The fourth-quarter total was 17. Dallas had scored 31 points in the first period, then 29 in each of the next two. When the Mavericks finally reached the part of Saturday’s game in which their comeback could become a victory, the offense produced its smallest return.
San Antonio won 122-106 at American Airlines Center, leaving both clubs 1-2. Dallas had come back from fourteen points behind to lead during the third quarter. Its recovery was substantial enough to deserve better than a footnote, and incomplete enough to offer little comfort about the finish.
At 11:32 of the fourth, Daniel Gafford finished Walter Clayton Jr.’s pass for a layup. The Spurs led 92-91. Dallas had reached a very ordinary basketball situation: one stop, one useful possession, and the lead could change again. It had already done the harder-looking work of dragging itself out of a large hole.
Instead, San Antonio scored the next eleven points. Devin Vassell made a three, Tarris Reed Jr. finished an alley-oop, and Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper each connected from outside. Vassell also supplied assists during the burst. This was a group pulling away, rather than Dallas being beaten by one spectacular shot that could be filed under unfortunate circumstances.
The interruption on the other end was just as consequential. Max Christie missed from outside and later stepped out of bounds. Dallas also allowed an extended San Antonio possession to survive missed shots and a Gafford block before Champagnie scored. The comeback had bought the Mavericks a close game; those trips immediately made it an uphill one again.
Clayton’s three at 8:47 supplied a response, cutting the score to 103-94. But Dallas could not build another sequence around it. De’Aaron Fox blocked Clayton’s next driving attempt. Gafford subsequently lost a pass, and misses from Zaccharie Risacher and P.J. Washington left further opportunities unused. Dallas had enough different failures that blaming the stretch on one cold shooter would be too convenient.
By 5:53, another Harper three had pushed the Spurs ahead 109-94. Washington dunked on the following Dallas scoring possession, but two points were now a modest payment against a deficit that required several successful trips. The Mavericks scored fifteen more points after Gafford’s early layup. San Antonio did not need another enormous burst to protect what it had built.
The third-quarter recovery makes that finish particularly frustrating. Down 77-63, Dallas received a three from Sergio de Larrea. He later hit another, Sasser supplied two outside baskets, and de Larrea’s floater at 2:01 put the Mavericks ahead 85-84. The offense had several contributors and several ways to score. It had earned its way back into the game.
