Mavs vs. Spurs Preview
SAN ANTONIO, TX – The San Antonio Spurs look like a much-improved team with the best start in franchise history as they ride a 12-game win streak. They were already good enough last season to eliminate the Dallas Mavericks.
The Southwest Division rivals meet for the first time since the Spurs knocked the Mavericks out of the playoffs when they play Friday night at the AT&T Center.
San Antonio (13-1) is enjoying its longest win streak since a 13-game run Feb. 13-March 13, 2007. The franchise record for consecutive wins is 17, set Feb. 29-March 31, 1996.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGlobal.com have made the Spurs -4 point spread favorites for Friday’s game against the Mavericks. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 75% of more than 290 bets for this game have been placed on the Spurs -4.
Trends say Dallas is 32-17 ATS on the road over the past two seasons.
“I don’t even notice it,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “Every game is a game and we don’t even think about it. We’ll lose our share, it will end like every other streak.”
San Antonio has recorded 11 straight 50-win seasons and Dallas 10 in a row. Those are the second- and third-longest streaks in league history since the NBA went to an 82-game schedule in 1967.
The Spurs and Mavericks have met five times in the playoffs in that span, including each of the past two seasons. San Antonio has won three of those series, beating Dallas in six games in the first round in 2010.
The Mavericks (10-4) won three of four from San Antonio in the regular season and took four of their last seven road meetings before dropping all three visits in last season’s playoffs.
While San Antonio won 50 games and Dallas 55 a season ago, the Spurs have gotten off to the better start. San Antonio rallied from 21 points down for a 113-109 overtime victory at Minnesota on Wednesday.
Manu Ginobili scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs put together a 65-point second half after scoring 41 at the break.
“We were down 20, nothing was falling, we’re not playing with the kind of aggressiveness and energy that you need to overcome a deficit like that,” said Ginobili, averaging a team-high 20.8 points. “I thought it was going to be a loss. Then slowly, very slowly, we started to recover.”
An injured Ginobili missed the five-game series loss to the Mavs two seasons ago, but he averaged a team-high 19.0 points last time. Dirk Nowitzki averaged 26.7 points on 54.7 percent shooting to lead Dallas in last season’s playoffs.
Nowitzki enters as the NBA’s second-leading scorer at 26.4 points per game, shooting a career-high 53.6 percent. He was the catalyst in Wednesday’s 111-103 victory at Oklahoma City with 34 points after scoring 42 the night before in an 88-84 home win over Detroit.
Tyson Chandler had season highs with 17 points and 18 rebounds Wednesday in his biggest game since coming over from Charlotte in the offseason.
“He’s been amazing, just his positive energy,” Nowitzki said. “He’s always the first one off the bench when he’s not on the court. He’s vocal in the locker room and he’s been amazing to have around.”
Chandler is a major reason why Dallas is allowing 92.4 points per game for the fourth-best mark in the league. San Antonio has the second-best offense with an average of 108.0 points.
Want More From TheSpread.com? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or Subscribe to Our News Feeds!