With so much at stake in regard to playoff implications, the Dallas Mavericks went out Saturday night, flexed their muscles and handled their business in a very big way.
Down a pair of starters, the Mavs used a strong performance from Dwight Powell and also overcame a 17-point deficit while defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-93, at American Airlines Center. It was the second victory for the Mavs (33-26) over the Lakers (35-25) in three days and moved them to within one-and-a-half games of the defending NBA champions for the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference.
The Mavs outscored the Lakers in the second half, 62-35, including, 29-14, in the decisive fourth period while finishing this five-game home stand with a 3-2 record. After overcoming their largest deficit of the season to win a game, the Mavs will now jet out to Sacramento to open a three-game trip on Monday.
Powell was magnificent as he tallied 21 of his season-high 25 points in the second half, and also grabbed nine rebounds and converted 11-of-12 from the field in 28 minutes. The performance by Powell was much needed since the Mavs played without Kristaps Porzingis (sprained left ankle) and Josh Richardson (hamstring).
Also, this shows how much Powell has improved since tearing his right Achilles during a Jan. 21, 2020 game against the Los Angeles Clippers – he underwent surgery on Jan. 28, 2020.
“When I look out there now I don’t see any difference now from the Dwight Powell before the injury, and that just speaks to an amazing amount of work put in,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “This is also a strong testament to the amount of work he’s put in over the last year-and-a-half-plus to recover from an injury that is extremely difficult for high-level athletes.”
Two dunks by Powell off of passes from Luka Doncic, a pair of free throws by Powell and a 3-pointer by JJ Redick pushed the Mavs ahead, 98-91. Doncic followed with a 3-pointer and zipped another pass inside to Powell for a bucket and a 103-91 Mavs lead with 1:06 remaining in the game.
In essence, while the Lakers’ trapping of Doncic was a success in the first half, the visitors from the West Coast had no such luck in the second half as Doncic ripped that defense to shreds with repeated precision-like passes to Powell underneath the basket.
“The biggest thing for me is staying in the race as far as the rehab goes as far as getting stronger,” said Powell, who scored a total of 28 points in his previous five games. “The goal has always been to get to a new place. Not just to get back to where I was, but to improve beyond where I was before I got hurt.
“That’s the ultimate goal and that’s the mindset I have with this whole rehab.”
Coming into this two-set series with the Lakers, the Mavs’ mindset was to make a strong statement. And thanks to 21 points and seven rebounds from Dorian Finney-Smith on Saturday, and an additional 18 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists from Doncic, the two wins gave the teams ahead of the Mavs out West a couple of things to think about.
“It feels good, especially when we know what we’re trying to do,” Finney-Smith said. “We just got to take it one game at a time and just try to get a win whenever we can.”
Things didn’t fare too well for the Mavs after they jumped out to a 12-5 lead less than four minutes into the game. Ben McLemore buried four 3-pointers and helped the Lakers pile up a 26-23 lead after the first period.
Also, the trapping of Doncic created a litany of problems that weren’t solved until after halftime, which ended with the Lakers ahead, 58-46.
“We weren’t spaced well enough in the first half,” Carlisle said. “In the second half our spacing was better, our angles were better. (Doncic) was just really on-point in the second half.
“The things that we changed made the game a lot easier for him and Dwight and really all of the guys rolling, and that was big. (Doncic) makes his own adjustments out there too. He’s always been great against trapping defenses. I never mind seeing trapping defense on him because he’s so great at delivering the ball, and a lot of times he delivers it for a layup or a dunk.”
For Doncic, dissecting a trapping defense was as easy as a walk in the park on a bright and sunny day.
“In the Euro-League I used to see this a lot, so I know how it goes,” he said. “Here, the floor is wider, so its kind if easier. I’m very comfortable being double-teamed.”
The Mavs also feel very comfortable when they have Maxi Kleber back on the court. Kleber returned Saturday after missing Thursday’s game with a lower back bruise and finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
But he also took another nasty spill.
“I took some pain pills before the game, so I don’t really know how bad it will be, but obviously it hurts a little bit,” Kleber said. “But we treated it right now and we will have treatment tomorrow, so I hope by the day after tomorrow it’ll be fine again.”
Kleber also was named by Carlisle as the Defensive Player of the Game for helping hold Anthony Davis to just 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
“Obvious it’s not a real trophy, but in the back of your head it kind of gives you that other energy to be like, ‘Ok, I want to stop my guy, I want to win that belt,’ just to say you did it,” Kleber said. “I think it’s a fun thing that they came up with.
“It energizes everybody to give an extra effort on the defensive end.”
After the Lakers lost to the Mavs on Thursday, Carlisle knew the visitors would turn the defensive pressure up a notch or two.
“As expected, they came out with a lot more physicality, a lot more attention to detail defensively and a lot of trapping of Luka,” Carlisle said. “We had some good looks — they weren’t going down.
“At halftime we talked about a couple of adjustments, and the messaging with everyone in there was just stay the course. Hang in, chip away, give ourselves a chance and that’s exactly what our guys did.”
And now that the Mavs are a full game ahead of Portland in the standings, they have their eyes set of zooming past the Lakers, who they own the tiebreaker over by virtue of beating them two out of three times this season.
“We’re staying right here,” Carlisle said. “It’s right here and right now. I think our guys understand what’s at stake. None of these games are easy.
“We’ll enjoy this one right now. We’re going to meet at the plane tomorrow so everybody can spend a little time with their family before we get out of here.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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