Dirk-less Mavs fall to Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Dallas Mavericks 99-93 Thursday night in Dallas.

Playing their second consecutive game without forward Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs made a 4th quarter charge but fell short to the Spurs.  Nowitzki, who ranks 7th in the league in scoring with 24.1 points per game, is out due to a right knee sprain he suffered during the December 27th game at Oklahoma City.  Nowitzki has only missed 34 games in his 13 seasons.

Starting in place of Nowitzki was Brian Cardinal, who scored 9 points in his first start for Dallas.

Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd recorded his first triple-double of the season (106th career) with 12 points (5-15 FGs, 2-5 3FGs), 10 rebounds and 13 assists. His 106 triple-doubles rank first among all active players and third all-time.

Mavericks forward Caron Butler led Dallas with 14 first-half points. He finished with a season-high 30 points (10-21 FGs, 1-3 3FGs, 9-9 FTs) and had 22 through three quarters of play. It marked his first 30-point effort of the year. He’s now scored 20-plus points in three of his last four games (five times overall this season).

The Spurs outrebounded the Mavericks 25-15 in the first half and 50-35 for the game.  Spurs forward Tim Duncan recorded his 12th double-double (17 points and 11 rebounds) of the season for San Antonio in the win.

The Mavericks play New Year’s night in Milwaukee.