San Antonio vs. Dallas, final score: Spurs get off to a fast start against the Mavs, then freeze, losing 93-116

The San Antonio Spurs were looking to enter the All-Star break with back-to-back wins after a thrilling victory in Toronto. Unfortunately, they faced the red-hot Dallas Mavericks, and after a heated game in which they led by as many as 15 points in the first 18 minutes of the game, the Spurs offense was on ice for the rest of the game while the Mavs made defensive adjustments. It was cold like that. He stepped up his game offensively.

Victor Wembaneyama led the Spurs with 26 points and nine rebounds, but 20 of those points came during an initial hot start and then fell out with the rest of the team. Luka Doncic scored 27 points (despite shooting just 1-8 from three) before leaving in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be neck spasms, and Kyrie Irving finished with 34 points. He demonstrated incredible power.

observation

• Wemby scored 12 of the Spurs' first 17 points, making two threes and assisting Julien Champagnie's three with a no-look behind-the-back pass. He already had a stat line of 12-2-2-2 (blocks) at his first breakout, and even without a flashy dunk, he got a lot of “oohs” and “ohs” from the Dallas faithful. I was getting a lot of “Ah!” comments. He continued to perform well in the second quarter, scoring his 20th point of the game, which also happened to be his 1,000th career point. David Robinson is the only rookie to score more points in 50 games for Spurs (which ranks 49th at Wenby), joining Robinson and Shaquille O'Neal to score 1,000 points with over 150 blocks in their first 50 games. He became the only rookie to record more than that. game.
• Things might have been different if it wasn't for the combination of Cold on offense and Kyrie Irving in the second quarter. After leading by as many as 15 points, the Spurs went into intermission with a five-point lead, with Irving scoring all 17 points he scored in the first half in the quarter. At the same time, the Spurs went 5:44 into the first half without making a field goal and reverted to their bad habit of making threes when shots stopped falling. After hitting 4-10 in the first quarter, they shot 0-10 in the second quarter and finished the game with a score of 9-36.
• The Spurs had a bad quarter back, but it was more of the same from the second quarter on, with the Mavs making whatever they wanted and the Spurs not being able to make layups and go up 32-14. In the second and third quarters combined, the Spurs scored just one point less than in the first. Malachi Branum was the only consistent source of offense in the second half, scoring 11 straight points to start the fourth quarter and hitting four threes overall.
• After about five straight quarters of great balls from Wenby, as if the basketball gods were saying “enough is enough,” he made six quick goals midway through the fourth quarter and threw the trash. He was unable to maintain a score of 20 points until he was pulled out. time. This was actually a good defensive adjustment by Jason Kidd. After Wenby got off to a fast start, he brought in P.J. Washington and let Derek Lively (who didn't start with a broken nose in the last game) and Daniel Gafford roam in the paint to help Wenby. We made adjustments to keep out people, and it worked. I settled on a jumper.
• It was a tough game for both Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson, who combined for 14 points on 5-for-27 shooting from the field. They weren't the only called shooters in the game, but we expect more from them. Jeremy Sochan played well defensively when matched up with Doncic, especially early on, but all 10 of his points came in the first quarter before he also got called.
• Need to end on a positive note? I'll just leave this here.

After the long-awaited All-Star break, the Spurs return to action on Thursday, February 22nd in Sacramento. Tipoff will be broadcast on Bally Sports at 9pm CT.

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