DALLAS — Answering the call of their coach’s public challenge, the Dallas Mavericks thumped the previously surging San Antonio Spurs 101-94 Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.
The Mavs (45-27) snapped a two-game skid and ended the Spurs’ three-game winning streak. San Antonio (44-26) lost for just the third time in its last 13 games.
Dallas’ demoralizing defeat Sunday at Phoenix irked Dallas coach Rick Carlisle to the point that he criticized his team for an inability to compete at a high level at all times and urged reporters to ask the players about the “soul” of the team.
The player who has taken the brunt of the criticism during Dallas’ now 9-8 stretch since the All-Star break has been slumping shooting guard Monta Ellis. He broke out of his funk in a big way Tuesday, scoring 13 of his game-high 38 points in a momentum-swinging third quarter. It was the second time this season that Ellis has tagged the Spurs for 38.
Ellis made six of nine shots from the floor in the quarter and Dallas shot 70 percent as a team in the third period, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc. The Mavs completed a 24-point swing from the middle of the second quarter to the end of the third to lead 76-66 heading into the final 12 minutes.
Then a quick 5-0 spurt to start the fourth made it 81-66. Forward Dirk Nowitzki swished a 3-pointer after the Mavs twice saved possessions with hustling saves along the baseline after missed shots for the 15-point lead. Dallas had trailed by 14 points in the second quarter.
Nowitzki finished with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and forward Chandler Parsons had 15 points and four assists while logging 40 minutes. Six bench players combined for 25 points.
The Spurs had an awful night from 3-point range, hitting 8 of 28 and shooting just over 42 percent overall. Forward Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio with 19 points and nine rebounds, and guard Danny Green had 17 points and made half of the Spurs’ 3-pointers.
Point guard Tony Parker, who has been playing well during the Spurs’ recent surge, was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and three assists. Power forward Tim Duncan finished with six points and seven rebounds.
Dallas actually got off to a slow start that had to be worrisome to Carlisle considering the circumstances of the team’s last game.
San Antonio built a 14-point lead, but in the second quarter, the Spurs were stricken by the turnover bug that plagued the Mavs in the first quarter. Dallas managed to close out the first half on a 19-10 run to go into halftime trailing 46-43.
The Spurs had no turnovers in the first quarter compared to six for Dallas, but San Antonio committed six turnovers in the second quarter and then eight more in the third for 14 of their 16 in the game.
Dallas’ uneven play over the last month cost it in the tight Western Conference standings, landing it in seventh place entering the game and in jeopardy of falling farther behind the Spurs with a game at San Antonio on Friday night.
Now it’s the Spurs, who had been closing on a top-four spot in the West, in jeopardy of falling back again with a game Wednesday night at streaking Oklahoma City.
NOTES: Mavericks F Richard Jefferson left the game in the first half due to lower back stiffness, and he did not return. … Spurs G Manu Ginobili returned to the lineup after missing four consecutive games with a sprained right ankle. … San Antonio C Aron Baynes missed the game due to a sprained right ankle. … Mavericks G Devin Harris returned from an illness. He sat out the second half of Sunday’s loss to Phoenix. … Dallas G J.J. Barea missed his second consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle. … ESPN’s Forecast panel, comprising reporters, writers, editors and various other members from across the media giant’s vast array of platforms, selected the Spurs as the best front office in the NBA for the second consecutive season. … The Mavs and Spurs will play Friday night in San Antonio. San Antonio plays the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, while Dallas is off until Friday.