'Beale Street Beatdown': Mavs Snap Grizzlies 11-Game Streak With 112-85 Win
After having their own winning streak snapped in New York, the Dallas Mavericks hoped to dish out that same result to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, who had won 11-straight games coming into the matchup. To Dallas' credit, they did just that with a dominant 112-85 win over Memphis at FedExForum. It was the ninth time in Mavs franchise history where they snapped a winning streak of at least 10 games.
Earlier in the week, we wrote about how superstar Luka Doncic needed to raise his efficiency in order for the Mavs to take the next step. Doncic wasted no time getting started with that task, as he led the Mavs with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Despite not hitting any of his six three-point attempts, Doncic shot 12-of-16 from everywhere else. The Memphis Grizzlies might have a deeper roster when it comes to younger talent with potential, but the Mavs still have the best player between the two teams, and that was on full display tonight.
The triple-double was the 40th of Doncic's young career. For context, every other Dallas Maverick in franchise history has combined for 40 triple-doubles overall. Doncic is also one of just 11 players in NBA history to reach that mark.
Doncic received a good amount of help from his supporting cast in this one, as six more Mavericks scored in double figures.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 16 points, Jalen Brunson and Marquese Chriss scored 15 points apiece, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell scored 13 points apiece, and Reggie Bullock, who was a team-high +31 in the box score plus-minus, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
“The last few games, just us as a unit, we’ve been trying to be locked in on the defensive end,” said Bullock after a spirited performance. “We know that defense is going to be able to carry us through a lot of these games.”
Chriss, who is on his third 10-day contract with Dallas, shot 6-of-7 from the field tonight and is shooting an outstanding 63 percent in his 12 games with the team. He is surely going to stick around with the Mavs for the rest of this season after his string of nice performances.
Ja Morant, who recently passed Doncic in NBA All-Star fan voting with the second returns coming in, led the Grizzlies with 19 points, five rebounds and eight assists while shooting 8-of-15 from the field. One had to wonder if Doncic took this matchup personally with how the national media has been comparing the two stars this week, but he had nothing but high praise for Morant with his postgame comments.
“I think (Morant) deserves the attention he’s been getting,” said Doncic. “He’s been playing at an amazing level this season, and I think he deserves it. … I think he’s very talented.”
Aside from having a hiccup against the Knicks on Wednesday night, the Mavs continued their stellar play on the defensive end of the court in Memphis. The Grizzlies average 112.3 points per game, which is third-most in the league this season, and the Mavs held them to a mere 85 points. During this stretch of seven wins in eight games, Dallas is holding its opponents to an average of just 93.9 points per game.
Next up, the Mavs will head back to Dallas to face the Orlando Magic tomorrow on the second night of a back-to-back. The game against Orlando marks the first of the Mavs' upcoming five-game home stand. With the next three games being against Orlando, Oklahoma City and Toronto, the Mavs should be able to pad their record a little bit if they take care of business.
