DALLAS — No Luka Doncic? No Kristaps Porzingis?
That made for a problem for the Mavericks in their 97-90 loss to the Grizzlies on Saturday.
Little went right in Dallas’ first game this season without its injured star duo — at least until Tim Hardaway Jr. found his rhythm in the fourth quarter.
Hardaway — viewed, and paid, as the Mavericks’ third-leading contributor — tallied 20 of his 29 points in the final period, helping Dallas trim a quarters-long double-digit deficit to as few as 5 points when he hit a 3-pointer while drawing a foul with 1:45 remaining.
But the Mavericks’ shooting woes before then — 33.7% from the field and 34.9% from three in the game — had created a deficit too large to erase, even against a Grizzlies team playing without Ja Morant (left knee sprain) for a fourth consecutive game.
With the loss, the Mavericks fell to 0-4 in contests without Doncic, 3-4 without Porzingis and 0-4 in their last four home games.
The Mavericks didn’t mention Doncic’s ankle issue after losing to the Pelicans Friday night, but he appeared on the injury report Saturday afternoon with what coach Jason Kidd described as “lingering” soreness from his original left knee and ankle sprains Nov. 15.
Doncic underwent an MRI on Saturday before the game for further evaluation.
Kidd declined to elaborate on the results of the scans, but he said Doncic didn’t re-aggravate the injury while playing 35 minutes and tallying 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists Friday.
“He’s been sore,” Kidd said. “It’s just been a busy stretch of games for us, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Porzingis — who also suffered an ankle sprain, but didn’t sit out, earlier this week — missed his second consecutive game for the knee contusion while still “getting treatment, and we will monitor his progress,” Kidd said.
The two watched the Mavericks fall down by double-digits in the first 3:46, Porzingis in a sleek navy suit and Doncic wearing a diamond-patterned knit sweater and sweatpants.
The two talked with assistant coaches during breaks — Doncic at one point looking over papers with lead offensive assistant Igor Kokoskov — but their insight in the Mavericks’ first game this season without them both wasn’t so helpful as their usual on-court prowess.
Hardaway, who shot 2 of 9 from the field through the first three quarters, tried to fill the voids late.
He made 5 of 9 field goals in the fourth quarter, including four 3-pointers, and finished 10 of 14 from the foul line. After drawing the four-point play on his final 3-point make, he waited a moment to stand up from the court, sitting on the mid-court logo and shimmying his shoulders while the American Airlines Center crowd howled.
But Tyus Jones scored four points for Memphis down the stretch to prevent the Mavericks from pulling closer than 5 points after trailing by 10 less than two minutes earlier and by as many as 17 late in the third quarter.
Former TCU standout Desmone Bane — whom many fans lament the Mavericks passing on in favor of Josh Green in the 2020 draft — led the Grizzlies with 29 points.
Kidd called in all players for a walk-through Saturday morning, a rare pre-game session during a back to back. He wanted to talk about the drubbing against the Pelicans, perhaps their worst loss so far, and “push forward” to focus on the Grizzlies.
Dallas had lost three consecutive games at home with a 13.3-point average margin of defeat. Kidd didn’t want to make it a fourth.
But the Grizzlies, who in their last outing beat the Thunder by an NBA-record 73 points, ensured the home skid continued.
Dallas has not won in American Airlines Center since Nov. 15 against the Nuggets, when Doncic first suffered his injuries.
