Mavs Overcome Luka Doncic's Poor Shooting Night in 'Ugly' Win Over Spurs
SAN ANTONIO — Following up a dramatic 107-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets, the Dallas Mavericks took on the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center on Tuesday night. A poor shooting from Luka Doncic wasn't enough to prevent the Mavs from achieving a 113-107 victory.
"We got a win, man," Doncic said. "That's all that matters."
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Doncic achieved his 18th triple-double of the season after recording 18 points, 16 assists, and 10 rebounds, breaking his previous single-season record for most in Mavs history. It was a tough shooting night as he finished 6-27 (22.2 percent) from the floor and 2-11 (18.2 percent) from the perimeter while turning it over four times. Doncic had the worst shooting percentage of his NBA career in a regular season game with 20 or more field goal attempts and his second worst when shooting over 15 times. It was just the seventh game of his career in which he shot below 25 percent overall while taking 15 or more shots.
"He still had a triple-double. I know that's boring for him, and it wasn't pretty, but to still be able to have a triple-double — he didn't shoot the ball well or to his standards, but then was able to rebound," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic. "I thought again, his leadership and trust down the stretch was big. ... He did all the little things. But again, for his standards, or the standards that we all kind of hold him to, it just wasn't his shooting night. But he found a way to lead his team to victory."
Dallas shot just 10-29 (34.5 percent) from beyond the arc as a team, too, showing a continued change in the team's dynamic to win despite Doncic's performance and the team's lack of high volume 3-point makes. Kyrie Irving described it as one of those "ugly wins" despite underwhelming shooting results.
"It was one of those ugly games, but it's a true testament to us just staying the course, being mature about it down the stretch, staying poised and getting to our spots when we needed," Irving said. "We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but I feel like we put ourselves in a great position to win the ball game down the stretch.”
Irving was instrumental in picking up Doncic on a tough night. He scored an efficient 28 points and seven rebounds. Despite missing all five of his shots from 3-point range, Irving still went 13-21 (61.9 percent) from the floor. He continued his impressive recent play while fasting for Ramadan, coming off a 24-point and nine-assist performance against the Nuggets, including the game-winning, left-handed floater. Irving admired how Doncic continued to be aggressive, particularly creating for his teammates.
"Yeah, I mean, it's a collective responsibility. We expect a lot out of Luka. He expects a lot out of himself," Irving said. "The guy's hungry to be perfect every single night, and I admire that about him, But he's human, just like the rest of us. And when he's not able to hit shots that he normally makes, we gotta pick him up. I like that he was still aggressive."
"I like that he still was aggressive in terms of coming off the pick and roll and making plays. He had 16 assists tonight [and] 10 rebounds. So he was doing all of the little things," Irving explained. "I was just trying to encourage those shots he normally makes. They'll go in moving forward. I'm not worried, but it's a true testament to our team, just us being able to galvanize around that kind of going on with Luka and me pushing the pace a bit more, getting other guys involved, and being aggressive."
Dante Exum, who came off the bench to record 16 points and two assists, provided a significant boost. He shot 5-8 (62.5 percent) overall but was perfect on all four of his attempts from beyond the arc and made a pair of pivotal free throws in clutch time. Exum closed the game frequently, playing next to Doncic and Irving, which provided a needed relief option in pivotal moments.
"He's a pressure reliever, man. He's like one of those Swiss Army knives that you could throw in there at any point," Irving said of Exum. "It makes a big difference for us, man. It takes a ton of weight off our shoulders."
The Mavs received substantial contributions from their two traditional centers — Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II. Gafford chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds, while Lively offered 12 points, five rebounds, and one block off the bench. Dallas sometimes deployed Maxi Kleber next to another center while also going small in critical moments. Whatever they did worked, given Dallas outscored the Spurs by a team-best 27 points while Kleber was on the court.
A total of six players scored in double figures for the Spurs, with their starting backcourt consisting of Tre Jones and Devin Vassell combining for 41 points and 12 assists. Like Doncic, Victor Wembanyama had a tough shooting night, going 3-13 overall and missing his four 3-point attempts, but he did make his presence felt defensively. He totaled 12 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks overall.
San Antonio outrebounded Dallas 48-40 total while holding the Mavs, who came off a performance with 22 offensive boards against the Nuggets in their previous game, to three offensive rebounds. Dallas created an advantage in turnovers, only committing nine compared to the Spurs' 16, resulting in a nine-point advantage in points off turnovers overall.
