Tyson Chandler deflects away shoe

DALLAS -- Get that shoe outta here!

That's the message Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler delivered midway through the third quarter of Saturday's 105-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors, swatting Marreese Speights' shoe into the courtside seats.

"It was tactical for sure," said Chandler, who recorded 11 points, 12 rebounds and one blocked shoe in the loss. "You can't run with a sock on. I was hoping that we could exploit that on the other end until they had to call a timeout or he had to foul, either or. But we didn't take advantage of it.

"I'm doing everything to try to win. I don't care what it is, if it's hitting a shoe or hitting whatever it is."

The shoe swat wasn't enough to help Dallas overcome a 28-point deficit, a hole the Mavs mostly dug by giving up 39 points in the first quarter.

"That was probably the [Mavs'] best defensive play of the night," Dallas power forward Dirk Nowitzki deadpanned.

Speights had lost his shoe a couple of possessions earlier, stepping out of it as he attempted to drive. He played an entire possession with just a sock on his left foot. Golden State guard Stephen Curry tried to help out his teammate, picking up the shoe and passing it to Speights near midcourt as the Warriors brought the ball up the court.

Not in Chandler's house.

Spotting the shoe in the air, Chandler changed direction and swatted it away with his left hand, drawing roars from the sellout crowd at the American Airlines Center and confused shrugs and points from Speights and Curry.

"That's crazy," said Speights, who retrieved his shoe from the front row. "He didn't get in trouble for that? No tech or anything? Hey, they thought it was going to help them, but I guess it didn't."

The swat also caught Curry by surprise.

"When I was on the wing, and I saw the shoe, and I immediately thought about my ankles, so I thought, 'I got to pick that up before I try to make that move,'" Curry said. "On the other transition, when he went to go get his shoe back, but Tyson thought um, otherwise, I guess. I've never seen that happen before."

It's not illegal, although Warriors coach Steve Kerr half-jokingly suggested that the league office should consider changing that.

"We need a new rule," Kerr said. "Like the Larry Bird exception, we're going to call it the Tyson Chandler rule: No deflecting shoes when they're tossed off to the side."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.