San Antonio Spurs: Silver lining in loss to Dallas Mavericks

The San Antonio Spurs (24-33) were unable to mount the 19-point comeback versus the Dallas Mavericks, but there are aspects of this game that we liked.

The San Antonio Spurs hosted the Dallas Mavericks in their return to the AT&T Center. With LaMarcus Aldridge out due to a right shoulder strain, San Antonio went small with Lonnie Walker IV playing in place of Aldridge.

The Spurs started out in a slump only knocking down 6-of-21 from the field in the first quarter and found themselves down early 36-20. Walker had the defensive assignment on Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, who finished with a 26-point triple-double. Lonnie showed his potential as an above-average on-ball defender versus Doncic:

Lonnie's defense here against Doncic was SOLID. He doesn't give Doncic space and forces him to take a difficult shot as well as not committing the foul. #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/h0ellohTDH

— Ty Jäger (@TyJagerRadio) February 27, 2020

Walker finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and a crowd-pleasing three blocks that displayed his athleticism. Walker started out slow in only his fourth start of the season but was able to provide a defensive spark in the 4th quarter that the Spurs needed.

The Spurs made a valiant effort in the 4th quarter with a 12-0 run to start their comeback. In the end, it was too much Kristaps Porzingis, Luka Doncic, and too many mistakes on both sides of the ball. The Spurs had the advantage in points in the paint 46-34 but were outmatched from 3-point land 51-33.

DeMar DeRozan was the Spurs’ leading scorer with 27 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds in 33 minutes. Dejounte Murray finished with eight points and eight rebounds on 3-for-13 shooting, who seems to have regressed to the mean after his spectacular play versus the Utah Jazz.

The San Antonio Spurs, who are 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies in the race for the 8th seed, look to bounce back on Saturday night versus the Orlando Magic to get back on the winning track.