Spurs-Mavericks Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Mar 17 2012 2:07AM

After beating two of the NBA's worst teams this week, the Dallas Mavericks are ready to face some tougher competition.

The San Antonio Spurs certainly fit that description, particularly after they turned in an outstanding road win over the Western Conference's best team.

These Southwest Division rivals match up for the third time this season Saturday night in Dallas, where they played an overtime thriller the last time they met.

Dallas (25-20) returned home after an 0-3 road trip and beat Washington and Charlotte this week. Neither victory was all that impressive, especially Thursday's 101-96 win over the league-worst Bobcats in which the Mavericks trailed by as many as 14 points.

"The most important thing is to come out of it with a win," guard Vince Carter said. "When we're playing against a better basketball team, we'll have to be better."

Dallas, which has won four straight at home, knows that the time to be better is now. The Mavericks play the Spurs (29-13) twice in the next four games, also facing Denver, the Lakers, Miami and Orlando over the next eight.

"All these games coming up, the next 10 games are against playoff teams and teams that are higher-echelon teams," coach Rick Carlisle told the Mavericks' official website. "So, everything we're doing is going to have to be at a high level."

San Antonio played at a high level in leading by as many as 27 points before holding on for Friday's 114-105 win at West-leading Oklahoma City. Tony Parker scored 25 points and DeJuan Blair added 22.

"In the second half they made their run. We didn't put our heads down. We just kept going and we got the win," Blair said.

The Spurs rested Manu Ginobili, who has struggled with a left oblique injury in recent weeks. Without him, San Antonio still had all five starters score in double figures and topped 50 percent shooting for the third time during this three-game win streak.

These teams met twice in January, with San Antonio cruising to a 93-71 home win in the first matchup. The Spurs then rallied from an 11-point deficit after three quarters to force overtime in a 101-100 road loss Jan. 29, when Jason Terry scored a season-high 34 points for Dallas.

The clubs will have different lineups than they used two months ago. Starting Spurs forward Richard Jefferson was dealt to Golden State on Thursday as part of a trade for Stephen Jackson, although it's unclear when Jackson will begin his second stint with San Antonio.

Mavs center Brendan Haywood is expected to miss at least five games with a sprained right knee sustained midway through the third quarter Thursday.

Ian Mahinmi, who played his first two seasons with San Antonio, will start at center for Dallas after doing so during a four-game stretch March 6-10 with Haywood out.

"It's a little bit like last week when Brendan went down with that high ankle sprain," Mahinmi said. "It's an opportunity for us, me and Brandan Wright, to step up and give the team some good minutes."

Dirk Nowitzki has totaled 16 points on 8-of-25 shooting against the Spurs this season. The Mavs star has not been at his best through most of the season, but scored 27 points in each win this week.

Nowitzki's 27 lead Mavs to 106-99 win over Spurs

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
Posted Mar 18 2012 12:42AM

DALLAS (AP) No matter who or how many San Antonio Spurs were on Dirk Nowitzki, or how much they pushed, prodded or swatted at the 7-foot All-Star, he kept making big plays for the Dallas Mavericks.

"He probably doesn't get enough credit for being the competitor that he is, and for being so tough-minded," teammate Lamar Odom said of Nowitzki. "There's nothing soft about Dirk. He's tough."

Nowitzki scored 27 points, fought for loose balls and screamed out in exhilaration several times as the defending NBA champion Mavericks won 106-99 over the Southwest Division-leading Spurs on Saturday night for their third consecutive victory.

After winning at home against Washington and Charlotte, the NBA's two worst teams, beating San Antonio was much more impressive, even if the Spurs were playing the second consecutive night. Dallas never trailed and the only tie was at 2-all.

"It was a playoff battle. Anytime we see the Spurs it's a fun game, great atmosphere, both teams really trying to get the win. As expected, it was a physical game," Nowitzki said. "They went small some, tried to mix it up. At the end they were double-teaming some. I thought as a team, we always made the right play, find the open guy. That was definitely big."

With the shot clock running down late in the third quarter, Nowitzki got the ball with Manu Ginobili right on top of him. The Mavericks' perennial All-Star made a 20-foot jumper for a 10-point lead and let out a scream, as much excitement for making the shot as letting officials know he thought he was also fouled.

San Antonio cut that deficit in half on a 3-pointer by Ginobili nearly 3 minutes into the fourth quarter, but got no closer. Dallas responded by scoring eight in a row.

Nowitzki defensively harassed Tiago Splitter into a miss, then made a pass to Brandan Wright for a two-handed slam. After Jason Kidd added a 3-pointer, Nowitzki added a 3 from the left wing and then stared toward the Spurs bench with the lead stretched back to 90-77.

"Dallas was the sharper team. ... We were a half-step behind from the start of the night defensively and they took advantage," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Dirk gets a lot of points no matter who's guarding him. He's an MVP and Hall of Fame player."

Jason Terry added 17 points and Rodrigue Beaubois 16 for the Mavs, whose winning streak comes after a miserable 2-7 stretch over 12 days. Kidd had 14 points with four 3-pointers and 10 assists for his first double-double

Tim Duncan and Danny Green each had 17 points for the Spurs, who were coming off a 114-105 victory at Oklahoma City on Friday night. Tony Parker had 13 points and 11 assists.

