Field Level Media
Jan 2, 2020
Luka Doncic totaled 31 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists and the Dallas Mavericks made all the plays down the stretch in beating the visiting Brooklyn Nets 123-111 Thursday night.
The Mavericks opened their longest homestand of the season (six games) by getting another big night from Doncic, who barely missed his 10th triple-double this season and 18th of his career.
He scored 15 in the fourth quarter by hitting three 3-pointers, a pair of layups and two free throws. Doncic shot 9 of 18 overall, hit five 3-pointers and helped the Mavericks end the game with a 15-7 run over the final 6:45.
The Mavericks avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season on a night when Kristaps Porzingis (right knee soreness) and Tim Hardaway Jr (strained left hamstring) missed their second straight games apiece.
Seth Curry helped compensate for the absences by adding 25 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 on 3-pointers. Maxi Kleber hit his first six shots and added 18 points for Dallas, which shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 19 points to lead the Nets, who lost a season-high fourth straight game and dropped under .500 (16-17) for the first time since Nov. 22. Reserve Dzanan Musa added 14 points as the Nets shot 46.2 percent for the game and also lost for the seventh time in their past 10 games since beating Denver on Dec. 8.
The Nets fell to 12-10 since Kyrie Irving (right shoulder impingement) last played Nov. 14 in Denver. Brooklyn also was without Garrett Temple (right knee contusion).
Brooklyn took its first double-digit lead at 63-53 on Jarrett Allen's 3-point play with 81 seconds left in the first half but settled for a 65-60 lead at intermission after Dorian Finney-Smith converted a dunk with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Dallas started the third with a 13-4 run and took a 73-69 lead with 8:52 remaining when Kleber and Finney-Smith hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. The Nets later responded to consecutive 3-pointers by Curry by forging a 93-93 tie into the fourth on Musa's short jumper with 4.7 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Nets were within 108-104 on a layup by Joe Harris with 6:45 remaining, but Doncic started the game-ending run with a 3-pointer a little over a minute later. Doncic hit another 3-pointer with 3:20 left for a 119-106 lead, and he hit two free throws with 91 seconds to raise the lead to 123-108.
--Field Level Media