Mavericks lose to stripped-down Spurs in regular-season finale

How the Mavs lost: This is why the San Antonio Spurs will be a very tough out in the upcoming playoffs.

They don’t even need their first-team players to win games.

The Spurs didn’t even bother to bring top-flight players Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge or David West to American Airlines Center. But it mattered not, as the Spurs overcame an 18-point deficit in the second half and went on to stun the Mavs 96-91.

With the loss, the No. 6-seeded Mavs will probably open the playoffs on the road this weekend against the Oklahoma City Thunder, unless the Memphis Grizzlies pull off the upset of all upsets and defeat the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. With a Memphis win, the Mavs will be a seventh seed and will play the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite trailing 52-34 at the half, the Spurs regrouped and put on a furious rally and wound up sweeping the Mavs in the season series this year 4-0.

The Spurs opened the second half with a 30-12 run to tie the game at 64-64 late in the third quarter.

Key players: Boban Marjanovic (22) and Jonathon Simmons (19 points) each had career-high point totals for the Spurs. Marjanovic also grabbed 12 rebounds. In addition for the Spurs, Kyle Anderson finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, and Danny Green added 12 points.

Key stat: The Spurs shot 47.3 percent from the field to just 40.3 percent for the Mavs.

Records: Spurs 67-15, Mavs 42-40

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Mavericks lose to stripped-down Spurs in regular-season finale."