Spurs thrash the short-handed Mavericks 101-89
On Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, Tony Parker and DeJuan Blair hammered 18 points apiece and Tim Duncan chipped in with 16 points, as the sizzling San Antonio Spurs became the first team in the 2010-11 season series
to win through three games.
Spurs took advantage of Dirk Nowitzki's absence, as their red hot offence proved a little too hot to handle for the visitors.
With Nowitzki missing his ninth game on the trot and Caron Butler out for the season (both because of knee injuries), the injury-plagued Dallas lost their fourth straight game, and dropped to 26-12 after a roaring start to the
2010-11 season.
Spurs kept a tight leash on the match right from the tip-off, and raced to an 18-9 advantage within the first six minutes of the play. The Spurs onslaught was fueled by Tony Parker. After off-colour performances in the last
four games, the prolific shooting guard was in his grove early on Friday night. He made good on five of his first six possessions, scoring 10 points in the first eight and a half minutes, and also complemented it with four assists.
The Spurs took an intimidating 27-19 lead into the second quarter, and a quick five-point unanswered spurt sparked their advantage to 13 points. They followed it with a 9-0 spurt a minute later, as the home-team started to assert
their authority on the match. The Spurs led by as many as 20 points midway through the second frame, but the Mavs pegged them back slightly and went to locker-room trailing by 42-57.
The Spurs outplayed the Mavs all ends up entering the second half. After busting open the Mavs defence in the initial few minutes of the period, San Antonio launched a 13-4 spurt midway, rendering the visitor's defence completely
helpless.
The teams headed into the final twelve minutes with the score poised at 85-61, Spur’s biggest advantage of the match, and it didn’t get any better for the Mavs after that.
The Spurs, who were mostly playing their reserves on the court, kept a tight check on Mavericks’ progress in the fourth quarter. The home team led by 19 heading into the last three minutes of the game and although Dallas did
manage to reel off a 9-2 run in the last two minutes, it was too little too late as the Spurs added another win to their NBA best tally.
Shawn Marion was the only Dallas starter in double figures with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jose Barea and Dominique Jones came off the bench to score 13 apiece.
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