SAN ANTONIO _ Mark Cuban spent Thanksgiving in New York with his family, but naturally he continued to watch his Mavericks' recent surge, from afar.
On Monday night, though, Cuban was back, sitting behind the bench as the Mavericks went toe-to-toe with perennial Southwest Division heavyweight San Antonio.
The Spurs, seemingly inspired by point guard Tony Parker's return and coach Gregg Popovich's second-quarter ejection, rallied for a 115-108 victory at AT&T Center. Leading 92-91 with 4:39 left, San Antonio scored 10 straight points to blow the game open.
"Aldridge just got hot; we didn't have an answer for him," Mavericks rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. said of Seagoville product LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds.
"It's a win or lose league," said Dirk Nowitzki, who, with 11 points, was one of seven Mavericks who scored in double figures. "We were right there in the fourth against a really good team. We've had plenty of those outings. Now we have 16 losses."
The deep disappointment in the Mavericks' locker room was a statement in itself. A few weeks ago, this team was 1-10. Entering Monday, Dallas had won three of its last four outings, holding each of those opponents to fewer than 100 points in regulation.
Cuban credits the insertion of little-known, 6-foot-11 free agent signee Maxi Kleber into the starting lineup for giving the Mavericks stability _ on both ends of the court. Though Kleber only played 12 minutes Monday, the Mavericks are 3-3 since he became a starter.
"We didn't really have an identity before _ and you guys heard me say that," Cuban said.
"I'm not saying, 'Look, hey, here comes 67-15 again,' " he added, alluding to the Mavericks' 2006-2007 season, in which they started 0-4. "But I think we have more of an identity now of being a team that plays hard and moves the ball. And I think especially at the defensive end that's been huge for us."
Monday night brought further evidence of improvement. After falling behind 17-9, the Mavericks used an 18-2 run to jump to a 30-21 second quarter lead.
After Popovich's ejection, the Spurs made runs, as expected, finally taking a 77-75 lead entering the fourth quarter.
At that point, five Mavericks were in double figures _ and none of them were named Nowitzki or Harrison Barnes.
"I think we've got our rotations down," Cuban said. "I think a little bit more consistency in rotations has really helped guys understand their roles and what's expected of them. And they're playing harder."
Said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle: "Kleber's given us a lot more flexibility defensively. He's been one of our better defenders. When you add a guy like that, that can guard people individually and can switch liberally and keep little guys in front of him, that helps."
