'Locking It Down': Doncic, Shorthanded Mavs Stifle Wizards, 109-87
Coming off a big defensive effort against the New York Knicks the night before, Luka Doncic and the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks went into Washington D.C. on the second night of a back-to-back and outlasted Russell Westbrook and the Wizards, 109-87.
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Despite Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber sitting this one out, Doncic was still able to lead his team to the win, as he does more times than not.
Doncic finished the game with 26 points on 12-of-24 shooting to go with eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block in just 32 minutes of play. Jalen Brunson, who has taken an incredible leap in his third season, was the Mavs' second leading scorer with 19 points off the bench. Brunson also shot 50-percent from the field.
Russell Westbrook led the way for the Wizards with 26 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Washington was also shorthanded in this game, missing Bradley Beal due to a hip injury. Beal is currently the NBA's leading scorer, averaging 31.3 points per game.
Due to all the absences, Dallas rolled out a brand new starting lineup tonight. Surprisingly, all five Mavs starters scored double-digits, including 10 points from newcomer Nicolo Melli, who was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Boban Marjanovic, who got the start at center in place of Porzingis, finished the game with a big 15 points and 12 rebounds in only 24 minutes of play.
How did Boban do it?
"Thank you, Luka,'' he said on postgame TV. "Great passes. Continue to do that."
And what did Rick Carlisle, bouncing back from a positive COVID test 24 hours before in New York (causing him to miss that game while returning for this one) think of Boban?
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"Boban's got a lot going on,'' Rick joked, then referring to Boban's Goldfish snack TV ad. "It's good he fits us in around his commercial-making schedule."
The win for Dallas tonight marked the end of a five-game road trip, one they finished with an encouraging 4-1 record. The Mavs, now six games above .500 for the first time all season (27-21), will now return to Dallas to take on a very good Utah Jazz team on Monday night. The Jazz are currently the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 37-11 record. Dallas will play nine of its next 11 games at home. Will we finally get to see the debut of J.J. Redick during that timeframe? Stay tuned!
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