Rick Carlisle tried to warm his team Tuesday night that failing to come out of the gates strong will catch up to you. The message might not have carried as much weight that night, seeing that the Mavericks rallied from 17 points down to rout the Rockets. Dallas wasn't as fortunate Wednesday night in San Antonio. Spotting the undermanned Spurs a 13-point first-half lead, the Mavs didn't have enough in the tank to pull off another comeback 24 hours later. "This kind of wild inconsistency is something we obviously have to work on," Carlisle said.
The Mavs also fell behind Utah big recently before rallying back to win. Showing the resiliency and firepower to come back is admirable, but it also puts too much pressure on the team at both ends.
That caught up to the Mavs in San Antonio, which was without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Maybe now the Mavericks will heed Carlisle's warning.
SPURS 92, MAVERICKS 83: Dallas fell behind early and despite mounting a charge in the fourth quarter, didn't have enough to get past shorthanded San Antonio on the road Wednesday night. The Mavs fell to 5-3 and are tied with Houston for the Southwest Division lead.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points and 12 rebounds, but missed 18 of 27 shots. The rest of the starting lineup combined for just 25 points. Jason Terry did have 19 off the bench for the Mavs, who were coming off Tuesday's win over Houston.
Richard Jefferson paced the Spurs with 29 points in his introduction to the bitter rivalry. Manu Ginobili had 13. San Antonio won for the second straight game without Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.
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