SAN ANTONIO -- It's a fact that the NBA is becoming a league of smaller, quicker players, but there's still room for the big guys, especially when they can move and shoot from the perimeter, play defense and use their length to get in the passing lanes.

The San Antonio Spurs have that kind of player in LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol, and the two post stalwarts led a strong supporting cast of teammates to a 115-108 win over the scrappy Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at AT&T Center.

Aldridge, with 33 points, and Gasol, with 25, dominated the smaller Mavericks' frontcourt and helped the Spurs (13-7) overcome a putrid second-quarter stretch that saw them fall behind by as many as 13 points.

The Spurs came back late in the second and early in the third quarter. They led just 92-91 with 4:35 to play in a back-and-forth game before a 10-0 run during the ensuing 2 1/2 minutes created the space they needed for the victory.

A four-point play by Gasol with 1:30 remaining and a layup and a free throw by Aldridge on the following possession put away the determined Mavericks.

"Our game plan is always to try to take advantage of our strengths and tonight we did a good job of staying big," Gasol said. "We don't do that very often -- we start big but don't finish big. In the second half, we sharpened up a lot and overall it was a great effort, a great win. Let's see if we can continue to build on it."

Danny Green, Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson scored 12 points each, and Bryn Forbes poured in 11. Aldridge and Anderson also had 10 rebounds each for San Antonio.

Wesley Matthews and Dennis Smith Jr. led the Mavericks (5-16) with 19 points apiece. J.J. Barea added 16 points, and Devin Harris and Harrison Barnes contributed 13 each. Dallas also got 11 points from Dirk Nowitzki and 10 from Dwight Powell.

"The team played better in the second half," said Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina, who took control of the team when coach Gregg Popovich was ejected in the second quarter. "Seeing that (Popovich) leaves the game, the players took two or three minutes, then they refocused, got a little bit more of an edge and executed pretty well."

Dallas roared back from a 19-12 deficit with 4:50 to play in the first quarter via an 18-2 run bridging the first and second quarter to assume a 30-21 lead.

The Mavericks' advantage grew to as many as a baker's dozen in the second quarter before the Spurs closed the half with a 9-3 run, forcing Dallas to settle for a 53-46 lead at intermission.

"We did a good job of moving the basketball early in the game, and we got some stops and got some flow going," Barnes said. "In the second half we got a little stagnant and didn't get as many good possessions and they got rolling."

The game included the return to the court by San Antonio's 35-year-old point guard Tony Parker, who had missed the first 19 games of the season because of a quad injury he sustained in the playoffs last season. Parker scored six points on 3-of-7 shooting and added four assists in 15 minutes.

"We made mistakes that led to runs for them and we had some untimely turnovers that hurt us," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We got hurt by San Antonio's length and not recognizing that they had big, tall trees in the lane.

"On the road in a game when you need precision, you just can't have that happen. It's disappointing that we didn't execute when we could have won this game."

NOTES: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was tossed from the game with 7:25 left in the second quarter after coming on the court to vehemently argue a referee's foul call against F Kyle Anderson. It was Popovich's second ejection and league-leading fourth technical foul in 20 games this season. ... Both teams were assessed delay-of-game warnings for being tardy to the court for the beginning of the second half. ... The Spurs announced just before game time that reserve F Rudy Gay would not play because of a sore right heel. ... All four of the meetings between these two Lone Star State rivals will be played before Christmas this season. ... Spurs F LaMarcus Aldridge was born in Dallas, attended Seagoville High School, and went on to play his college ball at the University of Texas. ... Mavericks G Wesley Matthews was born in San Antonio and his father, Wes Matthews, played for the Spurs in 1985-86.