Mavs Pull Out Overtime Win Over Rebuilding Spurs, End 3-Game Slide
SAN ANTONIO — With the Dallas Mavericks being seemingly in a continuing slide in the Western Conference standings entering Wednesday's matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, it was important to achieve a victory, and they did in overtime, with 137-128 as the final score. With a win, Dallas improved its record to 35-35.
While Christian Wood made his return from a one-game absence, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Markieff Morris each were unable to play. It was another game that featured the Mavs' young backcourt talents, Josh Green and Jaden Hardy, playing prominent roles.
It was a tighly contested game throughout without either team managing to manufacture a double-figure lead at any point. The Spurs outscored the Mavs by a one-point margin in each of the initial two quarters, setting up a 62-60 lead at halftime.
The Mavs had utilized more double-big lineup combinations in the opening half, which brought mixed results. There were times when bigs were getting called for offensive fouls frequently with less speed on defense, but having more size to help inside the 3-point line has been lacking.
A consistent theme for the Mavs throughout the game was an inability to limit turnovers. A giveaway led to a Devonte' Graham transition 3-pointer midway through the third quarter, tying the game at 80-80. Keldon Johnson gave San Antonio the lead by attacking the paint for a finish the next play. After making a run, the Spurs had led by as many as eight points late in the third quarter.
A big 3-pointer from Davis Bertans brought the Mavs back to trailing by 2 with 8:27 left in regulation. However, Keldon Johnson routinely made big plays down the stretch to keep the Spurs holding an advantage. A continued inability to contain dribble penetration proved to be an issue for the Mavs.
The Spurs led by as many as nine points midway through the final period, but a pair of putbacks from Dwight Powell cleaning up a few of Hardy' aggressive drives put the Mavs back within three points at the 3:23 mark of the final period. After struggling to convert at the rim frequently, Hardy tied it up with a step-back 3, but the Spurs immediately answered from deep.
After getting a stop defensively, Green connected with Wood on the open floor, drawing a shooting foul. He made both free throws to give the Mavs a 118-117 lead with 1:07 left to play. There were no shortage of scares down the stretch to end regulation.
A combination of head-scratching turnovers and execution lapses on both ends nearly put the Mavs in a bind. Dallas later led by two with 3.1 seconds left after Hardy split a pair of free throws, but the defense lost Johnson on an inbounds play, allowing San Antonio to tie it up before the buzzer.
In overtime, the Mavs relied on Wood to be a go-to option playing out of Horns sets with Powell alongside him in the frontcourt. He scored a few self created buckets, then the offense generated a wide open corner 3 for Bullock, then Wood made a high-low pass to Powell for a finish. Dallas led 130-123 with 2:18 remaining in overtime. The Spurs never rallied back.
With a balanced scoring effort, the Mavs had five players reach the 20-point threshold. Wood finished with a game-high 28 points, with 13 rebounds and three assists. He made no shortage of big plays in overtime, which was sorely needed on a night without the team's two superstars.
Hardy scored 22 points and shot just 5-17 from the floor, but he overcame to an extent by going 9-10 from the free throw line. He added six rebounds and four assists. Powell also scored 22 and hauled in eight boards.
The Mavs had multiple players spend well over 40 minutes on the floor. Bullock played a game-high 46 minutes and finished with 20 points and 13 boards, using six makes from 3-point range. Green wasn't far behind with 21 points and seven assists. Both players also had to take tougher perimeter defensive assignments, which doesn't show in their already impressive box score numbers.
As for the Spurs, they received 27 points and eight rebounds from Johnson, while Malaki Branham recorded 20 points and five rebounds. San Antonio shooting just 15-26 from the free throw line proved to be especially problematic in a game that required overtime. While the Mavs turned it over 18 times, they were simply too efficient scoring the basketball when possessions ended in shot attempts, producing .512/.515/.865 shooting splits.
The Mavs return to action on Friday when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the second part of a three-game road trip.
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