5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 112-109 LOSS TO PACERS
WAKEUP CALL CAME TOO LATE: You can blame it on the early start on the same day the clock was pushed up an hour because of daylight savings time if you like. But whatever the case, the Mavs looked out of sorts against the Pacers. In all, the Mavs scored less than 27 points in three of the fourth quarters. Plus, they didn’t take their first lead of the night until there were less than 10 minutes remaining. And after the Mavs were clinging to a 109-104 lead with 3:14 left, they missed their final 10 shots and unceremoniously got outscored, 8-0, down the stretch.
DONCIC ON A TEAR: Luka Doncic poured in 36 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out eight assists in 36 minutes. This is the NBA-high 16th time this season where Doncic has produced at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Next on the list are Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo with nine such games and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers with seven. This also is the 12th time this year Doncic has scored at least 35 points in a game. Doncic was 13-of-26 from the field, 4-of-13 from behind the 3-point line and 6-of-10 from the charity stripe.
PACERS GOT PHYSICAL WITH MAVS: It was an unusual game in that the Pacers got very physical with the Mavs. So much so that Luka Doncic had to be X-rayed at halftime after he got smacked in the jaw when Edmond Sumner jumped and eventually landed on the second-year point guard with a knee to the face. There were other occasions when Doncic got popped in the face. “I think always when you get hit in the face (the referees are) going to look at it (to see) if it’s a flagrant or not, right?,” Doncic asked. “Like I said, I got hit in the face three times, and two of them were not a foul (called).”
PORZINGIS HAD AN OFF-NIGHT: After turning in one shining moment after another in recent months, Kristaps Porzingis simply didn’t have it against the Pacers. The four-year veteran missed his first nine shots and scored just nine points on 3-of-17 shooting. Porzingis said: “I feel like if I had just a little bit of a better game, the results would have been different.” Porzingis entered the game after scoring at least 20 points and grabbing at least 10 rebounds in the previous five games. He also scored 38 points and collected 12 rebounds during a 112-103 win at Indiana on Feb. 3.
HARDAWAY MOVED UP THE (3-POINT) CHARTS: With six 3-pointers against Indiana, Tim Hardaway Jr. shot past Jason Terry (171), Wesley Matthews (174) and Jason Kidd (176) to move into fourth place on the Mavs’ all-time list for 3-pointers made in a season with 177. Hardaway was 11-of-21 from the field – including 6-of-11 from 3-point territory – against the Pacers. In the fourth quarter when the Mavs were fighting for survival, Hardaway was 5-of-7 from the floor with 12 points, while his teammates were 4-of-14 from the field with 13 points. Overall, Hardaway finished with 30 points and two steals.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
Share and comment