Spurs 99, Mavericks 93
Gary Neal scored 21 points and made five 3-point baskets to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 99-93 victory over the host Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
Tim Duncan had 17 points and 11 rebounds as San Antonio improved its NBA-best record to 28-4 and took a 3 1/2-game lead over Dallas (24-7) in the Southwest Division.
The Mavericks were without star forward Dirk Nowitzki, who missed his second straight game with a knee sprain. Dallas has lost both games Nowitzki has missed.
Caron Butler scored a season-best 30 points for the Mavericks.
Manu Ginobili made four 3-pointers as part of a 15-point scoring game. Tony Parker scored 14 points and George Hill added 12 points as San Antonio won for the 13th time in 14 games.
Jason Kidd has 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for Dallas, which trailed by as many as 16 points.
San Antonio had a 50-35 rebounding edge.
Mavericks guard Jason Terry had just eight points on 3-of-16 shooting.