“We outrebounded them, we shot better than they did, we outscored them in the third quarter, we outscored them in the fourth quarter [and] we had the same number of assists, basically, but we had 16 turnovers," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's the difference in the game."
Dallas opened with a 10-5 lead, focusing early on attacking the Spurs' drop coverage in ball screens and handoffs. The Mavs even opened with a Stack pick-and-roll, which resulted in a paint finish for Gafford. Doncic made some plays out of traditional pick-and-rolls, including a step-back 3-pointer created by snaking the screen.
The Mavs began the game by crossmatching the power forward and center positions on defense. P.J. Washington guarded Wembanyama while Gafford took on Jeremy Sochan's "weak shooter" assignment. The goal was to shrink the floor and have a roaming rim protector to make help rotations.
"There were no breakdowns. We're gonna label someone to shoot the 3s," Kidd said. He made his first two, and those were the only two shots he made for the half. That's on the game plan. A lot of times, it's not a breakdown. It's who we want to shoot the ball. And the guys are doing a great job of understanding what we're asking them to do and who the ball has to find in this league.
"There will be times when guys make some early, but over the long haul, we believe that the misses will come into play, and we have to be able to rebound," Kidd explained. "I thought we did a great job executing the game plan."
Both teams had a lengthy stretch attacking in transition, including a three-quarter court alley-oop pass from Doncic to Derrick Jones Jr. for a dunk. The Mavs struggled to get to the rim with Wembanyama on the court after some early success, resulting in some tough shots leading to empty possessions.
The Spurs used a string of defensive stops while getting out on the break to make it 22-21, following a corner 3-pointer from a Sochan spray-out pass, prompting the Mavs to call a timeout. San Antonio deployed a small ball group with Wembanyama off the court, while the Mavs had Kleber deployed next to a Lively, then Gafford.
“I feel like tonight was one of those tests for us where we had our foot off the gas pedal a little bit to start the game," Irving said. "It was real easy. We were going back and forth with them, trading punches. When you don’t handle your business early, you give other teams confidence; I mean, they’re pros, too, so the respect was there."
Irving was highly aggressive, looking to make plays, leading an impressive run during this stretch, and closing the first quarter by outscoring the Spurs 12-7. Irving first executed a finish out of a Wide action to begin his flurry, followed by attacks in early offense by exploiting a combination of single coverage and defensive breakdowns from the Spurs' defense. He even found Gafford left wide open in the paint for a finish in semi-transition. Irving's guidance was needed, even countering being blitzed by later attacking out of early isolation to get to the rim.
Irving continued to trouble the Spurs. He ended the first quarter with a short-range jumper in transition at the buzzer, creating a 38-30 lead for Dallas. He began the second period with a dunk after Gafford found him on the pass, establishing the Mavs' first double-figure advantage. With Wembanyama returning to the floor, the Spurs outscored the Mavs 15-7 with 7:08 left before halftime, going up 47-45. A corner 3-pointer from Kleber after Doncic's pass temporarily put Dallas back ahead, but both teams continued to trade leads as the second period progressed.
Until Wembanyama checked out midway through the second quarter, Doncic took many off-the-dribble jumpers. The Slovenian superstar struggled to convert on those attempts, scoring seven points while shooting 2-12 from the floor and 1-5 from the perimeter. On the contrary, Irving was still a perfect 7-7 on his shots with 14 points.
When Wembanyama checked out of the game, Doncic connected with Gafford for a dunk playing out of a Zoom action. The Mavs were up 54-50 with 4:43 left to play in the second quarter. Dallas attacked the paint more frequently, resulting in a 61-52 advantage as Wembanyama returned with 2:43 left to play.
Amid his tough shooting start, Doncic finally got a mid-range jumper to fall after banking it in. Before the play, he simulated his shooting motion and then celebrated after making the shot. Despite a slow scoring start from Doncic, the Mavs were up 65-56 on the Spurs at the break, with Doncic already dishing out 11 assists — tying the most he's ever had in an opening half in his NBA career.
Irving's shifty Euro-step finish extended the Mavs' advantage to double figures early in the third quarter, but Doncic missed his first two jump shots while the Spurs were getting multiple 3-pointers to fall on the other end. Dallas came up empty on numerous transition leakouts and pick-and-roll feeds to Gafford.
