Mavs rally to defeat Grizzlies, earn trip to 2024 Cup Nights quarterfinals

Guard Spencer Dinwiddie gave kudos to the folks at NBA headquarters for the drama that unfolded as the Dallas Mavericks pulled a rabbit out of their hat and sacked the Memphis Grizzlies, 121-116, Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

According to Dinwiddie, this was more than just game No. 22 in the 82-game season. This one had legs because it was a 2024 Cup Nights game, and the Mavs were in position to advance to the knockout round.

And after they rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter, they knocked out the Grizzlies and padded their 2024 Cup Nights record to 3-1 to earn a berth in the tournament’s quarterfinals. The Mavs will now play at the Oklahoma City Thunder next Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Las Vegas for the semifinals.

Dinwiddie, who nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mavs a 116-111 lead with 1:09 left, thanked the NBA for breathing new life into a game that was about the get away from the Mavs.

“Shout out to the NBA for adding another layer of competitiveness in November and December,” said Dinwiddie, who scored 16 points off the bench. “We really didn’t want to let the game get away.

“I’ve seen games in the past that are in November-December, and you maybe have a bad third quarter and you say, ‘Alright, you know what? We got a road trip coming up.’ Obviously, we’re playing for something meaningful, and that (letting go of the rope) didn’t happen tonight.”

The Mavs had a bad third quarter Tuesday when they had more turnovers (11) than made baskets (10). But perhaps knowing that each player on the 2024 Cup Nights winning team receives $500,000 is what spurred the Mavs on to victory against the Grizzlies.

“I like this Cup,” said Luka Dončić, who scored 24 of his 37 points in the first half. “I used to play it in Spain, so it was really fun out there.”

The fun times were heavily falling the Grizzlies’ way when they opened the second half on a 12-0 run to take a 69-60 lead. Thanks to Ja Morant (31 points), the Memphis lead expanded to 97-82 with 11:40 remaining.

Then, everything flipped, the complexion of the game changed, and the Mavs took charge and ended up out-scoring the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter, 39-21.

“We can fight, and we know we can fight,” said center Dereck Lively, who finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. “We all lean on each other to try to play the best we can.”

It was a night where the Mavs had to lean on each other a lot. They turned the ball over 25 times and missed 14 free throws against a Memphis (14-8) team that was riding a six-game winning streak.

But when it mattered the most, the Mavs dug deep and mustered up enough energy to end the game on a 15-5 blitz win when the chips seemingly were not in their favor.

“I thought the group did a great job of staying together,” coach Jason Kidd said. “There was a lot of positivity on the bench. We just kept fighting.

“(We had) a lot of turnovers – things that we haven’t been doing. But the team stayed together.”

It was the ninth win in the last 10 games for the Mavs and pushed them into third place in the Western Conference standings with a 14-8 record.

“We’re resilient and we’re a group that genuinely believes we can win any game,” Dinwiddie said. “Like I said, the extra layer of competitiveness of the Cup, for sure (was critical), so we didn’t let go of the rope.”

Dončić scored 12 points – he nailed a pair of three-pointers – in the first quarter, which concluded with the Mavs trailing, 26-25. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies’ first-quarter scoring with 10 points. Memphis also outrebounded the Mavs in the first quarter, 14-11, including a 7-4 edge on the offensive boards.

“They play extremely fast,” Kidd said. “This is kind of the Chicago, and you look at Portland — teams that are going to get out and just make it a track meet. And they do it with some physicality.

“We’re not afraid to run when we have those opportunities.”

A key moment occurred when the ball went out of bounds and was awarded to the Mavs with 2:23 left and Memphis ahead, 111-106. The Grizzlies challenged the play, but upon review the referees determined that Lively was fouled on the play by Jackson.

Lively went to the charity striped and buried two free throws, which ignited the 15-5 run that ended the game,

“The challenge is tricky,” Kidd said. “It’s not as easy as people think it is sitting in the stands and sitting at home.”

A pair of free throws by Dončić, then those two triples by Dinwiddie fired up the crowd. TCU-ex Desmond Bane (19 points) scored to get Memphis within 116-113.

But a crucial three-pointer by P. J. Washington (18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two blocks) made it 119-113 Dallas with 26.1 seconds remaining.

“It comes down to grit,” Lively said. “We’re just making sure that we talk to one another and make sure that the fight is never over no matter how much we’re up, how much we’re down.”

On this night, the Mavs were down. But they clearly showed they were not out.

X: @DwainPrice