The Dallas Mavericks started very slow on Thursday night. They were down 23-3 in the first quarter. Then, the Mavs’ bench came in and changed things around.
Ultimately, the Mavericks would take their first lead in the second quarter and hold on to defeat the Spurs 104-99.
Here’s the Great for the Mavericks:
-Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 25 points on 11-19 shooting. Doncic scored 18 of his 25 in the second half, including eight straight points down the stretch in the fourth quarter to give the Mavs a 10-point lead.
-Jalen Brunson came off the bench for 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and a +21 rating in the win. Brunson was the spark for Dallas and a big reason why they were able to get back into the game.
-Maxi Kleber recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high-tying six blocks (12/26/18 vs. NOP) off the bench in the win.
Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 14 points to go with eight rebounds and two steals. Finney-Smith now has eight rebounds in three of the four games this season.
Dwight Powell added 11 points for the Mavericks, while Reggie Bullock made his first start in a Dallas uniform and recorded seven points.
-The Mavericks overcame a 20-point deficit, marking the first time they had done so since 8/10/20 when they were down by 22 and came back to defeat the Jazz.
-The entire bench unit finished with a double-digit positive net rating against San Antonio, led by Frank Ntilikina at +24.
Here’s the Not so Great for the Mavericks:
-While Dallas was able to win this game after being down 23-3, they do realize this is a recipe for disaster. In fact, Dallas has trailed after the first quarter in all four of their games this season, which is an issue.
“We got off to a slow start,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said postgame. “I didn’t think we would get off to that slow of a start, but it happens in this league. The character of that bench, the team, playing… they just came in and gave us an energy that was much needed. From that point on, we started to get into the game. San Antonio, again, well-coached, we knew that they were going to put pressure on us. We were just a little slow to start the game, and it’s been like that since the season started. So, we just have to talk about it and address it.”
Doncic added on slow start: “Just a bad start. A really bad one. There was no energy. Everyone was sloppy, starting with me. We shouldn’t let this happen again. It was a terrible sight.”
Bottom Line:
Dallas got an excellent performance from the bench, which saved the day for this team on Thursday night. In addition, they got it done without Kristaps Porzingis(back), who will miss Friday’s game against the Nuggets.
What’s Next:
Mavericks have their first back-to-back of the season when they travel to Denver to battle the Nuggets on Friday night.
Best of the Rest:
Dejounte Murray led the Spurs with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists tonight, finishing two assists shy of his second triple-double in as many games; Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, Poeltl, and Bryn Forbes react to loss to Dallas:
