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After a disappointing loss at the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, Rick Carlisle wanted a big response.
And against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center, Carlisle got his wish as his Dallas Mavericks handed their in-state rival a 101-94 defeat to snap a two-game losing streak.
"No question (this was a gut-check game)," Carlisle said postgame. "Every team (we play) for the next week and a half is just really good and playing for something important. Hey, we got to go day-to-day, hour-to-hour, whistle-to-whistle and keep doing it together. That's the only way."
Dallas (45-27) was led by Monta Ellis, who scored a season-high 38 points, a solid rebound performance after he went 4-of-22 from the field in the loss to the Suns two nights ago.
"He stayed aggressive," Carlisle said of Ellis. "I liked his game a lot. I thought his defense was good and the fact we got into transition got him some easy buckets early and got him rolling."
San Antonio (44-26), who saw its three-game win streak snapped, led 29-17 after one quarter. But after the Mavs outscored them 26-17 in the second, the Spurs clung to a three-point lead (46-43) at the break.
The Mavs outscored the Spurs 59-37 combined in the second and third quarters to lead 76-66 after three. And even though the visitors outscored them 28-25 over the game's final 12 minutes, Dallas held on for a seven-point win, running their record when leading after three quarters to 33-0.
"That was a big win," said Mavs forward Chandler Parsons, who along with Dirk Nowitzki was Dallas' second-leading scorer with 15 points. "We know we are capable of playing this way. We played our tempo tonight. We played our style of basketball and that's what we have to do."
The Spurs were led by reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Danny Green added 17 for the Spurs, who shot 42 percent from the field but were just 8-of-28 from long range.
Green was 4-for-6 from distance but the rest of the team was 4-for-24.
As expected, the postgame press gathering for Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich outside the visiting locker room was rather brief, about 46 seconds to be exact.
It also wasn't surprising to hear Popovich talk about the game Ellis had.
"I think we started out well and after that it was the Mr. Ellis show," Popovich said. "We just didn't contain him. He went off and that was really the ballgame."
Coach Pop also took issue with the 16 turnovers the Spurs committed, 14 of which came in the second and third quarters, this after San Antonio finished the first frame with no miscues.
"These guys are really good if you turn it over and we're not going to get back in transition if we turn it over," Popovich said. "With two minutes to go in the game, we had more turnovers than assists. We can't play like that. That is not the way we are and that's not the way we have to play to win. We are just in a tough position if we turn it over that much. We don't assist and take quick shots."
But the good news for the denizens of the Alamo City is that they will have a quick chance to atone for this loss since the Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder at AT&T Center on Wednesday night to complete the back-to-back.
The Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 127-117 in OKC on Tuesday night.
The Mavs don't return to the floor until Friday for the rematch against the Spurs in San Antonio.
