If not the Mavericks themselves, fans on Friday night no doubt had flashbacks to last season as Dallas’ seemingly comfortable late lead shriveled to one point with 1:03 left.
Shriveled, as in the verb that too often described the Mavericks late-game execution, and body language, last season.
But that was then, and as the Mavericks and Luka Doncic again showed Friday while pulling out a 122-117 victory at AT&T Center, Dallas seems to have learned from those late-game failures.
“The thing I loved tonight,” coach Rick Carlisle said, “was the positive body language throughout the game.”
Including and especially the final minute, after an 8-0 San Antonio run closed a virtual nightlong Mavericks lead to 113-112. Doncic made an 11-foot jumper with 49 seconds left, then worked beautifully with Jalen Brunson, leading to a Brunson corner 3-pointer with 18.9 seconds left that extended lead to 118-112.
“I like the resilience,” said Brunson, who scored 16 points in his third game back from coronavirus quarantine. “I liked how San Antonio made a run at the end of the game and we easily could have folded and let them come back.
“I think if this was the team last year that maybe would have happened. But we’re growing. I see that’s one way that we’re growing and becoming better, by making key plays at the end of games.”
Doncic finished with 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, marking the third time this season he’s fallen one rebound or assist shy of a triple-double. Still, he has five of them, including two during this rugged week that saw Dallas finish 2-1 on this road trip, but still with a home game left Saturday against Houston.
Doncic scored 19 of his points in the first quarter, when his baskets and six assists accounted for 33 of Dallas’ 37 points. He improved his scoring average to 29.3 points in eight career games against San Antonio. But Carlisle said it was the ways in which Doncic stepped forward Friday, being vocal in the huddles and commanding on the court, that showed the 21-year-old’s continued growth.
Kristaps Porzingis, in his sixth game back from knee surgery and rehab, scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Three of his baskets came in the painted area, two on post-ups after feeds from Doncic.
“Luka called those post-up plays in the flow of the game,” Carlisle said. “He felt that [Porzingis] needed a touch against a smaller guy.”
“It’s clear that Luka has great trust in his teammates,” Carlisle said, also recalling close finishes against Denver (a win) and Milwaukee (a loss). “In every one of those situations he’s made the right play.”
The Mavericks led by as much as 18 points in the first half, and their biggest second-half lead was 93-78 with 2:38 left in the third quarter.
Dallas took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and still led by 113-104 with 4:26 remaining. Then the Mavericks went cold and San Antonio whittled and whittled and whittled.
“I think the biggest thing is making better decisions,” Doncic said when asked what the Mavericks most learned from last season’s late-game woes. “I think giving up a good shot for a better shot. I think that’s the key to our end of the game.”
Saturday night the Mavs have a quick-turnaround home game against the Rockets.
Carlisle described the back-to-back against intrastate rivals San Antonio and Houston as “tough and important divisional games,” which raised some eyebrows.
Aren’t playoff seeds determined by the Western Conference standings, rendering division standings somewhat obsolete?
“Well, there is meaning to having the best record in your division and having a good divisional record — because it’s criteria for tie-breakers,” Carlisle said.
Indeed, the first tie-breaker in a two-team tie is head-to-head record. The second tie-breaker is “division winner,” if both teams are in the same division. The third tie-breaker is winning percentage in the division if both teams are in the same division.
The tie-breaker order is similar for ties of three or more teams.
“When you look at the standings right now in the West and how tight it is from top to bottom, tie-breakers are going to be extremely important come playoff time, and when teams are getting ready for the play-in games and all that kind of stuff,” Carlisle said.
Historically, being in the same division as San Antonio and Houston hasn’t been easy for the Mavericks. This is the 41st straight season that the three Texas franchises have shared the same division.
During that span the Spurs have 20 division titles, the Rockets have seven, and the Mavericks have three – 1986-87, 2006-2007 and 2009-10. Then again, Dallas was second in the division and third in the Western Conference when it won the 2011 NBA title.
Last season, though, Doncic led the Mavericks to their first season-series win over San Antonio in 10 years — and Friday’s victory gave Dallas four wins against the Spurs in the last five meetings.
“A quintessential basketball player,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called Doncic. “He has an intrinsic feel for the game. He was built for this game. Also, he probably would be a great team handball player.
“But at that size, to have that passing ability, that vision of the court, the confidence he plays with, he shoots the ball well, he competes. He just loves the game of basketball. His skills are top-notch, so he’s just a joy to watch.”
