SAN ANTONIO – The Mavericks lived by one of the oldest sayings in the book on Monday night.
It’s about quality, not quantity.
With only eight bodies – seven during the final six minutes of the game – they dug deep for a 133-129 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
It wasn’t the prettiest game you’ll ever see. But it was one that was built with the same sort of grit the Mavericks displayed back when they had players named Irving, Washington, Lively and Gafford on the floor.
This time, it was a different cast. And a much smaller cast in terms of numbers and size.
But their resolve was cut from the same cloth as they stopped a five-game losing streak and upped their record to 33-33 heading into Wednesday’s rematch with the Spurs.
“High school, that’s what it feels like sometimes, because we’re so small,” said Klay Thompson, who was one of the catalysts with 26 points on Monday. “But we got a lot of heart.
“So, heart over height, you know?”
It’s amazing how often that formula works.
None of the Mavericks were over 6-8 and six of them were 6-6 or shorter. And the Spurs, while playing without 7-3 Victor Wembanyama, still had a major advantage in the physicality department.
Didn’t matter.
“Great team effort tonight with eight guys,” coach Jason Kidd said. “It had been a minute since we won, but the games before this, our spirits were still high. No one’s down. I give Klay a lot of credit for leading this group to come to work and be ready to play every night.”
Thompson, Kessler Edwards and Naji Marshall all made big plays, and big free throws, for the Mavericks in the fourth quarter, when they took the advantage after the teams had traded leads 25 times through three quarters and into the first few possessions of the fourth.
But the Mavericks never trailed in the final 10 minutes, clinging to a lead that never grew bigger than seven, but never completely evaporated, either.
Kessler, Marshall and Thompson combined to make eight free throws in the final 45 seconds to stave off the Spurs’ foul-and-hope strategy at the end.
Edwards had a dunk and Marshall scored to give the Mavericks a 125-118 lead, but the Spurs got buckets by rookie Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson to narrow the gap.
Edwards was fouled with 45.5 seconds left and calmly knocked in two free throws for a 127-123 Mavericks’ lead. That was the beginning of the Mavericks’ parade to the foul line.
Four Mavericks had over 20 points: Spencer Dinwiddie (28) and Thompson (26), Marshall (23) and Edwards (22).
It was the sort of game that renewed faith that the Mavericks have enough firepower to win games, even with nine players ruled out before the game.
Since Kyrie Irving went out last week against Sacramento with a torn ACL, the Mavericks have not been particularly close to winning any game.
It certainly dampened spirits. But it did not crush them.
“It did hurt, obviously, with Kyrie and he’s out 10 or 12 months,” Thompson said after Monday’s win. “Spencer and I have been in that position. And we know he’s going to come back stronger. There’s plenty of cases around the league of guys who have torn their ACL and come back and played at a very high level. So I’m not worried about him because I’ve seen his work firsthand. And it’s some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
However . . .
“It sucks to be without him this year because we still have big goals,” Thompson said. “We still want to make a run. The injuries have been awful. But I still love our team. We have an amazing front court. We miss those guys dearly, obviously, with the lack of size out there.
“But we’re showing as much heart as we can and it’s just a pleasure to go to battle with each and every person that suits up. That’s all you can control at the end of the day is your attitude. I still believe in this franchise. I’m here for two more seasons after this. I’d love to help them return to glory that they brought in 2011.”
While the odds remain stacked against the Mavericks this season because of all the injuries, the win Monday kept them in 10th spot in the Western Conference. With Phoenix losing at Memphis Monday, the Mavericks moved back ahead by 2 1/2 games on the 11th-place Suns.
Against the Spurs, the Mavericks weren’t too far from having every one of their players who saw action score in double figures. Six of their eight players passed 10 points. Dwight Powell had nine. Only Caleb Martin, who was on a minutes restriction wasn’t threatening double figures.
Out were Kyrie Irving (knee), Anthony Davis (adductor), Dereck Lively II (ankle), P.J. Washington (ankle), Daniel Gafford (knee), Jaden Hardy (ankle), Kai Jones (quad), O-Max Prosper (wrist) and Brandon Williams (hamstring).
Other than that, the Mavericks were fine.
They just relied on quality, not quantity.
X: @ESefko
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