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Spurs ease past Mavericks in Nowitzki's return

Dec 24, 2012 - 4:02 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Danny Green led a San Antonio three-point barrage by tying a career-high with seven triples en route to a career-best 25 points in the Spurs' 129-91 thrashing of the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

"Luckily it felt good tonight. Some nights you have it and some nights you don't," said Green. "Good thing we had it tonight. Not just myself, but everybody else on the team also stepped up and knocked down some shots. It helped us open up the lead a little bit."

13 different players scored for a Spurs team that shot an incredible 66.7 percent (20-of-30) from beyond the arc in spoiling the return of Mavs' superstar Dirk Nowitzki, who missed the first 27 games of the season for Dallas due to a knee injury.

Tony Parker poured in 18 points and Tim Duncan tallied 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks in the Spurs' second consecutive victory. Kawhi Leonard contributed 17 points and five steals.

In his return, Nowitzki came off the bench and finished with eight points and six rebounds in just over 20 minutes of play. Darren Collison led all scorers for Dallas with 15 points in the club's third straight loss.

"They shot lights out," said Collison. "That's Spurs basketball. We know what they're about. We just didn't have our rotations down pat. We'll work at it."

A 13-6 Spurs run in the first quarter helped them open up a 26-16 lead. Nowitzki scored his first points of the season on a dunk in the final seconds of the opening quarter to cut San Antonio's edge to 33-26.

Vince Carter knocked down a triple early in the second stanza to bring the Mavs within three, but that was as close as they would come the rest of the way.

After falling behind by nine, Nowitzki brought the Mavericks within 49-45 after burying a triple and a fadeaway, but Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Spurs ahead by 10.

San Antonio carried a 64-52 advantage into the third and immediately began to extend the margin. Green, Stephen Jackson and Parker each connected on two 3- pointers during a 24-2 Spurs surge to open up an impressive 34-point lead at 93-59 with 2:42 to play to all but seal the contest.

The Spurs buried 7-of-9 triples in the period and outscored the Mavs, 36-14, in the third.

Their advantage swelled to as many as 46 in the fourth before the final buzzer.

Game Notes

San Antonio's 20 3-point makes set a new franchise record for most in a single-game ... The Mavericks fell for the sixth time in their last seven contests and have now lost five straight road games ... The Spurs have won six of the past eight matchups with the Mavs ... San Antonio converted 20 Maverick turnovers into 25 points.