Spurs at Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks got a break from the Christmas Day NBA slate and had a chance to enjoy the holiday on a strong note after knocking off the Houston Rockets on Monday. The Mavericks will go for a sweep of their Texas rivals when they host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. The Spurs did have to play on Christmas and will be enduring the second night of a back-to-back after failing to get enough stops in a 111-98 home setback against the Rockets.
Dallas blew a 19-point lead in an overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors at home on Friday and followed it up with a 123-108 loss at Phoenix, making the trip to Houston a big deal for the team’s momentum going into the short Christmas break. “It was a must-win for us,” Monta Ellis said. “We had to get back on track and feeling good again after two devastating losses when we felt like we weren’t playing our basketball within our system.” Now it’s San Antonio that needs to get back on track after losses in two of the last three games.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, KENS (San Antonio), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE SPURS (22-7): Tony Parker looked great in his first two games back from a shin injury, putting up 24.5 points in games against Oklahoma City and Toronto, but the All-Star could not get going with six points on 3-of-11 shooting on Wednesday. Parker also did not do enough defensively on the perimeter, and San Antonio is showing some cracks in its ability to stop teams. The Spurs rank fourth in the NBA in average points allowed at 96 but have surrendered an average of 106.8 in the last six contests.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (16-12): Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points in the win on Monday, passing Alex English for 13th place on the all-time list and drawing high praise from coach Rick Carlisle. “He’s one of the greatest players in the history of the game,” Carlisle said, “and he’s passing these guys left and right. … The guy has changed the game with the way he plays. The game is not the same.” Nowitzki is averaging 23.2 points in December and has gone for 20 or more in eight of nine games this month. The 11-time All-Star is especially dangerous at home, where he shoots 51.9 percent to help Dallas to an 11-3 mark.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs have taken five straight in the series by an average of 17.4 points.
2. Dallas G Jose Calderon is shooting 63.8 percent from the field in the last five games.
3. San Antonio F Tim Duncan is averaging 15.7 points and 12.4 rebounds in 11 games this month.