The Mavs will also try to rekindle the success of their most recent victorious stretch, reeling off six wins in a row before coming up short on the road.
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“We can’t sustain any effort”, coach Michael Malone said. Barea left Wednesday’s 88-83 loss to the San Antonio Spurs with an ankle injury and did not return. On the second night of back-to-back games for Atlanta, the team shot a season low for a quarter of 5-18. The Spurs are 9-0 at home, but their last seven foes at the AT&T Center have been on a back-to-back, and they’re now 48-6 in that situation going back four seasons and change. These two players will be crucial down the road this season as they bring tangible basketball qualities, especially height. “Tony [Parker] and Danny Green were great defensively on [Atlanta guards Jeff] Teague and [Kyle] Korver and that really set the tone for us”.
Leonard was so effective that the Spurs needed very little from their big offseason acquisition, LaMarcus Aldridge, who had eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. Stop flailing. Denver isn’t good enough offensively to play hero ball, and even short-handed the bench is having to make up too much of the scoring deficiency caused by the starters’ offensive shyness or ineptitude.
Spurs: Coach Gregg Popovich on how he decides on periodic rest days for veterans Duncan, Ginobili and Parker: “It’s by the seat of my trousers”. The Mavericks have an offensive rating of 102.3 (ranked 12th).
“But this game [against San Antonio] and the Oklahoma City game were definitely winnable ballgames and we let them slip away”. The flow changes when he starts operating the offense, and the 38-year-old creative genius might be in line for his second Sixth Man of the Year award. The Hawks shot 43 percent from the field but were just 6 for 26 from three-point range to go along with 18 turnovers. It would’ve been worse if not for two Aldridge putback buckets while playing with the reserves. But David West has fit in well and Rasual Butler, who earned the last spot on the roster in training camp, and Kyle Anderson have had their moments. Spurs defense has stifled offenses this season and look to do the same against the Nuggets. San Antonio has finished in the top four in defensive efficiency the past three seasons and it appears well on its way to doing it again.
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The Dallas Mavericks have returned to reality after riding a fantasy-like six game winning streak through mid-November. Their ball movement got them more open looks –they still finished with an extraordinary 28 assists on 37 field goals- than opponents typically have had against the Spurs this season, but they didn’t have their legs underneath them to make those looks count. Mavericks G Wesley Matthews was born in San Antonio…. Because Parker was on him, and Waiters ended up hitting the game-clinching shots. He did that while being hounded by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard, who Denver wasn’t able to consistently detach from Gallinari throughout the night. We have, but only in terms of usage.
