Dallas kept losing, Atlanta stopped winning.
The Mavericks' losing streak reached 17 games Thursday night as the San Antonio Spurs beat Dallas 103-89. Atlanta's winning streak ended at 14 games as they blew a 17-point lead and lost 99-81 at home to the Indiana Pacers.Dallas is only two losses shy of the club-record losing streak of 19 that the Mavericks set last season as they went 11-71. They can match it Monday at New York if they also lose at Houston on Saturday.
"We've got a long way to go," Mavericks coach Quinn Buckner said. "We have to find some people to play with commitment."
David Robinson scored 30 points, including 13 in the first quarter and 13 more in the third. Dale Ellis added 18 points and Dennis Rodman had 18 rebounds for visiting San Antonio.
"A losing streak is scary because you never know when the team is going to get out of it. Sometimes a team on a losing streak is real loose and can sneak up on you. We didn't want them to be loose tonight," Robinson said.
Atlanta's streak came to an end because the Hawks couldn't hold onto a huge lead they built in the second quarter. Dominique Wilkins gave the Hawks a 36-19 lead, but the Pacers came back with a 14-0 run.
"We were ready to play, but things just didn't go right," Wilkins said. "So many times the clock was running down and forced us to take bad shots. They just outplayed us tonight."
"The streak had to end sometime," Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens said. "I just wish it had been on the road, rather than at home."
It was the first loss in 10 games for Atlanta at the Omni. Only 10,551 fans showed up at the 16,510-seat arena.
In other games, New York beat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-85, New Jersey beat Charlotte 111-95, Detroit beat Washington 97-95 and Cleveland beat Miami 90-89.