Dallas made nine more three-pointers than San Antonio on Wednesday night and still walked out of Frost Bank Center with a 112-111 loss. The explanation sits in the spaces between those threes: the Spurs made 14 more points on two-point shots and 14 more at the free-throw line. A 27-point Dallas advantage from deep was reduced to a one-point deficit everywhere else.
That is a blunt scoring profile, but it is not a mysterious one. The Mavericks made 25 of 65 two-point attempts for 50 points. San Antonio made 32 of 59 for 64.
Dallas converted 19 of 26 free throws; the Spurs went 33 of 39. Put those categories together and San Antonio built a 28-point cushion before Dallas’s three-point edge brought the margin back to one.
The paint numbers add texture without becoming a second tally. San Antonio scored 62 points in the paint, compared with Dallas’s 40, but paint scoring is part of the broader two-point total. It cannot be stacked on top of those 50 and 64 points.
Still, the 22-point paint gap helps explain why the Spurs could survive a 5-for-36 night from three while Dallas shot 14 of 37 from outside.
Victor Wembanyama was the clearest reason. He scored 52 points, making 16 of 28 shots, including 15 of 20 on two-point attempts. He also went 19 of 23 at the line, while his only successful three came on eight attempts.
His 24 rebounds and eight blocks made the performance larger than the scoring breakdown, but the breakdown itself tells the story: Wembanyama supplied 30 points on two-point baskets and 19 from free throws.
San Antonio’s supporting cast did not compensate by suddenly becoming a perimeter machine. The other Spurs combined to shoot 21 of 67 from the field and 4 of 28 from three. Devin Vassell was 0-for-8, and Stephon Castle was 6-for-20.
Yet Dylan Harper made 9 of 15 for 21 points, Castle scored 17 and San Antonio repeatedly found points inside the arc or at the stripe. A bad outside shooting night became survivable because the Spurs had other ways to finish possessions.
Dallas had plenty of counterpunches. Naji Marshall scored 22 on 9-of-12 shooting and made all three of his threes. P.J. Washington added 21 points, 10 rebounds and three three-pointers. Cooper Flagg’s night improved sharply after a four-point first half on 1-of-11 shooting; he scored 15 after halftime and finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Dallas’s reserves also outscored San Antonio’s bench 38-10.
