The San Antonio Spurs took care of the Dallas Mavericks 97-91 on Friday largely because Dallas couldn't take care of the ball. The Mavericks had 19 turnovers in 91 possessions -- every player who registered at least five minutes for Dallas had at least one giveaway, and all four of the Mavericks' guards who saw rotation minutes had at least three. Fourteen of the the turnovers were registered as steals by San Antonio.
Spurs Vs. Mavericks: Dallas Turnovers, Big Night From Tony Parker Gives San Antonio Win
The turnover issues reversed a huge shooting advantage for the Mavericks; Dallas shot 49 percent from the floor and had an effective field goal percentage of .534, quite strong. San Antonio shot .434 from the floor and had an eFG of .476. That the Spurs were able to overcome that is nothing short of a shock, especially considering that Dallas is not normally a turnover-happy team.
Tony Parker was brilliant for San Antonio, racking up 33 points on 14-22 shooting. Manu Ginobili pitched in 25 with five assists and three steals, and Tim Duncan dropped 22 on Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler. Really, the Spurs took a page from the Miami Heat playbook by focusing their scoring efforts among the "big three" -- on Monday, the Heat had beaten the Spurs by 30, with the team's three All-Stars combining to score as many points, 80, as the entire Spurs roster had. On Friday, San Antonio didn't quite get there -- Parker, Manu and Duncan scored 80, but Dallas got 91 -- but the effect was similar.
Notably, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle swapped Shawn Marion for DeShawn Stevenson in the starting lineup. Each played just 13 minutes, though, as Carlisle frequently used Jason Kidd, Rodrigue Beaubois and Jason Terry together with Dirk Nowitzki and a center. Marion had been a solid offensive option in recent Dallas wins over admittedly lesser teams.
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