The good thing about the Dallas Mavericks is that, when one of their superstars is not performing at his best, they have two more
superstars who can pick up the slack.
Not only that, the Mavs also know they have several role players who are talented enough to carry the load.
Such was the case Monday night against the Utah Jazz when Luka Dončić had an off-night shooting the ball. But Kyrie Irving stepped in with 23 points and Klay Thompson tallied 18 as the Mavs held off the pesky Jazz, 110-102, before a sellout crowd of 19,811 at American Airlines Center.
The Mavs are now 2-1 going into the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday in Minnesota against a Timberwolves squad they defeated in last season’s Western Conference finals. The Jazz remained winless at 0-3.
Dončić was just 5-of-22 from the field – including 1-of-9 from behind the three-point stripe — and finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Meanwhile, Irving, who also contributed six rebounds and nine assists, knew it was imperative for him to take his game to the next level when Dončić was off target.
“Basketball is an up and down game,” Irving said. “We’re in the beginning of the season, we’re all trying to get in greater shape, we’re all trying to catch our rhythm (and) trying to make sure we develop some chemistry with the new guys in here.
“I wouldn’t call it a struggle (by Dončić). It’s just us getting back into the swing of basketball, the rhythm of basketball. But when nights like that happen, whether it be me struggling a little bit or not finding my shot as soon as I would like, we all got to pick each other up. Yeah, I pressed the gas a little bit, but I think it was a combination of all of us in this locker room just picking up our defensive pressure and making the smart decisions on the offensive end.”
That defensive pressure and those smart decisions enabled the Mavs to rebound from Saturday’s 12-point loss to the Phoenix Suns. And it wasn’t just Irving and Thompson who were tuning out the Jazz.
P. J. Washington was flying all over the court and filling the stat sheet with 12 points,11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Also, the bench produced 33 points, with 14 of them coming from Dereck Lively II and 11 more from Spencer Dinwiddie.
“I thought the bench was really good,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I think D-Live was the only one to score in the first half, but in the second hal
f the bench pretty much took control of that game for us and gave us a spark, which was great to see from Spencer being able to deliver.”
Dinwiddie fired in a trio of three-pointers in the third quarter, including one with 2.4 seconds left that gave the Mavs an 82-70 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“He gave us a great spark,” Irving said, referring to Dinwiddie. “He had a great game. It’s great that he sets the tone alongside D-Live or other guys that are coming in.
“He’s an important piece for us this season to be able to show that maturity and be able to settle us when we’re not scoring.”
The game was marred by a gruesome injury to Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks, who tumbled to the floor after he was jogging on the right side of the basket on Utah’s end of the court. No one touched Hendricks as he tripped over himself and landed with his right leg bent sideways, and wound up suffering a fractured right fibula and dislocated right ankle.
As fans looked on in horror, paramedics immediately rushed to cart Hendricks off the floor. Play resumed about 15 minutes later with the Mavs nursing a 64-59 lead.
Later on, after a three-pointer by Utah’s Jordan Clarkson and a bucket by Collin Sexton, the Mavs were clinging to a 101-95 lead with 3:51 remaining. However, Dončić fired in a three-pointer, Irving nailed a pair of free throws, Dončić scored on a fast break layup, and Washington powered home a dunk to stake Dallas to a comfortable 110-97 lead with 1:26 left.
“I think one of our strengths is if we can get out and run, we’ve got athletes who can finish,” Kidd said. “I thought P.J. is that guy that can bring it and go coast to coast, but also he can be on the other side of lobs or play-making.
“So, I thought his intent of the ball touching the paint was really high tonight and we’re going to need that again in less than 24 hours.”
Lively agreed that getting out and pushing the ball up the court at a faster pace has to be a calling card for the Mavs this season.
“We play our best whenever we’re on pace and we’re putting pressure on the rim and causing the defense to rotate,” Lively said. “I feel like we did a great job of moving the ball around and finding each other and just finding the open shot.
“At times we were a little too unselfish, but that’s a great thing to have.”
The Mavs led by as much as 11 points (31-20) early in the second quarter. And for the first time this season, they were able to negotiate the lob dunk, which was one of the patented plays they often used during their run to last season’s NBA Finals.
First, it was Dončić lobbing to Daniel Gafford. A little over three minutes later, Lively received a lob pass from Washington and crammed the ball through the basket to put the Mavs ahead, 39-31.
“I feel like we’re headed in the right direction, but we still got to do better,” Irving said. “We’re nowhere near our championship habits right now.
“We’re in that developmental stage – trying not to get too frustrated, but also staying encouraged, staying motivated (and) getting our legs underneat
h us. When that happens, I feel like we’ll be fine.”
Overall, the Mavs shot 45.3 percent from the field, but misfired on 28 of their 39 three-pointers. They held the Jazz to 37 percent shooting and just 10 of 35 three-pointers.
“We’re not shooting the ball well right now,” Kidd said. “We’re getting wide open looks and they just haven’t gone down, but we’ve got to continue to keep taking those shots.
“I thought the rhythm of the game was a lot better for us, even on makes.”
As far as changing his rotation, Kidd said whoever is in the game: “They’ve got to be positive. If you’re not positive, you’re going to have a seat. That’s just the name of the game, so that’s what we’re looking for.
“If you’re positive, you play. Nothing’s changed since day one. We’re in the business of winning, not feelings. You (media) guys can have your opinion about who should be in the game
or who should start, but it’s about who’s playing well. And that’s what we’re looking for.”
Kidd praised the efforts turned in by Naji Marshall (four points, six rebounds, two assists, 15 minutes) and Quentin Grimes (four points, three rebounds, 13 minutes). He also tipped his hat to the way his team responded when Dončić didn’t have his best shooting night.
“(Doncic is) human and you saw that today, but I thought he really leaned on his teammates to be able to create plays and (convert) wide-open looks,” Kidd said. “He’s not going to be perfect every night.
“Again, right now we are trying to get a relationship with everyone. We had some guys out for training camp, we got to see how guys respond in different situations and that’s why you play 82 games. I thought the group rallied around Luka tonight. He didn’t have his best, but the other guys stepped up and we’re going to need that throughout the season.”
X: @DwainPrice
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