their second-highest scoring total of the season in the process.

The Spurs had all five starters reach double figures in scoring led by Johnson's 27. Rookie guard Malaki Branham came off the bench and added 20 points.

The Mavericks were paced by a balanced scoring attack that featured five 20-point scorers, led by a game-high 28 points off the bench for Christian Wood. Rookie guard Jaden Hardy took command of the backcourt with Doncic and Irving out and posted 22 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Josh Green added 21 points and seven assists while Reggie Bullock posted 20 points and 13 rebounds in a game-high 46 minutes.

The Spurs will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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