Spurs Trip Up New-Look Mavs

Just another night for Tim Duncan.

Duncan had 31 points and 13 rebounds, his NBA-best 44th double-double of the season, as San Antonio beat Dallas 107-104 Saturday night, giving Spurs coach Gregg Popovich his 200th coaching victory and spoiling the Mavericks' first game with Juwan Howard in the lineup.

"We can score points, but that's not what we rest our hat on. We need to go out and defend," Duncan said. "They hit a bunch of shots and really got back in the game. We stayed consistent, we went to the line and we kept defending. We made one or two stops when we needed to and that's what matters."

Duncan scored six of his points over the last 1:23, including 4-of-5 free throws, to ensure the win for San Antonio. He has 198 double-doubles in his 261 career regular-season games.

The Spurs, after blowing a 15-point lead, went back ahead to stay when David Robinson made two free throws with 2:30 left to make it 94-93. After Howard missed a short jumper, Derek Anderson responded with a 3-pointer for San Antonio.

"We stuck together, that's the big reason we played so well," said Anderson, who finished with 24 points.

"We were fortunate at the end," Popovich said.

Howard Eisley hit two 3-pointers as the Mavericks ended the third quarter with a 14-4 run over the last 3:37 to pull within 73-71. Nash's fadeaway jumper started the run, and then he fed Michael Finley for a reverse layup and added a short rainbow jumper.

Eilsey's two free throws tied it at 75 with 10:08 left and it was tight the rest of the way.

"It was a tough loss," said Steve Nash, who led the Mavs with 29 points and 10 assists. "We played with a lot of energy, but San Antonio got great balance."

Antonio Daniels had 17 for the Spurs. Robinson finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Howard, the primary player in the Mavs' 5-for-3 trade with Washington at the NBA trading deadline Thursday, had 12 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes for Dallas.

The Spurs built a 52-45 lead after a 17-1 run to end the first half, and then had their biggest lead when two Robinson free throws made it 66-51 with 5:41 left in the third.

Just before that late first-half run, Popovich earned a technical foul when he stepped onto the court to argue no foul being called on a failed ally-oop to Robinson. The Mavericks got three points Nash's free throws and Finley's 12-foot jumper and led 44-36.

Finley had 23 points, while Nowitzki had 16 and Eisley 14.

San Antonio didn't lead until Duncan's short jumper with 2:08 left made it 47-45. Duncan then had a buzzer-beating 3-pointer after picking off an errant pass by Eduardo Najera.

Daniels hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the first quarter, but the Spurs trailed 28-21 at that time.

Howard began his Mavericks career with a foul 13 seconds into the game, had an assist on the opening basket and then scored on a short jumper less than two minutes in to make it 4-0.

"I was a little nervous. Being in a new environment and a new atmosphere and playing with a new team, you never know what to expect," Howard said. "As time goes by, I'll get used to the system and I'll get used to playing here. Everything will be like regular play."

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