San Antonio took full advantage of the Mavs' rut on offense, creating an 11-2 run capped off by a Sochan-made 3-pointer to tie it up at 67-67 at the 7:58 mark of the third quarter. With Lively on the court, Dallas was focused on playing off Sochan aggressively, posing challenges for San Antonio in the half-court.
The Spurs were down 74-73 when Wembanyama checked out with 4:52 to play in the third quarter. Dallas deployed a lineup mainly featuring bench personnel with Irving, excluding Doncic. After numerous defensive breakdowns while trying to blitz the ball by the Mavs, they suddenly were down 81-77.
Doncic's return to the court sparked a strong stretch for the Mavs, creating a 91-84 edge through three quarters, beginning with numerous playmaking sequences resulting in made shots. However, Doncic's uncharacteristically poor scoring night continued, with him being blocked by a trailing defender when trying to finish at the rim on consecutive plays. However, he made a step-back 3-pointer with 2.0 seconds on the clock, likely a relief, given the circumstances.
Wembanyama was back in action for the Spurs to open the final period. The Mavs deployed Kleber at the five-spot with Washington and Hardaway on the wing. Dallas tried to clear out Wembanyama as much as possible in the half-court while Doncic attacked, pushing the pace with Irving when opportunities were available. Regardless, just about nothing was working for an extended stretch.
The Mavs struggled to generate offense early in the fourth quarter, highlighted by Wembanyama blocking Irving on a reverse layup and Doncic on a step-back 3-pointer during a short span. Dallas had only scored two points in the period as of the 7:30 mark. Entering a timeout, they were only up 93-92, but they gave up a 3-pointer after, putting them behind by two points.
“You got to be aware of him late challenging, and he has the timing of a guard," Irving said. "Today, I thought I had a reverse layup and he ended up blocking it on the left side, because I thought he was going to be on the right side. But he has this long wingspan, so he covers up a lot of space. As a competitor and challenger, I like going in there and challenging him because if you can finish on [Victor Wembanyama], I feel like you can finish on anybody in the world."
With the need to produce more off-the-dribble points, the Mavs deployed Exum next to Doncic and Irving while reverting to having Washington and Gafford in the frontcourt to combat Wembanyama. Later, Kleber was deployed as the center to close out the game. The personnel decisions proved successful in the end.
"I think once we try to make this playoff push, we're going to have nights like this," Exum said. We’re going to have to rely on our defense and transition, getting easy buckets and layups, [Daniel Gafford] at the rim for dunks, Lively as well. I think sometimes the best way to play basketball is the easy way rather than the hardest shots possible."
It was a tightly contested game down the stretch, with the struggling Mavs offense receiving a few timely made shots, including Doncic's turnaround jumper in the post against Sochan and Exum's pull-up 3-pointer. It wasn't until a reverse layup by Irving with 3:46 left that Dallas cracked the 10-point threshold in the period. Nevertheless, they pulled ahead 102-101 due to Irving's play.
"The defense, as you can see, even on our poor shooting nights in the past, we would definitely have lost this game, but we rely on our defense," Kidd said. "We're getting stops. ... I guess when you look at it, you know, you're not going to always play perfect, but we found a way to win tonight."
With Doncic handling the ball, the Mavs created a needed scoring possession by playing out of double drag while using Irving and Exum as screeners. Irving cut to the rim for a reverse finish just in time as Wembanyama was on the prowl to rotate for the block as a trailing help defender. An isolation short-range jumper from Irving pushed Dallas up 106-101 with under two minutes on the game clock.
"I think Dante played amazing, and Maxi too," Doncic said. "Obviously Kai, you know, Kai carried us today, but even Dante and Maxi, down the stretch — they were big for us."
A successful Spurs challenge resulted in a possession with 1:23 left before Vassell finished at the rim to narrow the Mavs' advantage to just three points with 1:07 still to play. It was another chance for Dallas — the NBA's leader in clutch winning percentage — to find a way to win another close game. Exum answered with a pivotal 3-pointer, creating a six-point edge for Dallas before making two clutch free throws, effectively clinching the victory.
"We have a great team. That's why we got to win today," Doncic said. "Everybody stepping on the court is playing hard, and in the end, we got a win, which we came here for."
Looking ahead, the Mavs will return to American Airlines Center to take on the Utah Jazz before embarking on a five-game road trip.
