Mavericks stun Spurs to end series skid
SAN ANTONIO -- Seth Curry scored a career-high 24 points and hit the deciding layup with 17.3 seconds remaining as the Dallas Mavericks stunned San Antonio 105-101 on Sunday at the AT&T Center and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Spurs.
The Mavericks led 100-92 with 3:48 to play after the second of back-to-back stepback jumpers from Harrison Barnes, but LaMarcus Aldridge hit two free throws and a dunk off a Danny Green assist to crawl to within four points at the 2:15 mark.
After an empty possession by Dallas, Kawhi Leonard added two free throws to cut the lead to 100-98. Wesley Matthews hit one of two chances from the charity stripe to make it a three-point game with 50.8 to play. Leonard missed a jumper at the 32.9-second mark and Curry knifed his way through a suddenly porous San Antonio defense 15 seconds later to push the Mavericks' lead to 103-98.
Barnes added 19 points for the Mavericks (17-30) while Matthews had 17 and Dirk Nowitzki totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Dallas won in San Antonio for the first time since Nov. 26, 2010.
Leonard scored 24 points to lead the Spurs (36-11), who lost consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 5 and 9, to the Clippers and Rockets, respectively. It was also the first Spurs' loss at home after holding at least a 10-point advantage at halftime since March 17, 2008 (when they fell to Boston 93-91), a span of 117 straight.. San Antonio had entered the second half leading 59-49.
Aldridge and Tony Parker scored 16 points apiece, David Lee hit for 14 and Manu Ginobili scored 10 points for San Antonio.
Dallas, which averages 10 made 3-pointers per game, hit 12 in the game, six in the first quarter alone, and hung with the Spurs despite shooting just 40 percent overall from the floor in the first 12 minutes of play. Ginobili hit San Antonio's lone trey of the period, but it came with 1.9 seconds to play in the quarter and handed the Spurs a 28-27 lead.
San Antonio created some space for itself with an 8-0 surge to start the second quarter and assumed a 36-27 lead before a Nowitzki 3-pointer at the 9:22 mark ended the run. The Spurs pushed their advantage to as many as 15 points on a free throw by Aldridge with 3:02 remaining in the half before the Mavericks responded by outscoring San Antonio 8-3 in the final minutes and pulling to within 59-49 at intermission.
Parker led the Spurs with a season-high-tying 14 points at halftime while Leonard added 11 and Aldridge hit for 10. The Mavericks were paced by Curry's 10 points, all of which came in the first quarter.
The Mavericks roared back in the third quarter, eventually retaking the lead at 73-72 on a jumper by Devin Harris with 4:09 to play in the period. Lee and Curry traded baskets on consecutive trips down the floor before Patty Mills' jumper and another Ginobili three granted San Antonio an 81-77 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.
Barnes' 17-foot jumper with 7:11 to play was followed on the ensuing possession by a 3-pointer by Curry that pushed the Mavericks' lead to seven points, at 91-87, their largest of the game.
NOTES: Dallas was without starting PG Deron Williams (toe strain) and super sub G Jose Juan Barea (left calf strain); neither traveled with the team. ... San Antonio C Pau Gasol missed his sixth straight game after he fractured his left fourth metacarpal in pregame warmups prior to the Spurs? win over Denver on Jan. 19. There is no timetable for his return. Spurs G Jonathon Simmons also missed Sunday's game because of a sprained right wrist. ... Before Sunday's loss, the Spurs had won seven straight and 21 of the last 25 regular-season meetings with the Mavericks. San Antonio had taken 12 straight and 16 of the last 19 regular-season games against Dallas played in the Alamo City.