DALLAS — DeMar DeRozan dribbled, dribbled, dribbled on the left wing. Every person in American Airlines Center knew he would take San Antonio’s final shot.
The Mavericks, though, didn’t send an extra defender to help Dorian Finney-Smith and force DeRozan to pass or shoot a more difficult shot.
Instead, DeRozan’s 20-footer over Finney-Smith’s outstretched hand splashed through the net with five-tenths of a second left, giving San Antonio a 119-117 lead and ultimately the victory when Luka Doncic’s 35-foot desperation attempt fell well short.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said there was discussion during a timeout with 19.4 seconds left to double-team DeRozan (33 points, 12 in the fourth quarter), but ultimately decided not to.
“We elected to let Doe-Doe guard him straight up,” Carlisle said. “In hindsight, we obviously should have gone [to double-team]. That’s on me. That’s my decision.”
The result prevented the Mavericks from sweeping a season series from the Spurs for the first time in the rivalry’s 41-season history — but more importantly, it was a stinging defeat for the Mavericks (29-23) in their ongoing quest to climb into the top six in the Western Conference.
Instead of winning for the seventh time in their last eight games, the Mavericks fell to a Texas rival for the second time in four days. Houston and San Antonio are otherwise winless in April, making the two defeats all the more damaging.
“He made a hell of a shot, over good defense,” Luka Doncic said of DeRozan.
Kristaps Porzingis led the Mavericks with 31 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks, but he fouled out with 1:14 remaining, with DeRozan completing a three-point play, giving San Antonio a 117-113 lead.
“I thought I was going to get the block, but I just missed it and barely hit his head,” Porzingis said. “Tough not to be out there in that situation.
Doncic (29 points, seven assists) pulled Dallas within on a shot from the lane with 19.4 seconds left, setting up DeRozan’s heroics.
Poor starts to the second, third and fourth quarters put the Mavericks back on their heels, with San Antonio starting those periods, respectively, 5-0, 9-2 and 11-2.
Porzingis 20 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, in first in his career. It was his third first half double-double in his last seven games, after never having a first-half double-double in his first 270 career games.
Asked before the game how he feels about the places 7-through-10 teams having a playoff play-in tournament, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shrugged.
“I give it no thought whatsoever at my age,” 72-year-old Popovich said. “Because I have to pick and choose how I want to spend my thinking moments. And it wouldn’t matter what I think.”
Since entering the league in 1980, the Mavericks have lost more regular-season games to San Antonio (113) than any opponent.
For Dallas, playing in the same division as San Antonio for 41 seasons has had its disadvantages, as San Antonio has 20 of the 40 division titles to date.
In their four-decade existence the Mavericks have only three division titles to their name: 1986-87, 2006-2007 and 2009-2010. When they won their only NBA title, in 2010-11, the 57-win Mavericks finished second in the division behind 61-win San Antonio.
Fortunately for the Mavericks, the NBA in recent years has devalued the importance of division standings. In 2016, the league did away with the provision that a division title guaranteed a top-four seeding and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
“I haven’t thought about the division title in at least 20 years” Popovich said. “It never enters my head.”
Spoken like a coach who has won five NBA titles while contributing 13 division titles to San Antonio’s ledger.
