Boris Diaw scored 19 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 94-76 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Danny Green had 14 points, Tiago Splitter donated 13 points and seven rebounds, while Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard each gave 12 points and six boards for the Spurs, who have won five of their last six games.
Tyson Chandler scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Monta Ellis added 10 points for the Mavericks, who have dropped three of their last four.
The Spurs sit in the sixth spot in the Western Conference and are 1 1/2 games up on the Mavericks.
The Spurs never trailed in this game and the team closed the first quarter with the final nine points as Diaw's 3-pointer made it a 28-18 game going into the second quarter.
San Antonio scored the first six points of the second quarter to build a 16- point lead, and the advantage reached as high as 19 before the Mavericks made a late run to cut their deficit to 54-41 at the break.
The Spurs' offense went cold for nearly six minutes in the third quarter and that allowed the Mavericks to get back into the game.
Amar'e Stoudemire's layup got Dallas within five at 66-61, but Green hit a 3 near the buzzer to make it a 69-61 game going into the fourth.
Diaw made a 3-pointer to start a 12-2 run to begin the fourth quarter and the Spurs held an 81-63 lead with just under seven minutes to play.
The lead reached as high as 21 as San Antonio cruised to the finish.
Game Notes
San Antonio hosts Memphis on Sunday ... Dallas plays in Indiana on Sunday ... The Spurs shot 44 percent while the Mavericks connected on 37.8 percent of its attempts.
[SportsNetwork.com]
