the Dallas Mavericks improved his winning streak to six, fending off the San Antonio Spurs on the road Saturday night, 126-125. Luka Doncic once again led Dallas, scoring 51 points, grabbing six rebounds, providing nine assists and stealing the ball four times. Keldon Johnson punished Dallas for leading the Spurs with a 30-point loss.
The Spurs took a 16-9 lead over the Mavericks, as Dallas failed to attack a notoriously weak Spurs defense early. But after the game’s first televised timeout, Luka Doncic managed to level the game at 16 in less than a minute. San Antonio continued to score with relative ease in the quarter but unfortunately for them so did Doncic, who scored in 22. Dallas led 32-30 after one quarter.
The Dallas defense continued to stink and when paired with an incandescent Spurs offense meant the Mavericks struggled to contain San Antonio throughout the quarter. Keldon Johnson cooked with gas, pacing Spurs and at one point scoring 10 straight points. Luka Doncic returned to his usual point and regained his score, which helped Dallas take a 68-64 halftime lead.
He must have realized in Dallas during their halftime talks that they were the superior team in San Antonio. They opened with 12 straight marks, giving them a 17-point lead around the five-minute mark. To San Antonio’s credit, they wouldn’t go easy, scoring six straight to stay within range. Both teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and Dallas took a 103-93 lead in the final frame.
Of course, Spurs just wouldn’t leave. With Doncic on the bench, San Antonio kept coming, gradually taking the lead. Even with Luka back in the game in the eighth minute, Spurs took the lead until four before a timeout. Dallas failed to get a rebound until the five-minute mark in the quarter, which really helped San Antonio’s cause. Doncic continued to save Dallas with scoring, twice extending the lead to three when Spurs cut it back to one around the four-minute mark.
The game remained tight until the very end, with some wild swings including a missed Hardaway dunk, a huge Frank Ntilikina shot, missed free throws, a Hardaway turnover during a full field press, clutch free throws from Luka and disaster on a foul catch. Situation where Tre Jones hit a free throw, got his own rebound, was fouled again, but missed the game tying the free throw, and Luka Doncic missed the last two free throws of the game but Dallas still won. The Mavericks edge past Spurs 126-125 to extend their winning streak to six.
Most 40-point games in Dallas history for Luka Doncic
Before tonight’s victory, Luka Doncic was average 40.4 points per game during the five-game winning streak. When he eclipsed 40 points in the third quarter, Doncic passed Mark Aguirre for most 40-point games in Dallas history with 23. I understand the score is up this year from history, but what kind of scoring frenzy Doncic is on right now is absurd. It’s true that the Mavericks need that from him with key players, but for it to happen all the same, that kind of run has to match some of the greatest scores in recent history. He’s now averaging 42 points per game during that six-game winning streak.
Keep rotations low
With Dallas’ active players, defense is more of an idea than something they’re capable of executing, even against the Spurs. What would be great if someone could actually get a rebound for the Mavericks, one thing Dallas has controlled on this winning streak is turnover. Dallas returns the ball just 12.6 times per game, good for second-lowest in the league. During that six-game winning streak, Dallas averaged just 10 turnovers per game, including just five against the Spurs. Doncic had no turnover!
If a team is unable to defend or rebound, at least they are not giving the ball away for free.
Christian Wood will make the case as an All-Star reserve
If the Mavericks are able to stay in the top six in the Western Conference, there will be a very strong case for Wood to make the All-Star team a reserve. He contributed 25 points and seven rebounds against the Spurs, and although his two-game streak ended at eight, he was clearly Dallas’ second-best player, passing Spencer Dinwiddie during that streak. With Dallas sitting in the fourth seed as of this writing, it’s something everyone should sing loud about.
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