Final score: Spurs hold off Mavs 112-106

The Spurs are just better at basketball than the Mavs. Better at offense, better at defense, better at rebounding. Dallas was hanging tough in the fourth quarter but the Mavs couldn't get any stops.

Kind of the story of the season. The Mavericks played well in ways. They shot a decent percentage, they hit some threes. They didn't turn it over.

But the Spurs shot better. They played better defense, they won the battle on the boards. The Mavs and Spurs were basically even throughout the night except for a big run from San Antonio in the third quarter. That was pretty much it. The Mavs kept scoring, but they couldn't stop the Spurs from scoring just as much.

Dirk played well, plagued with some early foul trouble. He had a few moments where it looked like he was ready to take the game over, but it didn't happen.

Calderon and Ellis combined for 13 assists and five turnovers. Calderon missed a few shots. Ellis had an Ellis-like 7-of-15 shooting night. He did bank in a three and that was neat.

But really, this loss boils down to the Mavs center spot. Neither DeJuan Blair, Brandan Wright or Samuel Dalembert. Dalembert had 10 rebounds but was 3-of-7 and had a lot of #DALEMDERP moments around the rim. Blair had some moments, but was outmatched. Wright just couldn't match up on defense.

The Spurs seemingly did whatever they wanted on offense. A missed shot felt more like the Spurs messing up than anything the Mavs did. Typically, that would result in Dallas getting crushed in a blowout. They hung in there, which was good to see. San Antonio is simply better.

Sound off in the comments or go watch the Oscars or something.