The Dallas Mavericks continued their winning ways on Friday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a dominate 42-point win, 143-101.
It was the 2nd straight 40+point win for the Mavericks, who became the 3rd team since 1990 with back-to-back 140-point games in regulation. The Mavericks, according to ESPN Stats & Info, became the 4th team in NBA history with consecutive 40-plus point wins (Knicks 1993-94, Kings 1992-93, and Suns 1988-89).
Luka Doncic had his third straight 30+point game as he led all scorers with 30 points to go along with 14 assists all in just 30 minutes of work.
The Mavericks completed a successful home stand going 4-0 as they head to Houston to take on James Harden and the Rockets.
Doncic finished the home stand averaging 33.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 11.0 assists.
The Mavericks move to 10-5 overall and 6-3 at home this season.
Doncic saying after the game,
“I think everybody did a great job tonight, especially on the defensive end, and we shared the ball, and it was a great game for us.”
The Mavs led after the 1st quarter 29-26 on the strength of their three-point shooting as they shot 55.6% from distance during the first period.
Doncic led the Mavs with 9 first quarter points.
But it was the second unit for the Mavericks on Friday night that stretched the lead and put the game pretty much out of reach for the Cavaliers.
That was thanks to backup F Justin Jackson who came off the bench and had a season high 19 points. Jackson and the Mavs opened up the 2nd quarter on an 11-0 run that put the Mavs up 14 and from there never looked back.
The Mavs only gave up 16 points in a dominate defensive second quarter effort. The quarter was punctuated by a huge Kristaps Porzingis (17 pts, 7 rebs, 4 blks) block on Tristan Thompson that led to a fast break dunk by Maxi Kleber getting the sold out American Airlines Center crowd off their feet.
While Porzingis struggled scoring the in first half, finishing only with 2 points, his effort on the defensive boards and his activity blocking and altering shots in the paint propelled the Mavs to one of their best defensive quarters of the season.
The Mavericks used their dominate second quarter to outscore the Cavaliers 37-16 and go up 66-42 at the end of the first half.
While the Mavericks were dominating the first half, Mavericks royalty joined the game.
For the first time since his retirement, Dirk Nowitzki took in a Mavericks game as he was announced to a rousing standing ovation by the hometown fans.
Royalty.
Mavs fans give Dirk Nowitzki a standing ovation as he's announced on the Jumbotron 🙌 pic.twitter.com/qtG4qnU4JH
— ESPN (@espn) November 23, 2019
The franchise’s greatest player apparently had some trouble getting to the arena, especially on Nowitzki Way, the street that was recently named after him.
Nowitizki tweeted during the game,
Man. Traffic on Nowitzki way Is insane….
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) November 23, 2019
Earlier Friday Doncic had sent a photo on Instagram showing him playing in the shadow of Nowitzki, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, as he paid homage to the superstar.
Doncic saying after the game about Nowitzki being in the crowd,
“It was great, that was special, it was special to have him there to watch us.”
Asked if he would like to have Nowitzki come back and play for the Mavs, Doncic quipped,
“I’m good, I think we’re good.”
The sophomore guard and his running mate Porzingis, who came back with a strong third quarter scoring 15 points, certainly didn’t need the future hall of famer on this night.
Additionally, strong performances by Tim Hardaway, Jr. (16 points) and Dorian Finney-Smith (10 points) helped the Mavericks dominate a Cavaliers team that was simply over matched.
The Mavericks gave the Cavaliers their 6th straight loss, dropping them to 4-11 on the season.
Cavaliers rookie guard Darius Garland led the Cavaliers with 23 points.
The Mavericks have now won a season high 4 straight games and currently find themselves 5th in the tough Western Conference.
Things will get tougher for the Mavs as they travel to Houston on Sunday to play the Rockets before returning home on Tuesday to take on Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers.
For now, the Mavericks will enjoy another home victory as they continue to build momentum after a dominant 4-0 home stand.
The Mavericks get back on the floor Sunday afternoon on the road against the Houston Rockets.
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Flip the pages to see video highlights and post game comments from Porzingis, Doncic, and more.