Random observations from the Mavericks' 103-94 win at San Antonio

 
 
Strange stuff was going on all over the place, but the
biggest piece of weirdness was the Mavericks handing the San Antonio Spurs just
their second loss of the season, riding Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Shawn
Marion to a 103-94 victory.
 
The Mavericks were the better defenders and while the Spurs
tried to go upbeat and win with 3-pointers, the Mavericks made more plays.
 
Marion was terrific defending Manu Ginobili, who pounded his
fist on the scorer’s table in the final seconds when the outcome became
clear.
 
Dirk Nowitzki was 12-of-14 from the floor and had another
dazzling overall game.
 
A 9-0 run capped by Dirk’s 16-foot fadeaway made it
95-88 with 1:44 to go and clinched the win.
 
Chandler followed up his 17-point, 18-rebound game in
Oklahoma with 19 points and eight rebounds. He wore out the free-throw line,
going 13-of-16.
 
J.J. Barea can’t by a bucket from the perimeter these
days, but the rest of his game is working pretty well. He had six assists
against the Spurs and held his own at the defensive end.
 
Neither team led by more than six points through the first
three quarters.
 
The Spurs got 16 first-quarter points from Manu Ginobili
before the Mavericks went to their GPS system to locate him. He only had two in
the second quarter.
 
Dirk Nowitzki hit his first six shots and was 9-of-11 at one
point in the third quarter.