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Mavs blow out turnover-prone Spurs, even series

Apr 24, 2014 - 3:35 AM San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Monta Ellis provided 21 points and Shawn Marion scored 20, and Dallas took advantage of sloppy play by the Spurs to rout San Antonio, 113-92, in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

The Mavericks could have easily been up 2-0 in the series against the West's top seed, but lost the opener, 90-85, Sunday despite leading by double digits in the fourth quarter.

The Mavs turned it around on Wednesday by forcing 24 Spurs turnovers, which led to 33 points.

"That's the been the weak link for us throughout the year and it showed up tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's a bad combination when you play bad defense at one end and give up the ball at the other end."

Dallas snapped a 10-game skid against the Spurs and got their first playoff victory since June 12, 2011 when they won the NBA Finals against Miami.

Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points, two less than teammate Devin Harris. Jose Calderon chipped all 12 of his points during the third quarter.

"I like our intensity right now," Nowitzki said. "We can't take the foot off the gas."

Manu Ginobili totaled 27 points off the bench for San Antonio, which made half of its shots from the field. Tony Parker had 12 points and Tim Duncan 11 to go with seven rebounds.

"Such a poor performance in the playoffs really bugs me," Ginobili said.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven set is Saturday afternoon in Dallas.

"They are such a dangerous team and have such great players," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of the Spurs. "We are mixing things up a lot and doing things we frankly don't want to do. It's a monumental task, but we're in this thing to win. We can't let up. Going back home, this is where he have to avoid any let-up."

The Spurs scored the final 10 points of the second quarter to get within 56-51. Ginobili's tip-in off a Patty Mills missed layup in the final second had the hosts within five.

Duncan's layup had the Spurs within 76-69 with 3:15 remaining in the third quarter, but the Mavericks scored the next eight. Vince Carter capped the burst with a 3-pointer.

The difference stood at 88-75 going to the fourth, thanks in part to Dallas' stellar defense. The Mavs scored 10 points off six Spurs turnovers in the period.

"We were just very active," Ellis said. "They made some careless turnovers and that was good for us because we came back on the other end and converted them."

Carter's driving jam widened the gap to 99-76 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining and the visitors were up at least 20 the rest of the game.

San Antonio jolted to an 11-4 lead, but trailed 24-23 after 12 minutes. A 17-5 Dallas burst moved the Mavs to the 56-41 cushion following Nowitzki's 3- pointer with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the half.

Game Notes

It was San Antonio's largest margin of defeat in a playoff game since a 103-81 loss at Dallas on Apr. 27, 2010 ... The Spurs suffered their biggest margin of defeat in a home postseason contest since May 9, 2006 versus the Mavs (113-91) in Game 2 of the West semifinals ... The Spurs were 18-of-29 at the foul line.