DALLAS -- The roll continues. For Luka Doncic and for the Mavericks.
On Thursday night, playing in American Airlines Center for the first time in 19 days, Dallas pulled out a 122-113 victory over Golden State by, once again, bearing down and dominating in crunch time.
Dallas never trailed and led by as many as 17 points, but Golden State pulled into a 104-104 tie midway through the fourth quarter. The Mavericks were incorrectly called for a 24-second violation that aided the Warriors’ comeback, but Dallas overcame that and scored 18 of the final 27 points.
“That’s the growth of our young team,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after his team climbed to 13 games over .500 (38-25) for the first time this season. “Our maturity level was high. In the past, we might have melted mentally.”
On the day he was named Western Conference Player of the Month for February, Doncic torched the Warriors for 19 first-quarter points en route to a 41-point, 10-rebound, 9-assist performance.
The game also of course showcased two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, who was the Western Conference Player of the Month for November. And it included the return of Curry’s Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, from a two-game illness absence.
Dallas, though, limited Curry to 21 points and Thompson to 16.
It’s hard to fathom Doncic maintaining his February pace — which included a 34.7-point scoring average, the highest by any Maverick in any month — along with averages of 10.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists. But as Thursday showed, there will be more scoring explosions in Doncic’s immediate future.
And many more POM awards in his career. This was his second in four seasons, to go along with his November of 2019 honor.
“He’s playing off the charts,” Kidd said.
But, as Kidd noted, Doncic wouldn’t have won player of the month had the Mavericks been, say, 5-5 in February. They were 7-3.
“That’s not just an individual award,” Kidd said. “It’s a team award because the team has to win, too.
“What he’s done here of late is incredible to watch as a coach, as a spectator, as a teammate. And we hope that he can continue to do that. But at that same time we need his teammates to also join the party . . . As much as we talk about the one-man show, he needs his teammates and his teammates need him.”
On Thursday the Mavericks needed all the help they could get. With Maxi Kleber out with right ankle soreness, Dallas played long stretches of small-ball. Davis Bertans, listed at 6-10, served as backup center for the first time as a Maverick.
After Doncic’s big first quarter, Dorian Finney-Smith stepped forward, scoring 11 second-quarter points. By the time Doncic returned five minutes into the second quarter, Dallas had extended its lead in his absence, from 38-27 to 54-40.
The rest of the game was a track meet. Even though Dallas maintained that cushion, to 68-54 at halftime, it was clear this was a don’t-take-your-foot-off-the-gas night.
With Curry and Thompson scoring eight points apiece, Golden State outscored Dallas 37-31 in the third quarter to pull within 99-91, setting up the frenetic fourth quarter.
With 7:10 left in the game, the Warriors got a big break when the Mavericks were called for a 24-second violation – despite replays showing a Brunson floater grazing the rim – just as Doncic was driving for an easy follow shot.
Immediately after that call, Golden State’s Moses Moody sank 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, tying the score at 104-104.
Coming off a 4-1 road trip, sandwiched around the All-Star break, Dallas entered the season’s final 20-game stretch on Thursday – with 10 games at home and 10 on the road.
By handing Golden State its seventh loss in 10 games, and its second to Dallas in four days, the Mavericks registered their ninth win over the Warriors in the teams’ last 11 meetings.
Was Thursday a potential playoff preview? The Mavericks might hope so.
