Spurs start hot, embarrass Mavs by tune of 116-90

This looked like a street fight which the Dallas Mavericks walked away from battered and bruised. And with their confidence a bit shaken.

San Antonio romped and stomped all over the Mavs on Friday night, using a torrid first-half surge for a relatively easy 116-90 victory at American Airlines Center.

Message sent.

The game was so one-sided that it was practically over by the time the first quarter ended with the Spurs ahead 27-12. By intermission the Spurs were ahead 62-26, marking the largest halftime deficit in Mavericks history.

“We played poorly in the first half and they played great,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Obviously we didn’t come out with enough force and the majority of the blame should go on me for just not having these guys ready to go.”

In dropping to 28-25 on the season going into Saturday night’s game in Memphis, the Mavs looked like they were running in mud while the Spurs sprinted away. San Antonio was quicker to the 50-50 balls, more fierce attacking the boards and appeared hungrier than the Mavs.

“I felt like they came out with great force and I thought we were ready, obviously we weren’t,” Carlisle said. “So give them a lot of the credit, and we all own it.”

The Spurs had more points in the first quarter (27) than Dallas scored in the first half (26).

“They were making shots, we were missing shots,” center Zaza Pachulia said. “They were more aggressive. They put out more effort, especially at the beginning of the game.”

Pachulia, at least, put up a good fight before he was tossed with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter. Pachulia was whistled for a technical and Flagrant-1 foul late in the second quarter when his elbow collided with Mark West’s nose.

In the third quarter, Pachulia was charged with an offensive foul when his elbow made contact with Kawhi Leonard’s neck. Shortly thereafter, Pachulia was on the ground, and Danny Green was angry about something he did and swung the 11-year veteran’s foot around.

Finally, Pachulia flew in for a dunk, and after no foul was called when he thought one should have been whistled, he was issued another technical and ejected from the game after barking at the referees.

“I think it was a good call,” Pachulia said. “But I should be smarter, because I already had one tech, and I just have to make better decisions next time.”

The Mavs also came within two points of matching the franchise record for fewest points in a first half. That record is 24 against Indiana on Feb. 13, 1998.

By halftime, LaMarcus Aldridge (12 points) and Leonard (16 points) had teamed for more points than the Mavs.

And then at the midway point of the third quarter, as the Mavs’ offense and defense continued to crumble, the Spurs widened their lead as much as 79-40.

The loss mirrored the 112-83 beatdown the Spurs handed the Mavs in San Antonio on Jan. 17.

“We had a bad night and we’re going to have to flush it and get ready for tomorrow, and that’s about all I can tell you,” Carlisle said. “As far as the analysis, they’re a great team, there’s no question about that.”

Mavs rookie Justin Anderson and Charlie Villanueva tied for team scoring honors with 13 points. The only other Mavs who cracked double digits was Dirk Nowitzki with 10 points.

Leonard led the Spurs with 23 points, Patty Mills poured in 16 and Aldridge tallied 14.

The loss was even more embarrassing for the Mavs because the Spurs played without injured stars Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

“They’re one of a small handful that’s got a shot at [winning the NBA title],” Carlisle said. “And right now we’ve got to dig deeper.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Spurs start hot, embarrass Mavs by tune of 116-90."