The San Antonio Spurs played a better overall game but could not overcome a cold night from three-point range as they fell 102-98 to the Dallas Mavericks (20-10) at the AmericanAirlines Center on Thursday night.
The loss sees San Antonio fall to 4-4 in their last eight games. The Spurs went on a 13-0 run to close the game but could not overcome a hot three-point shooting night from the Mavs.
“They had their little barrage there when they made six in a row, and that was the game,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said.
Three Observations of the Game:
Three’s are the key
The Spurs played very well on Thursday night despite the loss. The big turning point came in the fourth quarter when Dallas hit six consecutive 3-pointers to go up 100-85. For the game, the Mavericks would finish 16-of-40 from deep, while the Spurs were just 8-for-29.
Bryn Forbes, Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli, and Dejounte Murray combined for 0-for-13 from beyond the arc. Rudy Gay went 4-for-7.
”Our best shooters went 0-for-13,” Popovich said. That’s the game right there.”
Luka returns
Luka Doncic returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sprained ankle. He didn’t miss a step as his first points were off a dunk in the first quarter. From there, he would score a game-high 24 points.
Doncic added 10 rebounds and found his teammates for baskets, giving him eight assists on the night. San Antonio had trouble defending Luka’s crafty play as he used his traditional step back to get open and when he was defended well, he passed to his open teammates.
Cold Bryn
The former Michigan State Spartan has been cold over the past few weeks but he was downright freezing on Thursday. He scored just seven points and went 0-for-4 from 3-point range. Defensively, he struggled to keep his man in front of him and had a blunder as he wasted critical time where the Spurs could have cut the Dallas lead to one with 10 seconds left.
UP NEXT:
The Spurs are now 12-18 on the season and will return to the court on Saturday when they welcome the Detroit Pistons (12-20) to the AT&T Center at 7:30 p.m.