The Spurs vs the Mavs is always a closely contested match up, although the Spurs are a better majority of the time it always seem bring out the best of both teams. The Spurs hadn't lost at home to the Mavs in 6 years, and lead the regular season series 2-0 coming into this match, however nothing is ever set in stone in basketball as we all know.
The Mavs started out really cold missing their first 3 shots and 2 more of those shots being blocked, meanwhile the Spurs jumped out to a 6-0 lead, however thanks to Seth Curry the first points for the Mavs were scored, and soon the match was evened up.
Seth was all over the place however, keeping the Mavs in it every time the Spurs went on a run.
The Mavs decided to go for a unorthodox approach, playing someone on a 10 day contract from the D league, Yogi Ferrell, who performed admirably even with the pressure of being judged in a 10 day span, he ended the game with 9 points and 7 assists when playing for 36 minutes, but I am getting ahead of myself.
The first quarter was a very close affair and Spurs only were up by one point at the end of it. In the second the Spurs went on a 8-0 run and didn't really stop pouring on the pressure, leading by as many as 15 during the 2nd. The run was started by Davis Bertans who is their Latvian rookie, however the Dallas Mavs would ride out the storm and end up down 10 points rather than the potential 20 plus by the end of the half, kept afloat by the old man and legend Dirk Nowitzki.
San Antonio with a rare lack of discipline
Whatever Rick Carlisle said to his squad it worked, the Spurs opened the second half with what can only be described as complacency. I never thought I'd hear those words from this team, but thanks to a offensive effort from Wesley Matthews brought them within 6 very quickly.
The Spurs kept them at bay for a while, yet it seemed like the Mavs were not to be denied and the lead slowly started to deteriorate.
Devin Harris finally took the lead from the Spurs, coach Pop was probably thinking of the cruellest military punishments he knew of.
The Spurs must have felt the rage of Gregg Popavitch, they managed to switch on for long enough to regain the lead, and kept it at the end of the quarter. This match has been incredible so far.
The Mavs brought the game back within a few short minutes, and actually had the lead of a free throw from Dorian Finney-Smith. Of course however they would lose it again within a few short seconds, however from there it was all missed shots and good defence. Up until the veteran Dirk comes through with a big 3 pointer, sparking a massive run for Dallas which gave them a lead as big as 9.
It heats up in Texas
With just a few minutes remaining, it seemed as though Dallas would finally have their day in San Antonio, but the Spurs did all they could, the Mavs had a 100 at 3:47 and still had 100 with just 50 seconds remaining. This showed their potential for stifling defence, but it seemed as though they forgot all about that defence when it came to Seth Curry's drive to the basket.
He brought the Dallas lead to 5 with just 17 seconds remaining, and although Manu made yet another clutch three pointer it was not enough as Kawhi could not follow suit.
The battle in Texas went to Dallas and that rookie I was talking about, he made the two clutch free throws to ice the game for good. Seth ended the game with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists on 50% shooting, he was everywhere especially on the boards.
Dirk added 15, Matthews had 17 and Harrison Barnes who is on the path for redemption had an impressive 19 points. Of course Kawhi Leonard had a 20+ point night, but as Gregg Popavitch said in his quote after the game, the team had too many defensive lapses and it cost them. Seth got the game winner and had his moment of glory, who knows he may end up with a lot more.
