Doncic, Mavs Miraculously Hold On Late to Defeat Nets for 4th Consecutive Win
Although the Brooklyn Nets were missing Kyrie Irving, who dropped 39 points on the Dallas Mavericks the last time the two teams met less than two weeks ago, Luka Doncic and company knew Monday night's rematch at wouldn't be easy. After all, Kevin Durant is still a megastar capable of carrying a shorthanded team even at the age of 34.
After falling down by 14 points in the first quarter, the Mavs fought back to make it a close game before dominating in the fourth quarter. When the dust settled, Dallas won its fourth consecutive game, 96-94. The Mavs improve to 6-3 while the Nets drop to 4-7 on the young season.
Dallas was up three with six seconds remaining when Dorian Finney-Smith fouled Kevin Durant on a three-point shot. Miraculously, Durant missed his second free throw and was forced to miss his third for a chance to get the ball back. After Brooklyn initially grabbed the offensive rebound off the final miss, the Mavs came up with a steal in traffic to seal the victory. Eight of Dallas' first nine games have been "clutch" games.
Luka Doncic led the way as he normally does, finishing with 36 points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block. He shot 11-22 from the field, including 5-9 from deep and 9-12 from the free-throw line. Doncic extended his streak of scoring 30+ points to start a season to nine games, which is the second-highest mark of all-time. Wilt Chamberlain is the only player to have more.
Finney-Smith was Dallas' second-highest scorer with 18 points on 5-9 shooting in 35 minutes. Both Doncic and Finney-Smith hit clutch free throws down the stretch to help close out the win.
Josh Green provided a huge spark off the bench by scoring 16 points in 27 minutes. He shot a perfect 5-5 from the field and was a +10 on the night. Green came into training camp hoping for a breakout season after putting in hard work over the summer, and so far, that hope seems to be turning into a reality. Tim Hardaway Jr. left the game with a hip strain on Monday, so Green's minutes could be higher for the foreseeable future.
The Mavs will now hit the road for a brief back-to-back later this week before coming back to Dallas for the weekend. Dallas takes on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, followed by a matchup with former-Maverick Kristaps Porzingis and the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
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