The Dallas Mavericks have not had a lot of success at American Airlines Center this season. Before Wednesday’s night game against the Detroit Pistons, Dallas had lost four straight at home and was 13-14 in their building.
Against the Pistons, Dallas(31-26) started slow and trailed 36-33 after the first quarter. However, the Mavericks woke up and outscored Detroit(18-41) by 12 in the second quarter. Jalen Brunson came off the bench to score 12 of his 20 points the quarter, and Dallas would not look back as they defeated the Pistons 127-117 to snap their two-game losing streak and their four-game home skid.
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 25 points, and Mason Plumlee added 13 points and 16 rebounds.
“We got off to a bit of a rough start,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “I thought we were playing hard, but they were just playing a little better. Thirty-six is a lot to give up in the first quarter, but our second quarter got us back on track. We had a lead at halftime. Second half, we did what we needed to do to get the win.”
Dallas had a new look on Wednesday night. Dwight Powell replaced Maxi Kleber in the starting lineup. Powell finished with six points and three rebounds in 12 minutes. After the game, Carlisle explained why he went to Powell.
“The other night against [Sacramento] when we were really struggling, he came in and changed the game with hard, physical play,” Carlisle said. “I thought that there was some history. He played with the majority of that group last year in the starting lineup with the exception of [Josh] Richardson, who wasn’t here. I just thought it was a change-up we needed. Going forward, we’ll see. There’s going to be some fluidity in the lineup based on matchups.”
Doncic praised Powell’s effort, and according to him, Powell energizes the team.
“He goes hard every time,” Doncic said. “No matter if he’s going to play 30 seconds or 30 minutes, you know he goes hard. He brings the energy to this team, and he just goes hard all the time.”
Dallas ends their five-game homestand with a two-game set starting on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles is expected to have Anthony Davis, who is likely to return after injuring his calf back in February. They still will be without LeBron James(ankle).
The fifth-seeded Lakers are four games up on the seventh-seeded Mavericks, so if Dallas sweeps this two-game set, they could move to two games behind Los Angeles, which would big. In addition, a win tonight ties them with the Blazers for the sixth spot in the West.
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