"The Spurs' hardest week of the season to date started Sunday night in a bad way.

After struggling down the stretch against Minnesota Friday night, the Spurs almost stole a victory at Dallas thanks to a dramatic bench performance before falling 101-100 in overtime.

As much as the Spurs might feel good about the bench's effort, the realization that games against Memphis, Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City loom in the next six days remains daunting.

Sunday night might be a moral victory for some, but the Spurs still lost to a division foe and their most bitter rival to boot. They fell out of first place in a game where they limited Dirk Nowitzki to 10 points on 5-for-14 shooting and still lost."