Why Dallas Mavericks Will Upset San Antonio Spurs?

The Dallas Mavericks enter the second half of the season poised to become the first team to defeat the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center this season.

The Dallas Mavericks face a task that has been impossible for anybody in the NBA this season: Beating the San Antonio Spurs on their home court at AT&T Center.

The Spurs enter this game with a record of 35-6, a mark that any other year would probably place San Antonio atop the entire Western Conference. Their second-seeded ranking entering the second half of the season is just two games behind the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

The Mavericks play their fourth-straight game against a team ranked in the top three of either conference in a span of just six days. Friday night’s gutsy win over the Chicago Bulls stopped a two game losing skid that really needed to end. As a result, Dallas goes from having lost four of five games to a team that lost in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers at home and then got blown out against the Oklahoma City Thunder the next night on the road while resting all starters.

There’s a big difference between those two perceptions.

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The Mavericks will pull off an upset of the Spurs on Sunday because they are the team with the most to gain. The fact that this team is getting healthy and has played as well as they have this season gives them every reason to believe that they can get this victory while continuing on their path of simply getting better each and every game.

Could the Spurs win?

Of course, but this game is simply bigger for the Mavericks than it is San Antonio, although keeping pace with the Warriors is a motivation for the Spurs.

For Dallas to get this victory, some things need to happen.

To start with, the Mavericks have to keep playing well against better teams, something they’ve generally done this season – remember that the pasting up in Oklahoma last Wednesday happened primarily because head coach Rick Carlisle elected to rest all of his starters again during this brutal stretch of games in the month of January.

The Bulls win was a strong showing, for sure. Two weeks before that loss to OKC, Dallas showed some definite moxie against Golden State in a win at American Airlines Center. Even though reigning league MVP Stephen Curry didn’t play for the Dubs in that loss, I’ll simply point out that he missed the following game the very next night and the Warriors beat the Rockets in Houston. In November Dallas knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers at home to avenge last summer’s free agency drama with center DeAndre Jordan.

The point is this: The Mavericks seem to be gear up for the big games while possibly laying off some in the lesser games. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has offered that sentiment to Dallas Morning News columnist Eddie Sefko.

"What I like is we play up to good teams. What I don’t like is we play down to bad teams."

It goes without saying that this game against the Spurs qualifies as a big game against a good team.

Dallas has given San Antonio one of its closest games at home this year, a 88-83 loss for Dallas back in November before Mavericks centerpiece-players like Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons looked like they were ready to contribute as expected following separate injuries suffered last season.

As of right now, Matthews is playing stout defense and Parsons, while still inconsistent, is looking more and more like his former self. If these two can combine for 30 points while holding Spurs star forward Kawhi Leonard under 20 points, the Mavericks will have a great chance at winning this game.

With 20 double-doubles on the season, center Zaza Pachulia will obviously deliver a top-notch effort each and every night. His backup, JaVale McGee, is coming into form as a strong presence in the paint both offensively and defensively. If Pachulia and McGee can combine for 20 points and 15 rebounds, this pushes Dallas even closer to win.

We know what Dirk Nowitzki will bring to the table as he’s been doing it since the Clinton Administration, and point guard Deron Williams needs to continue his big shots late in games.

Otherwise, the Mavericks bench needs to match that of San Antonio point for point, and this is probably where the game will be decided. San Antonio is undefeated at home for a reason and that bench might be the biggest one.

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Then again, the Spurs aren’t going to go undefeated at home this season, and they’re beyond due for their first loss at AT&T Center.

Coming off that season sweep of Chicago to begin the weekend, the Mavericks are primed to catch the Spurs, a team that’s had the last two days off, with their pants down in a 101-97 upset.

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