DALLAS — Those who follow the Mavericks have grown used to otherworldly stat lines from Luka Doncic.
He delivered another Monday night.
In Dallas’ 104-102 win over the Thunder, Doncic recorded his fifth triple-double this season (20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists) to claim more than half the triple-doubles in franchise history.
While scoring in his other 40, Doncic has often dazzled with stepback threes or punished opponents with his crafty drives to the paint.
This time, he made just four field goals (in 17 attempts) and finished 0 of 6 from three. Instead, the majority of his scoring came at the free-throw line.
No matter the way, Doncic’s production was essential to holding off the Thunder, who used a 22-2 run late in the third quarter to nearly erase the Mavericks’ 22-point lead and pull within single digits for the entire fourth quarter.
“Find other ways to help [the] team win, and that’s what he did tonight,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Another triple-double, which is kind of remarkable because he’s not shooting the three well, but he can do other things, and that just shows his growth.”
The Mavericks had a few scares late.
Kristaps Porzingis threw the ball at the team’s bench and shouted in frustration — and didn’t return — after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dunked over him to cut Dallas’ lead to 3 points with 3:51 remaining.
About a minute later, Doncic fell to the court after Lu Dort appeared to inadvertently clip his left ankle, which has hampered Doncic since mid-November, and Doncic limped off to the bench before returning after a timeout.
Then the Thunder three times cut the Mavericks’ lead to one possession as Dallas missed three free throws in the last 25.6 seconds.
But the Mavericks stole the Thunder’s final in-bound pass with 1.8 seconds remaining to fend off the upset threat to earn their ninth win in 10 games.
The team has experienced a sort of full-cycle reboot since the last time it played Oklahoma City, Doncic’s Jan. 2 return from 10 games out with left ankle soreness and COVID-19.
Even after that 95-86 win, questions linger about how the Mavericks would fare as their COVID-19 outbreak continued and how they’d respond after the virus had depleted their rotation but somehow boosted their offensive cohesion with replacement players.
Now, Dallas has lost just once since 2022 started. Porzingis, who rested during that Jan. 2 Thunder matchup, and Doncic played together for the second consecutive game Monday, the first time they’ve both been active for back-to-back games since Dec. 8-10.
Uncertainty about COVID-19, however, remained present.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley entered the NBA’s health and safety protocol Monday, less than two days after Orlando’s last outing, Saturday night in Dallas.
After his reunion with the franchise, he spent the last seven years on former coach Rick Carlisle’s staff, had Mosley infected any of the many friends and former colleagues and players who embraced and conversed with him throughout the night?
“So far so good, Kidd said.
Kidd didn’t need a sheet of paper to remember all the Mavericks’ absences during his pregame press conference Monday, a game-day necessity during the 11-player, multi-coach outbreak over the last month.
Reggie Bullock (right knee soreness) was the only player missing, though Maxi Kleber (sore left knee) also exited after a dunk less than two minutes into the third quarter.
That meant the Mavericks faced the Thunder with both Doncic and Porzingis active for the first time in three meetings with Oklahoma City this season and just the second time in the last six games over the last two years.
They delivered.
In addition to his triple-double, Doncic also logged three blocks and three steals.
Kristaps Porzingis scored the Mavericks’ first seven points to finish with 13 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes as Kidd limited his playing time in the 26-year-old’s second game back from a bout with COVID-19,
Dorian Finney-Smith (17 points) and Jalen Brunson (14 points) helped buoy the starting lineup, too.
Finney-Smith led Dallas from three with four makes on seven attempts. The rest of the Mavericks: 8 of 30.
The Mavericks’ shooting inconsistency showed most in the second half, when Oklahoma City outscored them 60-51 and Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 of his 35 points, but it didn’t derail their near-perfect start to the new year.
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