SAN ANTONIO SPURS (34-46 before Saturday’s game) at MAVERICKS (51-30)
Time: 8:30 p.m., Sunday.
Place: American Airlines Center, Dallas.
TV: Bally Sports Southwest.
Radio: The Eagle 97.1 FM; Univision Zona MX 99.1 FM (Spanish)
About the Spurs: They turned out to be one of the biggest surprises in the NBA, reaching the play-in tournament ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers. They will open the tournament against New Orleans with the winner moving on to play the loser of the Los Angeles Clippers-Minnesota Timberwolves game for the eighth and final playoff spot . . . If you were asked to name the players who average at least 20 points, eight assists and eight rebounds this season, you’d probably get Luka Dončić. But you might overlook the Spurs’ Dejounte Murray. The Spurs have found a budding superstar in Murray, who missed the entire 2018-19 season with a torn right ACL, but has improved dramatically in the last three seasons to the point where he’s averaging 21.2 points, 9.3 assists and 8.4 rebounds . . . If the Mavericks’ Jalen Brunson isn’t the most improved player this season, it may well be Murray . . . The Spurs also have found high-level contributors that came from well under the radar. Center Jakob Poetl is averaging 13. 5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game after he arrived from Toronto in the Kawhi Leonard-DeMar DeRozan deal . . . In addition, former Maverick Josh Richardson arrived in San Antonio in a trade for Derrick White. Since the deal, Richardson has averaged 11.1 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range . . . The Spurs are middle of the road in offensive (16th) and defensive (16th) rating, but they are very unselfish, leading the NBA at 28.1 assists per game . . . They also play fast, averaging 113.3 points per game, a stark reversal from the Mavericks, who rate last in the NBA in pace of play.
About the Mavericks: They will try to close out the season with their 52nd win and 29th at AAC . . . They already have clinched a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but they don’t know if they will be the third or fourth seed in the Western Conference. They own the tiebreaker over Golden State, which finishes the regular season at New Orleans in a game that tips off at the same time as the Mavericks and Spurs . . . The Mavericks found out Saturday afternoon they would have Luka Dončić available after the NBA rescinded his technical foul that referee Tony Brothers called on him after the first quarter of Friday night’s blowout win over Portland. It would have been his 16th technical foul of the season, which would have triggered an automatic one-game suspension. Instead, he reverts back to having 15 technicals . . . Going into the season finale, Luka is averaging 28.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game . . . The Mavericks will play either Utah or Denver in the first round of the playoffs. However, if they are the No. 4 seed, a possible second-round match against powerful Phoenix looms. If they are the No. 3 seed and can get out of the first round for the first time since 2011, they would likely see Memphis, who they beat two out of three meetings this season . . . Then again, as Luka says: “If you try to win (championships), you got to beat everybody. So we’re just trying to get the third seed and we’ll see.” . . . The Mavericks will open the playoffs either next Saturday or Sunday.
Twitter: @ESefko
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