Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
The Dallas Mavericks avoided a three-game losing streak with a 101-94 win against the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night.
Monta Ellis led the team to an outstanding win finishing 16 of 27 with a total of 38 points, a big improvement from his performance last Sunday in Phoenix going 4 of 22.
Things didn’t look good for the Mavericks in the first quarter as they had problems with turnovers, making shots and playing defense. Dallas allowed San Antonio to score 11 unanswered points and committed six turnovers. By the end of the first quarter, Dallas had found themselves down 29-17, and it looked as if it would be a long night for Dallas, but there was no quit in them.
Dallas had a pretty good run in the second quarter scoring a total of 26 points and holding San Antonio to just 17, and ending the first half being down 46-43 after trailing 36-22 in the first two minutes of the second quarter.
After taking the lead for the first time in third quarter, Dallas regained their confidence, and took advantage of San Antonio’s missed shots and turning them into points to increase their lead. Dallas remained in the lead after being up 59-58 in the first five minutes of the third quarter and finish it up 76-66.
Entering the fourth quarter up by ten points, Dallas did a superior job on holding on to the lead. Taking advantage of San Antonio fouls and missed shots, Dallas sealed the win and ended San Antonio’s three game winning streak.
Dirk Nowitzki finished the win with 15 points and 13 rebounds. With his 13 rebounds, Dirk has surpassed 10,000 total rebounds in his 17-year career.
Dallas didn’t see a lot from Rajon Rondo as he finished the night with nine rebounds, five assists, and scoring only two points, going 1 for 5.
This season, Dallas is the only team to be 33-0 when leading after three quarters.
Dallas is percentage points behind San Antonio and are the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Mavericks have a difficult path ahead as they will be playing the likes of Houston, Golden State and Portland.
Dallas will be in San Antonio on Friday for a rematch.
