If the Detroit Pistons had any designs on sneaking up on the Dallas Mavericks and perhaps getting out of town
with a surprising win Tuesday night, think again.
The Mavs darted out to a 10-point lead after the first quarter and a 27-point lead after three quarters, eventually scoring a 116-86 victory over the Pistons at American Airlines Center. It was the 16th win in the last 21 games for the Mavs and increased their record to 32-23.
More importantly, that slippage the Mavs suffered last week during surprising losses against Orlando and Oklahoma City didn’t occur against the Pistons.
“We learned from our past experiences and what we can control, and our energy and our effort (Tuesday) was high,” coach Jason Kidd said. “No matter who we play, that’s the way we have to come out.
“We can’t just play (hard against) the good teams. We have to respect everyone and execute the game plan and take care of business so guys won’t have to play that many minutes in the fourth quarter.”
The victory padded the Mavs’ record to 32-23 at the 55-mark of the season. Last year the Mavs were 30-25 after 55 games.
Here are our five takeaways from the 30-point win over the Pistons.
DONCIC CONTINUES TO ROCK AND ROLL: There appears to be no way to slow down Luka Doncic, although teams keep trying. In 33 minutes against the Pistons, Doncic delivered 33 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists and two blocks. The four-year point guard was 9-of-18 from the field, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 10-of-14 from the charity stripe. It was the seventh consecutive game Doncic was distributed 10-plus assists. That’s a career-high for the three-time All-Star and is one shy of the franchise record held by coach Jason Kidd. It also was the 32nd game in his remarkable career that Doncic has produced a 30-point, 10-assist game. 
That ties him with Oscar Robertson for the second-most 30-point, 10-assist games in NBA for a player under the age of 23. Doncic finished Tuesday’s game with a plus/minus of plus 35.
BURKE EVOLVING: The more playing time he receives, the more Trey Burke continues to evolve. In Sunday’s 103-94 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Burke played 15 minutes after the Mavs’ top two point guards – Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson – were battling foul problems. Burke responded with seven points on 3-of-7 shots. That earned him some more playing time – including playing time in the first quarter – of Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. Burke responded with 18 points in just 21 minutes. He made 7-of-12 shots, including 4-of-6 buckets from beyond the three-point arc. It was Burke’s highest scoring game of the season – other than the season-high 22 points he tallied in only 23 minutes during the 120-96 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 13.
DEFENSE STEPPED UP – AGAIN: This may sound like a broken record, but the Mavs are really good on the defensive end of the court. They continue to show that time and time again. Against the Pistons, the Mavs held Detroit to just 37.9 percent shooting. That pushed their record to 10-0 when they limit opponents to under 40 percent shooting. The Mavs’ defense was so on-point that the Pistons were just 5-of-30 from three-point range for 16.7 percent. In addition, the 86 points the Pistons scored marked the 22nd time the Mavs have held an opponent under 100 points this season. And they are 19-3 when limiting foes to less than 100 points. Also, the Mavs turned 15 Detroit turnovers into 17 points.
BRUNSON EFFICIENT: Another game, another performance from Jalen Brunson. The four-year point guard scored 21 points in
26 minutes on just 7-of11 shots. In his last seven games Brunson is averaging 18.6 points and 5.4 assists, and shooting 56 percent from the field and 48 percent from three-point land. “I think every year I go into every offseason thinking just being more consistent,” Brunson said. “Then once we get to the start of the season it’s kind of the same thing. You see what’s working and what’s not working at certain points during the year, and you just focus on getting back to that. I’m just trying to be consistent at all levels of my game.”
KLEBER RETURNS: Maxi Kleber returned Tuesday after a two-game absence while dealing with a left knee effusion issue. Kleber played 18 minutes, scored five points on 2-of-2 shots and grabbed seven rebounds. Afterwards, since the Mavs have only been fully healthy for just four games this season, Kleber wondered how good can this team be whenever they become fully healthy. “We’re going to be excited for the day that we’re all healthy for longer than four games only,” Kleber said. “But we have a lot of potential. I think for the first half of the season we didn’t really show up offensively, or we didn’t show what potential we have. And we still have room to improve there. But we’re showing that we’re a good defensive team and we can be a lot better.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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