Dallas Mavericks Fall Short in Nail Biter Versus the Spurs

The Dallas Mavericks came into San Antonio desperately needing a win, yet they left empty handed after losing a hard fought battle.

Coming into the game the Mavs were desperately under manned, as we had 5 players out due to injury. The Spurs were also short a couple while resting two key players in Tony Parker and Lamarcus Aldridge.

In the first quarter the Mavs came out blazing hot, with Seth Curry and Harrison Barnes leading offensively. Barnes took advantage of any defender they put on him, using his size against guards and speed against bigs. Salah Mejri also provided some early scoring and did a good job anchoring the defense.

Dallas continued their solid play in the second quarter. Curry found his stroke in the second, knocking down multiple deep threes. It was great to see him find his rhythm, when he gets hot it is hard to stop. With the bench supplementing a few good minutes defensively, the Mavs ended the half up by 1.

In the third quarter Wesley Matthews caught fire, hitting 3 threes and taking advantage of some smaller defenders. Despite the Mavericks consistent good basketball, the Spurs just wouldn’t go away. Kawhi Leonard was a force to be reckoned with and former Maverick David Lee made some savvy plays to keep Dallas from gaining momentum.

The game really heated up in the fourth, as Curry,

Matthews, and Barnes continued to show their importance to this team as they carried the load.

Back and forth they went, showing the grit and stellar coaching both teams possess. In the waning moments the Mavs were down by 3 with 15 seconds left, Seth Curry got a decent look from downtown, but the attempt fell short.

After all was said and done the Mavs had three players with 20+ points. Barnes had 20 and 9 rebounds on 50% shooting. Wes had a good all around outing with 20 points, 5 rebound, and 4 assists.

Also, Curry led Dallas in scoring with 23 points and 5 three pointers. Mejri had a solid outing as well, putting up 8 points and 11 rebounds plus some stout defensive play.

Overall this was a good performance by an injury ravaged Dallas squad, and had they been playing many other teams they probably would’ve won.

Next: Dirk Still Deserves a Fight

There were many positive signs and things to give us hope, however in the end its another game going to the loss column. Sitting at 2-11, the Mavericks continue to hold the worst record in the league, and that likely won’t change soon with the upcoming schedule.