By LARRY BUMP, AP
DALLAS — Luka Doncic scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs 104-99 on Thursday night (Friday, Manila time), after some wild swings in the first half before turning into a back-and-forth game.
Mavericks vs Spurs recap
The Mavericks finally went ahead to stay on Doncic's alley-oop pass to Dwight Powell for the finish that made it 86-84 with 8:33 left. They stretched that to an 11-point gap by the time Doncic hit a step-back 3-pointer about 3 1/2 minutes later.
Jalen Brunson added 19 points for the Mavericks, while Dorian Finney-Smith had 14 and Maxi Kleber 12. They all had at least three 3-pointers, the same as Doncic. Kelber also had 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.
Dejounte Murray (23 points and 10 rebounds) and Jakob Poeltl (14 points and 13 rebounds) had double-doubles for the Spurs. Bryn Forbes had 15 points on five 3s. Lonnie Walker IV, starting in place of the injured Doug McDermott, scored 14.
San Antonio jumped out to a 25-5 lead to start the game, and the Mavericks didn't have a field goal until Doncic scored with 6:33 left in the first quarter to get within 18-3.
After the scorching start for the Spurs, Dallas went on a 31-4 run to take a 36-29 lead.
The Spurs closed the first half with a 20-11 spurt, taking a 49-47 halftime lead when Forbes' made his fourth 3-pointer to beat the buzzer.
INJURY REPORT
Spurs: McDermott (swollen right knee) sat out the game. "I expect him back after this trip," coach Gregg Popovich said. McDermott likely would miss three games and return on Nov. 3 at home against Dallas.
Mavericks: Kristaps Porzingis (lower back tightness) did not play. "We'll evaluate him tomorrow," coach Jason Kidd said. ... Trey Burke also sat out. Kidd read from notes, "Trey's not sick. There's a certain amount of protocols that have to take place within a certain time. It didn't happen. He will travel with the team and be available."
UP NEXT
Spurs: At Milwaukee on Saturday in the second game of a three-game trip.
Mavericks: Play a back-to-back game on Friday at Denver before returning home.
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