Despite the recent setback against Phoenix, the Mavericks seem to continue in the good moment they have been experiencing for a few weeks. The Dallas team met again this morning with the victory in the visit of the Grizzlies to the American Airlines Center, a duel that they took relatively placidly by 104-91 after having an important income during the entire second half. Jason Kidd’s men were never behind and managed to lead by up to 22 points, clearly prevailing over one of the sensations of the season and making his improvement remarkable.
Luka Doncic, with another great performance, also made evident the positive dynamics in which he finds himself after some somewhat more hesitant phases of the course. The Slovenian, who starred in a fantastic duel with Ja Morant, was on the verge of the triple-double after scoring 37 points (his second best score of the season), capturing 11 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists, and also managed to steal 3 balls to add also in the defensive facet. Although his exterior accuracy is still not high (2/7 in triples), his ability to attack the paint did not find an answer in the visiting defense, which he punished again and again until breaking the match.
Kristaps Porzingis, with 15 points, was the one who best accompanied him in attack, although he stood out especially for other tasks thanks to his 8 rebounds and especially his 6 blocks. Despite playing only 25 minutes due to six personal fouls, this work helped the Texans to leave their rival under 100 points for the tenth time in the last 14 games, establishing themselves as the best defense of the moment, which has been key to its growth.
“We are all involved,” Doncic said about it. “We all help each other and work in coordination. That’s what we have to do.”
The Mavs’ defense, however, could not prevent Morant from signing another extraordinary match, as the point guard finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. However, his teammates did find themselves quite handcuffed, which prevented Jenkins’ men from staying in the game or making any comeback in the second half. De’Anthony Melton and Jaren Jackson Jr., with 12 and 10 points respectively, were the only ones to join him in double figures, which left Ja extremely alone and made the Tennessee meet again with the defeat.
“We haven’t been able to get a shot in all night,” Jenkins said at the end of the duel. “Our defense has worked well, but we have not been able to be effective in attack.”
(Cover photo: Justin Ford/Getty Images)