The Dallas Mavericks went on a 21-8 run in the third quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-98.
The Spurs led 56-55 when Dorian Finney-Smith’s tip dunk put the Mavericks ahead for good with 8:45 left in the third quarter. Luka Dončić scored 6 points as they pulled away to a 76-64 lead with 2:56 left in the quarter, and they led by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs got within 82-79 on Patty Mills’ driving layup with 10:11 to play, but Kristaps Porziņģis answered with a 3-pointer.
Early in the fourth quarter, Dejounte Murray had 2 of his 3 steals, and the Spurs scored 2 points off them.
Dončić had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, and Finney-Smith added 13 points.
For the Spurs, DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points (14 in the paint), and Rudy Gay added 18 points (12 on 4 3-pointers) and 8 rebounds on 7 for 10 shooting off the bench.
The Spurs got 5 offensive rebounds, about 4 fewer than usual for the shots they missed. They outscored the Mavericks 22-8 on the fast break. They scored the last 13 points of the game. The Mavericks outscored the Spurs 18-6 in 4 minutes with Porziņģis, Wright, Finney-Smith, Kleber and Brunson on the floor together.