DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks (52-30) defeat the San Antonio Spurs (34-48) in a 130-120 victory in American Airlines Center on Sunday night.
What we thought was going to be the final regular season game of the year without Dallas’s favorite, Luka Doncic; we were surprised to find out that late Saturday night the NBA rescinded the 16th technical that Doncic received against the Trail Blazers on Friday night, suspending him from the final game of the season Sunday night.
The first quarter got underway and Dallas took a 11-4 lead over the Spurs early. That was short lived as San Antonio fought their way back with a 7-0 run tying the game up at 11 a piece with six minutes remaining in the half.
The rest of the quarter was back and forth and the Spurs took a one point lead entering the second quarter. The Spurs had a better mid range shooting percentage in the first quarter than Dallas and they also won the paint.
The second half was back and forth for both teams, Doncic had a quiet half (for Doncic these days) and finished with 18 points. The Mavs went into the locker room tied at 59-59 after going on a 8-0 run to finish out the half.
The third quarter seems to be a sweet spot for Dallas lately. The Mavs opened the third going on a 15-9 run to take a six point lead with seven minutes remaining in the quarter. The lead continued to grow as Doncic and Brunson traded off making three-pointers.
Dallas only gave up 23 points in the third quarter out scoring the Spurs 38-23 and taking a 20 point lead into the fourth.
Doncic did limp off the court with two minutes left in the third. D210SPORTS was told post game that it was a left calf sprain. It is uncertain at this time how long he will be out for. The good news is Dallas has six days to rest before their first game of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Utah Jazz on Saturday afternoon at noon.
