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San Antonio Spurs 94, Dallas Mavericks 80
San Antonio, TX Nov. 24 / Jesse Diaz --
Tim Duncan scored 27 points and teammate, Tony Parker, added 15 as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 94-80
before a sellout crowd at the SBC Center on Wednesday night.
The win ended a two-game slide by the Spurs and was their 18th consecutive regular season home game victory.
"We needed it and we needed to play our style of basketball," Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said of the win. "Guys were
disappointed how we performed because it wasn’t the way we were capable of performing. So we came out tonight to try and do
our best job."
The Spurs appeared to do their best job in the fourth quarter as they held the Mavericks to only 13 points.
The defensive effort in the fourth was a welcome sign as it had been a major concern for the team during the two previous
losses.
"We are a defensive team," said Spurs Tim Duncan. "We had gotten away from that the past two games. That's not how we're
going to win games."
Duncan and the Spurs unexpectedly had to contend with Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki, who was not scheduled to play
Wednesday night after spraining his left ankle in a game against Denver on Sunday.
"We were surprised he was out there,” said Spurs guard Brent Barry. "We were preparing for him not to be in the lineup
tonight."
As far as Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich was concerned, it didn't make a difference.
"It doesn't change who we are or how we play," Popovich said. "We'd rather the other team's players play because it shows
us where we are."
Nowitzki, playing with a sore ankle, still managed 23 points and 11 rebounds but was only three of nine from the field in
the second half.
"They played really good defense," said Nowitzki of the Spurs. "Every shot seemed to be contested."
San Antonio broke the game open with a 14-4 run to start the fourth quarter and used their defense shut down the Mavericks.
The Mavericks shot only 17.6 percent during that last period.
The Spurs can only hope that focus in the fourth keeps up as they now travel to Denver on Thanksgiving Day for a Friday
night contest with the Nuggets and then immediately must travel back home for a Saturday night game with the Utah Jazz.
"Everyone has to understand this is what we’re all about," said Bowen about continuing to remain focused. "Distributing
that basketball and playing team defense."
These next two games should give a good indication of just how well the Spurs do understand that it is about playing as a
team.
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