SAN ANTONIO — Playing their first game against the Spurs at the AT&T Center this season, Dallas Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis and guard Luka Doncic demonstrated Wednesday night why they're among the most highly touted players in the NBA.
Doncic finished with 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, and Porzingis had 28 points and 12 rebounds, leading the Mavs to a 109-103 victory after turning back a furious San Antonio rally in the fourth quarter.
Doncic's triple-double, his 13th of the season, gives him 21 for his career and ties him with Jason Kidd for Dallas' franchise record. But he's way ahead of Kidd, getting his 21st triple-double in his 119th game. Kidd set the record in 500 games.
"It was tough to play here, obviously, since it is a rivalry," Doncic said. "But like I said at the beginning of the year when we won, when we win these games we are going to learn. You can see we are learning. It is not always going to be perfect, but we are learning."
Doncic, last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, turns 21 on Friday. After scoring only nine points on 4-of-12 shooting in the first half, Doncic hit 6 of 13 field-goal attempts and had 17 points in the last two quarters.
Asked the challenge that Doncic presented in the second half, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich replied: "Same as the first. It's what he does."
With Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge out with a sore right shoulder, Popovich went with a small lineup, starting guards Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes and Lonnie Walker IV, small forward DeMar DeRozan and forward/center Trey Lyles.
Sparked by Porzingis, who had 16 points in the first quarter, the Mavs jumped out to a 17-point lead before the Silver and Black trimmed the deficit to 10 at the half.
Porzingis scored his 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4 of 8 three-pointers, and added a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double.
“I think the game plan that I came out with was poor and they took advantage of it in the first quarter, and we turned it over nine times in the first half," Popovich said. "So, that got us in a hole. They’re a hell of a team.
"I’m really proud of the effort and the stick-to-itiveness where they (Spurs) could have hung their heads and cashed it in, and they came back and played their ass off after that. So, a lot of good things. But, obviously, Dallas played well enough to win, for sure.”
Patty Mills gave the Spurs their last lead, 93-92, with a three-pointer at 5:20 of the fourth period, and Walker tied the game at 96 with another three.
But after a three-point play by Porzingis put Dallas ahead to stay with 3:45 remaining, Porzingis, Seth Curry and Doncic nailed three consecutive three-pointers to give the Mavs a 108-96 that effectively sealed the outcome with 1:52 left.
Dallas, 3-0 against San Antonio this season, improved to 36-23. The Mavs are seventh in the Western Conference standings.
The Spurs (24-33) dropped from 11th to 12th in the West, but remained 3.5 games behind Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference after the Grizzlies lost to Houston on Wednesday night.
The Spurs, who fell to 14-13 at home, host Orlando on Saturday and Indiana on Monday.
DeRozan led the San Antonio scoring with 27 points. Marco Belinelli (14), Walker IV (12) and Bryn Forbes (10) also scored in double figures. DeRozan came close to finishing with a triple-double himself, adding nine assists and eight rebounds to go with his team-high scoring.
Doncic scored 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting to help the Mavs take an 88-77 lead into the fourth quarter.
Tim Hardaway hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to put Dallas up 59-49 at the half. San Antonio cut a Mavs lead that got as high as 19 points in the first two quarters to seven, 56-49, on a three-pointer by Belinelli on the possession before Tim Hardaway Jr.'s trey.
Porzingis (16) and Dorian Finney-Smith (10) led Dallas' scoring in the first half. Porzingis made 6 of 7 shots, including 3 of 4 from three-point line. Doncic had only nine points on 4-of-12 shooting.
DeRozan (15) was the only Spur in double figures after two quarters. He was 4 of 7 from the field and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.
The Mavs hit 10 of 25 three-pointers in the first half, and the Spurs were 5 of 14 from beyond the arc. Dallas shot 47.7 percent overall, hitting 21 of 44 attempts. San Antonio was 38.6 percent (17-44) from the field in the first two quarters.