Mavs Crumble in Miami, Fall to Heat 126-118

The Dallas Mavericks entered Friday night's game against the Miami Heat 13 games above .500 for the first time all season, guided by the stellar play of their young Euro stars, Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.

Unfortunately, the Mavs could not grant Doncic a late 21st birthday present, however, falling to the Heat 126-118 in Miami.

“I’m sorry with my language, but I played like (expletive),” said Doncic, who may have been hampered by a thumb injury. “I wasn’t myself today, obviously, but we just got to learn from that and move on.

But the Heat deserves credit here. Thanks to their trademark tough-minded play and pesky defense, Miami had control of the game for the majority of the first three-quarters of action, before Dallas went on a late third-quarter tear to take a six-point lead heading into the final frame.

After Rick Carlisle elected to sit Doncic, Porzingis, and Seth Curry, all of whom helped reclaim the lead for Dallas in the run during the previous quarter, the Mavs quickly fell back behind, landing themselves in early foul trouble, and allowing Miami to take control of the action.

By the Doncic, Porzingis, and Curry re-entered the game in the fourth, the damage had been done, however, and the Mavs found themselves unable to force their way back into contention, ultimately falling to the relentless Miami offensive attack.

Seth Curry was the leader for the Mavs offensively, finishing with a career-high 37 points on 13-of-15 shooting, including 8-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Doncic, who looked a bit sluggish on the evening while performing in front of 3,000 fans from his native Slovenia to watch Luka duel fellow countryman Goran Dragic, added 23 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes, while Porzingis scored 24 of his own, grabbing 13 rebounds on 9-of-21 shooting along the way.

Jimmy Butler led the way for Miami, scoring 26 points, while Duncan Robinson added 24 points, and first-time All-Star Bam Adebayo contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“We went there in the first half,'' KP said of this loss, "and kind of just played like. ... kind of like (on) auto-pilot.''

The Mavs (36-24) will be back in action on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Minnesota to take on the reeling Timberwolves (17-41) at the Target Center. They'll want not wait around before trying to take control.

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