Final: Magic 105, Mavs 100
Box Score | Highlights
Behind the Box Score
Dorian Finney-Smith tied his season-high with 14 points. Coincidentally, both his earlier season-high and career-high (17) came against Sacramento.
Notebook
Johnathan Motley got the first start of his career and he responded in a big way, tallying a career-high 14 points and eight rebounds in a whopping 41 minutes. Motley made a name for himself in the G League as a guy who can post up and crash the boards, and he did plenty of that tonight. He also had a couple really nice rolls to the rim which produced some big-time dunks.
Motley has nice touch around the rim and can bust out a bevy of post moves in isolation, but most of his touches within the Mavs’ offense, especially when playing with J.J. Barea, will generally come within the flow of pick-and-roll or on put-backs. He made some nice plays in those situations tonight, which was big to see. With a few of his teammates at the center spot out for a while, Motley will likely get plenty of minutes the rest of the way, where he’ll get more opportunities to put together strong performances like this one.
Maxi Kleber is now 7 of 15 from beyond the arc in his last five games. It’s been a welcome return to form for the first-year NBA player after connecting only 19.2 percent of his attempts in the 19 games preceding this run. Kleber’s shot looks more comfortable coming out of his hand, and he’s putting better arc on the ball. Simultaneous improvements in both form and confidence can do wonders for a player. It helps, too, that Kleber has received an increase in minutes lately due to a suspension to Nerlens Noel and knee soreness in Salah Mejri that has kept them out of games. The German rookie figures to receive plenty more run down the stretch this season, and continuing to develop that outside shot is going to be pivotal for him heading into the offseason.
Kyle Collinsworth is capable of stuffing the stat sheet. He’s the Division I all-time leader in career triple-doubles for a reason, and tonight he showed us why. The rookie scored a career-high 14 points and added nine rebounds and a career-high six assists in a busy night. He always finds ways to be around the ball and make plays. Usually it’s through a combination of smarts and creativity, but there’s no doubt that Collinsworth can soar, too. This play didn’t count, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t cool anyway.
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Collinsworth’s big summer project is going to be continuing to work on his 3-pointer — just like Kleber, and just like most other players in the NBA these days. He can already do everything else. If that shot ever comes, watch out. In the meantime, he’s already a pretty good player.
What’s Next
The Mavs (24-55) will play the Detroit Pistons (37-40) on Friday at Little Caesars Arena at 6 p.m. Central.
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