DALLAS _ It's always a highlight of the season, regardless of whether the Mavericks win or lose.
Wednesday was the 14th annual Seats for Soldiers night, with 120 wounded service members from San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center seated courtside at American Airlines Center.
Traditionally the Mavericks rise to the occasion and Wednesday was no different as they earned a contentious 118-68 rout over a Utah team that had twice beaten Dallas, by a combined 24 points.
Utah scored only 22 second-half points, the lowest ever by a Mavs opponent for any half.
This Mavericks' season-high third straight victory was a salute to military heroes and featured jaw-dropping moments by rookie Luka Doncic, but also culminated a 24-hour period in which Mavericks went band-of-brothers, in a sports sense, by rallying around oddly embattled center DeAndre Jordan.
Odd because no one connected to the Dallas franchise has publicly criticized Jordan, but a scathing one-paragraph summation on ESPN.com Tuesday described him as a "major disappointment" who has rubbed teammates the wrong way with what they perceive as selfish play and disinterest on defense.
"It's so ridiculous," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told The News. "I mean, for god sakes, we're No. 1 in defensive rebounding after being a horrible rebounding team (pre-Jordan). And every guy on the team recognizes that."
Jordan entered Wednesday's game with the NBA's third-best rebound average (13.7). Have there been murmurs about his compatibility with new teammates? Absolutely, especially when, during a Nov. 2 home loss to the Knicks, video caught him half-shoving Doncic to snare an uncontested rebound.
That same video showed Cuban in the background, immediately swiping his arm across his body in frustration.
"I think where the confusion early in the season was, and DeAndre's the first to tell you, he's going after every rebound," Cuban said. "Even my reaction. The reaction was 'I wanted the ball in Luka's hands because I wanted the fast break,' but I know DeAndre's going after every rebound."
Point guard Dennis Smith Jr. reacted to the ESPN snippet by posting on Instagram: "That news be fake shawty and we already know it ... Our eyes on da prize."
Teammates Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell, Jalen Brunson, Ray Spaulding and Kostas Antetokounmpo "liked" Smith Jr.'s post, and Mavericks assistant Darrell Armstrong also reacted strongly on Instagram, saying in part:
"I'm just here to send out some good vibes to DeAndre Jordan who is one of our leaders of this team. He's not selfish. He's a guy who plays hard, tries and gives energy to these guys. For an article to come out like that, I don't like it."
No statement in sports, however, is more emphatic than those made on the court or field of play, and the Mavericks (6-8) certainly made one on Wednesday with by far their most dominant performance of the season.
Dallas led 30-24 after one quarter and 58-46 at halftime, with Doncic hitting a 30-footer with five-tenths of a second left.
During a testy first half in which the teams took exception with one another, and with the referees, Jordan (four points, 10 rebounds) was whistled for a technical foul from the bench.
The Mavericks extended the lead to 84-61 after three quarters and pulled away even more so in the fourth.
With Utah's Joe Ingles jawing at him much of the night, Doncic finished with 13 points and six rebounds. On one early third quarter sequence, Doncic rebounded his own miss under the basket and faked a pass to Matthews, causing reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to turn toward Matthews.
Before Gobert could turn back, Doncic calmly banked in a layup, to the cackling delight of Jordan, who low-fived Doncic as he ran past.
"He's got great feel for the game, skilled, ability to pass, shoot, make plays," Utah coach Quin Snyder said of Doncic. "I think anytime you have a guy like that that's that good, the real thing is it's nice when you can tell people like playing with them. That's maybe the biggest compliment you can give-players like playing with him."