"I missed easy shots and was a little tired from a big game (Friday) night with playoff intensity," Parker said.

This was another intense game.

Ginobili and Nowitzki got tangled up several times during the game.

With 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half, Nowitzki came away with a loose ball as Ginobili tried to strip it out of his hands. Nowitzki held on and screamed out after twisting his body away while the whistle blew for a foul. Nowitzki made both free throws, part of the stretch when he scored the last 12 points of the first half for Dallas.

There were also a few physical moments between Nowitzki and Stephen Jackson, who played his first game with the Spurs since being acquired from Golden State in a deadline trade Thursday.

Jackson wound up on the floor after getting tied up with Nowitzki late in the first half, and it was Jackson who got called for the foul.

Beaubouis started at shooting guard with Vince Carter shifting over to small forward to replace Shawn Marion, who missed the game with a sore left knee. Beaubouis scored the first two Dallas baskets, an alley-oop dunk from Kidd on the opening shot, then an 11-foot jumper that put Dallas ahead to stay after Green's dunk made it 2-2.

"He's stepped up this entire homestand," Terry said. `He kind of controlled Tony Parker. He was pretty darned good."

Notes: San Antonio had scored at least 112 points in five consecutive games, winning four of them. ... The Mavericks finish March with five of seven games on the road. That includes Friday at San Antonio, their last regular-season meeting against the Spurs. ... Kidd, whose 1,302 regular season games played is the most among active players, matches Elvin Hayes for 11th on the all-time list in his next game. ... Jackson had five points while playing 16 minutes in his first game back with the Spurs, whom he also played with from 2001-03.

Notebook: Mavs 106, Spurs 99

Posted Sunday March 18, 2012 12:21AM

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Despite playing without two injured starters, the Dallas Mavericks never trailed Saturday in a 106-99 victory over the rival San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines Center. Dirk Nowitzki scored a game-high 27 points and Jason Kidd had 14 points and 10 assists as Dallas won its third straight and snapped San Antonio's three-game winning streak.

Center Brendan Haywood and forward Shawn Marion were both inactive, but the Mavericks made up for their absences with contributions up and down the roster. Jason Terry scored 17 off the bench, eight in the fourth quarter. Rodrigue Beaubois had 16 points and a career high-tying eight rebounds. Vince Carter had 10 points and backup centers Ian Mahinmi and Brandan Wright combined for 15 points and 17 boards.

Tim Duncan and Danny Green led the Spurs with 17 points each. Tiago Splitter scored 15 and Tony Parker registered his eighth double-double with 13 points and 11 assists. San Antonio, coming off a big win Friday at Oklahoma City, fell to 6-5 this season in the second half of back-to-backs.

QUOTABLE: "Everybody stepped up. Everybody came to play tonight. We knew how important this game is. As the season is getting closer to the end, we've got to play better basketball. Tonight is a perfect example of that."
-- Jason Kidd

THE STAT: This was the first double-double of the season for Kidd, 38, who ranks third among all active NBA players with 486 career double-doubles.

TURNING POINT: The Mavericks opened up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run that featured a dunk by Wright, back-to-back 3-pointers by Kidd and Nowitzki, and a jumper by Beaubois to make it 92-78 with 6:03 remaining.

QUOTABLE II: "I just think that their team in general was a lot sharper overall than we were. We were half a step behind most of the night, defensively for sure, and they took advantage of it. They shot the ball well. They moved it well. They did a good job."
-- San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich

HOT: Both teams were exactly 11-for-24 from 3-point distance (45.8 percent). Kidd was 4-for-5 and Terry was 3-for-4 for the Mavericks. Green and Gary Neal were both 3-for-4 for the Spurs.

NOT: San Antonio was 10-for-18 at the foul line (4-for-11 in the first half), compared to the Mavericks' 21-for-25 effort. ... Lamar Odom was 1-for-7 from the field and has shot just 17.4 percent (4-for-23) in his last four games.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: After scoring just 16 combined points in the first two meetings this season against the Spurs, Nowitzki had 19 in the first half (including the Mavericks' final 12 points of the half). He was 8-for-25 from the floor in the first two games and 9-for-19 in this one. He was 7-for-7 at the line with six rebounds and four assists and scored exactly 27 points for the third straight game.

ROOKIE WATCH: San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard contributed five points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was 1-for-4 from 3-point range.

NOTABLE: Marion (sore left knee), the only Maverick who had started every game this season, is day-to-day and Haywood (sprained right knee) is expected to miss at least four more games. ... The Mavericks are 13-1 when they score 100 or more points and 14-2 when they shoot at least 45 percent from the field. ... San Antonio is 1-7 on the road when trailing at halftime. ... Stephen Jackson, acquired Thursday in a trade with Golden State, scored five points and played 17 minutes in his first game with San Antonio since Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals. ... Dallas outrebounded the Spurs 48-35, but was outscored 50-26 in the paint. ... The Mavericks have won five straight at home.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Monday @ Denver, Wednesday vs. L.A. Lakers, Friday @ San Antonio. For the Spurs, Wednesday vs. Minnesota, Friday vs. Dallas, Saturday @ New Orleans.

• Spurs: --
• Mavericks: Haywood, West

• Spurs: --
• Mavericks: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #45 Brian Forte, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 20528
• Duration: 2:11