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The Dallas Mavericks(40-28) got one step closer to avoiding the Play-In Tournament, and the Cleveland Cavaliers(21-47) got another step closer to more lottery balls on Sunday night.
Despite Luka Doncic getting ejected due to a flagrant 2 foul on Collin Sexton, Dallas routed the Cavaliers 124-97 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Dallas beat the Cavaliers for the second time in three days. The Mavericks defeated Cleveland 110-90 in Dallas on Friday night.
Dallas has won four straight, and the Cavs have now lost ten consecutive games for the second time this season.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led Dallas with 25 points; Josh Richardson added 20. Sexton had 24 points for Cleveland, and Mfiondu Kabengele poured in a career-high 14 points off the bench.
The story of the night was the ejection of Doncic. Early in the third quarter, the third-year guard was battling for position underneath the basket with Sexton when Doncic appeared to hit Sexton in the groin. After the referees reviewed the video of the incident, Doncic was issued a flagrant 2 foul, which led to an automatic ejection.
Dallas led 68-57 when Doncic got ejected, but at the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks pushed the lead to 98-72.
After the game, Doncic, who is one technical foul away from a one-game suspension, and Sexton explained what happened, and according to both players, what transpired was not a big deal.
“After I saw the video, I knew I hit him, but it wasn’t nothing on purpose,” Doncic said. “That kind of stuff happens a lot in the games… two guys fighting for a rebound.”
Sexton added: “It was just a box-out play, and usually whenever someone is hand-checking, you punch down, swing down. It’s all good.”
Barring a collapse, it appears the Mavericks, who have four games left, will avoid the Play-In Tournament. The fifth-seeded Mavericks have a one-game lead over the sixth-seeded Blazers and a two-game lead over the seventh-seeded Lakers, so things look good for Dallas.
Regarding Cleveland, this team had a ten-game losing streak back in February and is undermanned right now without Darius Garland, Larry Nance Jr., and others, so with four games left, all against playoff teams, Cleveland might not win another game this season. Currently, they are in a four-way tie for the third-worst record in the NBA. Losing out might not be the end of the world, especially if it leads to more lottery balls.
Cleveland will host the Pacers on Monday night, while the Mavericks go to Memphis to battle the Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
Watch below as Doncic and Sexton talk Doncic’s ejection:
