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Mavericks-Spurs Preview

Nov 11, 2009 - 6:11 AM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Editor

Dallas (4-2) at San Antonio (3-3), 8:30 p.m. EDT

With two All-Stars sitting out because of injuries, the San Antonio Spurs delivered their best offensive performance of the young season. To beat the Dallas Mavericks, however, the Spurs will likely need a better defensive effort.

It's unclear if Tim Duncan or Tony Parker will be available Wednesday night when the Spurs host the Mavericks in the teams' first meeting since Dallas ousted San Antonio from the first round of the playoffs in April.

Parker and Duncan were both sidelined by ankle injuries Monday night. Parker has a mild sprain the team has said could keep him out for a week, and Duncan is considered day-to-day with swelling in his left ankle.

Despite missing two of their top players, the Spurs (3-3) beat Toronto 131-124, recording their highest point total since a 133-126 double-overtime win at Dallas on Dec. 9. Manu Ginobili scored 36 points off the bench, Richard Jefferson added 24, and George Hill had 22 in his first start of the season. All three point totals were individual season highs.

San Antonio is averaging 119.0 points in its wins, and has been held to 89.3 points per game in its losses. The Spurs, though, feel that stepping up their defense is the key to staying on track. They're giving up 102.5 points per game after holding opponents under 94.0 each of the last 12 seasons.

"I think we're going to score, we just got to play better defense," said Ginobili, who made six of San Antonio's season-high 14 3-pointers and had eight assists and a career-high four blocked shots against the Raptors. "We were talking before the season about trying to be the best team in the league defensively, and so far we're not even close."

The Spurs struggled on defense in their last meeting with the Mavericks on April 28. Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 to lead six Dallas players in double figures as the Mavericks eliminated the Spurs from the first round of the playoffs with a 106-93 victory in Game 5 in San Antonio.

Dallas has won five of six against San Antonio, dating to the teams' final regular-season meeting of 2008-09. Ginobili didn't play in any of those games because of ankle problems.

The Mavericks (5-2) have shown they're capable of big offensive performances lately. After averaging 96.2 points over their first five games, they've averaged 125.0 in winning their last two.

Like San Antonio, however, Dallas is more focused on being effective on the other end of the floor. After giving up 61 points in the first half Tuesday night, the Mavericks allowed just 42 in the second as they overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Houston 121-103.

"There's no secret what's going to get us wins," said top reserve Jason Terry, who led Dallas with 24 points against the Rockets. "When we didn't play defense, we got down by 15. We have to continue to lock in, get stops and run."

Terry has helped spark the Mavericks' offensive surge, averaging 26.0 points and going 27 for 38 (71.1 percent) from the field over the last three games.

Dallas has also gotten a boost from the return of Josh Howard, who missed the first five games while recovering from offseason ankle surgery. Howard, an All-Star in 2007, has averaged 15.0 points in 24.0 minutes in his first two games.

Howard averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the field in eight total games against San Antonio last season.