“Defense wins championships” is a phrase used a lot to describe the best teams in sports. It can also sum up why a team is struggling so much. The San Antonio Spurs fit the second use of the phrase. After giving up 141 points to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night, the Spurs gave up too many points in a 133-129 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back.
“The effort and intention were there for the most part,” said Spurs’ acting coach, Mitch Johnson. “Some of the straight-line drives and point-of-attack defense were not up to par.”
Despite leading for the majority of the game, San Antonio couldn’t stop the Mavs, especially in the second half, which ultimately led to their downfall. The defensive issues overshadowed a rock-solid offensive night for their wings. Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Harrison Barnes all scored 20+ points in front of the home San Antonio crowd.
Vassell got things started in the first quarter with 14 points as he knocked down threes and made strong moves to the basket. He was the primary difference-maker in the Spurs early 34-28 lead. The Mavericks stuck around thanks to their aggressive play in the paint against the smaller Spurs, who were without Jeremy Sochan and Charles Bassey.
Injuries can’t be used as an excuse when Dallas is missing half of their roster due to ailments. The Mavs got solid production from those who did play. Spencer Dinwiddie led the way with a team-high 28 points. He scored all over the floor, knocking down four three-pointers while consistently getting into the paint. His play was the main reason the Mavericks were able to keep the game respectable in the second quarter.
The Spurs had a lot of trouble fouling the Mavericks. They racked up 24 fouls and allowed Dallas to make 27-30 free throws. Meanwhile, San Antonio struggled to make good on their attempts at the charity stripe. The Spurs made just 14 of their 24 free throws (58.3%).
“The free throws and some of those fouls would have added up to about 15 points when you talk about the margin of error,” Mitch Johnson said. “As close of a game as that is, that’s hard to make up.”
Klay Thompson came alive in the second half to bury the Spurs. He was on fire in the third quarter and made clutch plays in the fourth to put Dallas ahead. Thompson finished with 26 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. He was one of four Mavericks to finish with 20+ points, alongside Dinwiddie, Kessler Edwards who had 22, and Naji Marshall who scored 23.
Still, despite the Spurs’ porous defense, they had a shot in the fourth quarter. Barnes and KJ were red hot for San Antonio late in the game. Barnes had a game-high 29 points on a super-efficient 12-14 shooting night. He was a force on the offensive glass where he grabbed 6 of his 8 rebounds. Johnson was similarly tough inside as he grabbed 5 rebounds, 3 of them offensive to go along with his 28 points off the bench. The wings’ barrage of threes and timely rebounds wasn’t enough to come back against Dallas late in the fourth.
The Spurs’ defense has been far below average NBA standards in the last few weeks. According to NBA.com, San Antonio has a 133.9 defensive rating in their last five games and 125 for their last ten. For reference, the New Orleans Pelicans are last in the NBA in defensive rating for the season at 118.5 per 100 possessions.
The loss drops the Spurs to 26-37 on the season, as they sit 13th in the Western Conference standings. San Antonio is 4.5 games out of the 10th seed with just 19 games left to go. They’ll have another shot at Dallas on Wednesday night when they play the Mavericks at home.
