Dirk Nowitzki's return to the floor for the Dallas Mavericks was spoiled by San Antonio, after the Spurs eased to a 129-91 win.
Nowitzki, playing his first regular season game this season, managed eight points in 20 minutes, sitting out the final quarter after the game had been pretty much decided by a rampant Spurs team.
"In the middle of the third we were down by 80, so I didn't really have to go back in," the Associated Press quoted Nowitzki as saying.
Danny Green scored a career-high 25 points, making nine of 10 attempts from the field for the Spurs, seven of them 3-pointers, to help San Antonio to an easy win.
Tony Parker added 18 points and six assists, Kawhi Leonard had 17 points and five steals, Tim Duncan added 15 and chipped in woth five rebounds and Stephen Jackson contributed with 14 points for San Antonio.
The Spurs 38-point win was the largest margin of victory in the current NBA season.
"We got a (butt-kicking), that's it," Shawn Marion said. "No need to explain it ... it was an old-fashioned (butt-kicking)."
The Spurs broke their own record of 19 three-pointers in a game by shooting 20 against the Mavericks.
For Dallas, Darren Collison was the top scorer with 15 points, while Vince Carter had 13 points and five rebounds. Dallas center Chris Kaman finished with 10 points.
The Spurs out-rebounded Dallas 41-39 and they had 33 assists against the Mavericks' 22. San Antonio also had a season-high 17 steals.
"We don't create that many turnovers normally," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "So that's a heck of a night for us as far as steals are concerned.
"That's not going to happen very often. We were fortunate it was one of those nights when your opponent has a bad night and you have a great night and it ends up like tonight."
The Spurs outscored the Mavericks 33-26 in the first quarter.
The former MVP Nowitzki, who confirmed his participation in the game less than an hour before tipoff, entered the floor with 6:28 remaining in the first quarter with fans cheering him, but he could not make his return memorable.
"Before the game I felt decent, so I said I'm going to give it a go," Nowitzki said. "I felt actually good out there. I thought the wind was OK, but my legs were a little heavy there after a couple of trips up and down but I thought I fought through it OK."
The Spurs again dominated the second quarter with Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw hitting consecutive 3-pointers to extend San Antonio's lead to 55-45 with 3:42 remaining.
In the third quarter, Green shot his seventh 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 77-57 lead. They entered the fourth quarter with a huge 34-point lead, before finishing the game off with a flourish in the final quarter.
"We need to keep on working," Nowitzki added. "We've got a lot of areas to improve. We might not be as talented as some teams on the top, but if we're not, you have to make it up with how you play and compete and it's just not there."
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