Mavs LISTEN: Grading Dallas' Luka Doncic-Led 20-Game Start

The first 20 games of this NBA season has been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride for Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and rest of the Dallas Mavericks to say the least.

The season started off with a deflating blowout loss to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on the road, but then the Mavs rebounded nicely to win nine of their next 12 games to boast a 9-4 record.

In the final minute of the ninth win, Doncic suffered an ankle and knee sprain that forced him to sit out the next three games, which included two tough road games against the Phoenix Suns and another road game against the Los Angeles Clippers. That unsurprisingly resulted in an 0-3 losing skid for Dallas.

When Doncic returned from his injury, he and Porzingis led the Mavs in a 'revenge win' over the Clippers. The long Thanksgiving layoff was followed by two disappointing home losses to the Washing Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers... but the Mavs did their best to make us forget about all of that with the latest 139-107 blowout win in New Orleans where they shot a franchise-best 68.7-percent from the field.

On this episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, host Dalton Trigg is joined by return guest and friend of the show Kevin Gray Jr., who works for 105.3 The Fan and hosts the Gray Area Podcast, to discuss the Mavs' historic win over the Pelicans, the stellar play of Luka Doncic, the team's overall defensive intensity getting an uptick, and a Mavs trade idea with the Toronto Raptors that just might work out well for both sides.

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