Porzingis Pushes Mavs Past Spurs, 115-104; Doncic Climbs Record Books
DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks overcame a sleepy start to beat the San Antonio Spurs 115-104, to start the second half of the 2020-2021 NBA season on a positive note.
In the back-and-forth affair, the Mavs looked rested, or wait no... not rested. The Mavs looked asleep and sloppily turned the ball over 12 times in the first half. The Spurs jumped to a 59-52 lead in the first half, despite being without one of their stars.
Just before the game, the San Antonio Spurs announced that they have agreed to mutually part ways with LaMarcus Aldridge, which will allow the forward to explore other opportunities in the NBA. He did not play vs. the Mavs.
It was a quiet first half from Luka Doncic on the scoring side (six points, a season-low) but he relied on his beautiful passes and strong defense, totaling eight assists and eight rebounds, and one technical. Doncic has six technical fouls on the season, only five players have more than he does.
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One of the biggest differences in the first half? The Mavs shot only 26.7-percent from three, while the Spurs shot 47.1-percent.
Maybe the Dallas team cranked up the cappuccino maker in the locker room at halftime. The Mavs came out with a zing and a 10-0 run to erase their seven-point deficit within the first two minutes of the third quarter. The Mavs played much sharper but could not do much to slow Demar DeRozen. DeRozen led all scorers with 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting.
Doncic's shots began to fall and he secured his 33rd career triple-double, tying Bob Cousy at 11th on the all-time NBA list. Doncic scored 22 points, with 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
One of those assists was a beautiful alley-oop to Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis looked to have benefitted from the break, finishing with 28 points and 14 rebounds.
The Mavs win moves them 19-16 on the season and 2-0 vs. the Spurs this season. All 10 Mavs players that entered the game also scored.
"Our goal is to take the momentum that we built up before the break and carry it into the second half," coach Rick Carlisle said. "But it won't be easy, there's a high density of games and everybody really is competing hard this year."
Next up, the Mavs hit the road for a quick turnaround in Oklahoma City vs. the Thunder, Thursday at 8 p.m. CT.
