Mavericks, minus stars, prevail over Spurs in OT
FILE – Christian Wood #35 of the Dallas Mavericks dunks the ball against the Houston Rockets in the second half at American Airlines Center on December 29, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. Tim Heitman/Getty Images/AFP
Christian Wood racked up 28 points and 13 rebounds off the bench as the visiting Dallas Mavericks were at their best late in regulation and in overtime in a 137-128 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
With Dallas up by a point, Jaden Hardy made one of two free throws with 3.4 seconds to play in regulation, giving the Spurs a chance to tie with a bucket. The Mavericks fouled Keldon Johnson with 1.7 seconds left, but he missed the first free throw. That forced Johnson to intentionally miss the second, which was grabbed by Dallas’ Maxi Kleber, but was fumbled out of bounds.
After a timeout, Johnson sent the game to the extra period on an alley-oop dunk at the buzzer.
That's TUFF 😤 pic.twitter.com/Wxbe2aw2Ok
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 16, 2023
The Mavericks took charge by opening the overtime with a 9-2 run that gave them a 130-123 lead with 2:18 remaining and they held on to snap a three-game losing streak.
Hardy and Dwight Powell had 22 points each for Dallas while Josh Green scored 21, Reggie Bullock had 20 points and 13 rebounds and McKinley Wright IV scored 11. The Mavericks played without Luka Doncic (left thigh sprain), Kyrie Irving (right foot soreness) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (left calf contusion).
Johnson led San Antonio with 27 points. Malaki Branham added 20, with Romeo Langford scoring 17, Devonte’ Graham and Tre Jones hitting for 13 each, Blake Wesley tallying 11 and Sandro Mamukelashvili pitching in 10.
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 16, 2023
San Antonio, playing the second game of a home back-to-back, was missing Jeremy Sochan (right knee injury management) and Zach Collins (left ankle injury management), Keita Bates-Diop (left Achilles soreness) and Devin Vassell (left knee injury management).
Both teams enjoyed four-point leads in the first quarter that ended with San Antonio on top 29-28. Two free throws by Bullock allowed the Mavericks to leapfrog back to the front before Graham poured in a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play to grant San Antonio a 62-60 advantage at the break.
Green paces all scorers with 13 points before halftime while Wood had 12 points and eight rebounds and Bullock and Wright added 11 points each. San Antonio was led at the half by 11 points apiece from Langford and Johnson and 10 from Graham.
