Mavs' 7-Game Win-Streak Ends After Blowout Loss Against Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS — Beginning a four-game Eastern Conference road trip, the Dallas Mavericks (33-24) lost against the Indiana Pacers (33-25), with 133-111 being the final score. Despite receiving a combined 62 points from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavs could not receive enough production from other contributors or achieve enough defensive stops to win.
Entering this game, the Mavs were on a seven-game winning streak while being talked about on the national stage as being arguably the NBA's hottest team, right with the NBA's best Boston Celtics. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle echoed the sentiment, describing Dallas as "really legitimate contenders."
"What Luka is doing this year... I don't even know how you describe it," Carlisle said. "He's rewriting history. Irving is playing great. These guys are in a very small group of teams that are really legitimate contenders."
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The Mavs have emphasized tightening up their defensive execution lately but have experienced significant slippage against a prolific Pacers offense. Indiana had 38 assists as a team compared to a season-low 15 from Dallas. Myles Turner had 33 points and eight rebounds, with all five starters and two bench players scoring double figures for the Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton totaled 17 points, 10 assists, and four steals.
Doncic finished with 33 points, six rebounds, and six assists, shooting 10-21 from the floor, 4-8 from deep, and 9-12 on free throws. He did what he could to set the tone, with Irving chipping in 29 points, six rebounds, and two assists to provide needed support. Aside from Josh Green's efficient 14 points and five rebounds, the rest of the supporting cast struggled to make much of an impact.
Doncic was aggressive early, scoring eight of the Mavs' initial 10 points, using a pair of tough floaters and a step-back 3-pointer. Dallas' early advantage grew to be 17-11 with 6:21 remaining in the first quarter, with Doncic already reaching double-figures. The Pacers called a timeout after Doncic split the Pacers trying to show in ball screen coverage, resulting in a mid-range jumper.
With Irving struggling to convert on his shot attempts early on, the Mavs could not capitalize on having a superstar on the floor, as Haliburton and Pascal Siakam were closing out the first quarter from the bench. Indiana bridged the gap, resulting in a 30-30 tie after the opening period.
The Pacers continued to build on their established momentum, taking a 40-35 lead early in the second quarter. It became a game of runs very quickly. Doncic led an 8-0 run that was capped off by a step-back 3-pointer to put Dallas back ahead 43-40, prompting Indiana to call a timeout. Turner and Haliburton helped to push the Pacers back up 51-47 shortly after by achieving a quick 6-0 run.
Irving and Turner traded scoring plays multiple times, continuing the trend of the back-and-forth nature of this game. Still, the Pacers maintained the advantage over the Mavs, with Haliburton orchestrating their offense before Doncic checked back into the game. Even with Doncic on the floor, Indiana continued to pour it on Dallas, scoring 35 points in the period to establish a 67-60 edge at the break despite Doncic already having 25 points.
The Pacers are known for being a run-and-gun team, and while the Mavs have also succeeded in playing at a faster pace lately, they struggled to take care of the ball and capitalize on simple scoring chances throughout the first half.
“They’re good,” Kidd said of the Pacers. “Again, with their pace and being able to drive it and put it on the floor, you have four guys out there who can definitely drive it and cause a problem. This will be something that we look at. We don’t face this a lot of times, so this is a good test for our defense, and we can be better. Tonight, our offense didn’t capitalize on a lot of opportunities.”
Indiana continued to sustain the advantage throughout the third quarter, with both teams frequently trading baskets. Both teams had 15 points at the 6:44 mark of the period, resulting in the Pacers being up 82-75. Turner's stretch-five skill set continued to pose challenges for a Mavs defense cycling through blitzing Haliburton with an emphasis on protecting the paint while also playing drop coverage at times.
“Haliburton causes a problem driving,” Kidd said. “He does a great job of finding or dumping off. But I thought when you look at Turner and his ability to short-roll — or when someone drives and he kind of finds his way at the top of the key or at the top of the three-point line — he was wide open tonight. So, we have to do better.”
Benedict Mathurin's finish in transition created an and-one while pushing the Pacers up by double figures (89-78) for the first time in the game. Dallas went on to give up 100 points to Indiana through three quarters, with a lack of defensive execution continuing to be a problem for the remainder of the game.
“When they’re playing that high level of pace, and they’re making shots, and they’re making us scramble and putting us in scramble mode defensively, they took full advantage of it,” Irving said. “You got to give them credit. They were prepared for us today, and they made adjustments from the beginning of the game to the end of the game.”
Irving heated up early in the fourth quarter, scoring the Mavs' first nine points, cutting the Pacers' lead to just four. Coming out of a timeout, the ball wasn't continuing to find Irving, the offense got stagnant, and the defense quickly stopped getting stops.
"Again, Kyrie, in the fourth [quarter], gets going. ... The ball's got to be in his hands," Kidd said.
Kidd highlighted the need to get the ball to Irving numerous times after the game: "Understanding when you're behind, you have to get your best shot," Kidd said. "And we'll look at that and make sure, when Kai's going like that, he's got to be able to touch the ball and be able to make the decision."
Indiana went on a significant run, going up by 20 points midway through the period after Haliburton hit a step-back 3-pointer. The tempo, shotmaking, and general energy the Pacers played with were too much for the Mavs during this run. Dallas went from having a chance after Irving's surge to begin the fourth quarter to ultimately being handed a disappointing blowout loss that ended a winning streak.
“We just got to take care of the basketball and also just be ready to be hunted,” Irving said. “A lot of teams are coming after us. When you kind of see the press or the media kind of calling us legitimate contenders, I don’t think it’s our time right now to be listening to all that noise.
“We just got to focus on one game at a time and just get ready for what’s ahead of us. A lot of teams are going to be playing their best basketball, and this is that test for us in the season.”
The Mavs finished with an uncharacteristically low 15 assists while turning it over 15 times. Tim Hardaway Jr. and P.J. Washington highlighted struggling offensive performances where shot selection, shotmaking, and ball control were issues.
"We just couldn't throw it in the ocean," Kidd said. "We had a couple of bad shots that took away some of the energy. We'll learn from it. We'll watch this, and we'll get better tomorrow."
"We had some turnovers in transition that we just normally haven't had, and so we have to be better with the ball, too," Kidd explained.
Carlisle, the coach of the Mavs' 2011 NBA Finals team and Doncic's first NBA coach, had high praise for what the Slovenian superstar is achieving this season. Carlisle continued to describe Doncic as a future MVP, something he predicted to DallasBasketball.com in August.
"I think everybody saw amazing things for him. I've been saying for really several years that it's just a matter of time before he's an MVP and a finals MVP and all that. Certainly this year, he's right there with all those conversations."
Looking ahead, the Mavs will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, marking the second segment of a four-game road trip.
