In Tuesday’s dominant 133-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Dallas Mavericks showed how productive they can be when they’re tied together on a defensive string.
And tied together on the same string on the offensive end of the court.
In that 30-point win, the Mavs held the Warriors to only 12 points in the first quarter and just 29 points in the first half. The 12 points were the fewest the Warriors have scored in any quarter this season, and the 29 points were their fewest in any half since Steve Kerr became their coach in 2014.
“Our defense got us going,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “When we’re getting stops and we’re able to get downhill offensively it’s a big strength when you’ve got Luka Dončić, and you’ve got attacking guards like (Jalen) Brunson, and (Trey) Burke, and (Tim) Hardaway (Jr.).
“That’s when our game is at its best. It doesn’t happen (Tuesday) without a really strong defensive effort and really strong attention to detail.”
The Mavs’ defense was so on-point that at one stage in the first half the Warriors went nine minutes, 38 seconds without scoring. That’s the longest scoring drought in the NBA for any team in almost a dozen years.
“I’m not that concerned about a nine-minute scoring drought,” Kerr said. “I’m concerned about defense, I’m concerned about a level of intensity and preparation and competitiveness.
“That’s what was missing and I’m the head coach, so I did not have them ready to play clearly. The biggest game of the year and it was over before it started.”
That’s because the Mavs scored 28 straight points to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 39-12 lead early in the second quarter. The Mavs were in such a groove at both ends of the court that Doncic didn’t even realize it.
“Did you say 28-0,” Doncic sheepishly asked when a reporter asked him about the 28-0 run. “I didn’t know that. That’s nice.”
Doncic also said while it’s plausible for odd things to happen during the course of an NBA game, he didn’t know the Warriors went over nine minutes without scoring a point.
“I normally don’t pay attention to that,” he said. “We played really good defense (Tuesday) — the whole team — and that was the key to the game.”
This is the second time this season the Mavs have held an opponent under 30 points in the first half. On Dec. 27, the Mavs had an incredible 77-27 lead on the road over the Los Angeles Clippers at halftime.
The last team to hold multiple opponents under 30 points in the first half of a game in the same season were the San Antonio Spurs, who accomplished that feat four times in 2015-16.
Along the way to dumping the Warriors, Doncic poured in 39 points in only 28 minutes. That’s the second-most points scored in fewer than 30 minutes played in Mavs history, topped only by the 40 points Dirk Nowitzki tallied in 29 minutes during a March 3, 2012 game against Utah.
“It just felt crazy they couldn’t make any shots,” forward Maxi Kleber said. “We stepped up with the right energy for sure, but they didn’t make any shots, even open ones, and we just knocked down everything.
“It was just a crazy flow, and then it felt like anything Luka did was just a basket all the time and there was no answer for that. I don’t even know how to describe it. We just went with the flow and I think nothing but smiling (Tuesday) when we came out of timeouts.”
Doncic, who also contributed six rebounds and eight assists, did all of his magical work in just three quarters. Thus, the 39 points are the most he’s ever scored after three quarters. His previous third-quarter high was 35 points scored twice – Nov. 20, 2019 against the Warriors and Nov. 29, 2019 against the Phoenix Suns.
As they’re rounding into shape going into the last 11 games of the regular season, the Mavs will next play in Detroit on Thursday at 6 p.m. before returning home to host the Washington Wizards on Saturday. The Wizards defeated the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, 116-107, and now the Lakers (36-26) are just a game-and-a-half ahead of the Mavers (34-27) for the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed.
And if the Mavs and Lakers finish the regular season with identical records, the Mavs would secure the higher seed because they won the season series against the Lakers, 2-1.
Tuesday’s victory by the Mavs came one night after they suffered a disappointing 113-106 loss to the Sacramento Kings. But against the Warriors, the Mavs didn’t skip a beat.
“You understand that the Mavs are a talented team,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “They get paid to play basketball just like we do, and some nights it looks like they get paid more across the board.”
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith said the Mavs put themselves in a fantastic position against the Warriors with their all-around play on both ends of the floor in the first half.
“That third quarter I feel like Luka just, he was by himself out there,” Finney-Smith said. “He was out there, he was making everything that quarter.
“We just rolled our coattail and we finished the game on a good note.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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