INDIANAPOLIS — Be cautious about drawing too many conclusions after the Mavericks’ 127-104 victory Monday night over the uber-shorthanded Indiana Pacers at least temporarily paused their spiral down the Western Conference playoff standings.
But take one sequence late in the third quarter as confirmation the Mavericks’ superstars regained a rhythm and steadiness that alluded the team during a woeful, joyless weekend against the Charlotte Hornets.
Kyrie Irving, who has endured lingering right foot/big toe pain since March 8, took a charge with about four minutes remaining in the period to add defensive sizzle to his most efficient outing (16 points on 7 of 11 shooting, six assists, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals) since March 2.
A few plays later, Doncic responded to the Pacers’ double-teaming and trapping him against the baseline by switch-split jumping and rifling a side-armed pass across the court to rookie Jaden Hardy, who swished the feed for a 3-pointer.
Doncic barked toward the Pacers’ bench, where Rick Carlisle and a few former Mavericks assistant coaches watched helplessly.
LeBron James weighed in on Twitter with nine crying-laughing emojis a few minutes later: “Man that’s SIMPLY INSANE!!!!!”
How’s that for a career-highlight-reel worthy play in a game Doncic wasn’t sure he’d be allowed to play?
Few expected the NBA on Monday to bail out Doncic from serving a one-game suspension by rescinding his 16th technical foul of the regular season
After the loss Sunday, Crew chief Kevin Scott said in a pool report that Doncic’s profanity warranted the technical in the third quarter against the Hornets and that postgame video review confirmed the decision.
But the NBA waived Doncic’s unsportsmanlike infraction Monday afternoon, allowing the 24-year-old superstar to play against the Pacers.
Count former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle among those not surprised to see the league’s decision.
While coaching Doncic from rookie phenom to third-year NBA superstar, Carlisle often criticized the physical liberties defenses took against Doncic. Who could forget his “teams are beating the s--- out of him” outrage in January 2020?
Carlisle sure hasn’t.
“He gets hit on virtually every play. I’ve seen it close up,” Carlisle said about two hours before tipoff Monday. “I’m leading the league in technical fouls for coaches. I empathize with disagreements with officials. Sometimes it gets emotional. But I wasn’t the least bit surprised it was rescinded.
“I didn’t get a very close study on what happened, but at this point, unless it’s something really over the top, I mean, with what everybody’s competing for, you can’t have a guy lose a game.”
Just like the eleventh-place Mavericks couldn’t afford to lose this one.
After they failed to beat the Hornets — who played without their top-three leading scorers — in consecutive games over the weekend, Indiana offered a chance for shorthanded redemption to keep from falling further out of the Western Conference play-in tournament field.
The Pacers played Monday without their top three players — All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton (ankle sprain), Euless native Myles Turner (injury management) and Oklahoma product Buddy Hield (non-COVID illness) — and without rotation regular Chris Duarte (ankle soreness).
The Mavericks capitalized this time.
They snapped a streak of losing the first quarter in eight consecutive road games to lead 29-27 after the first period, used a 24-8 run in the second to extend the advantage to 59-47 at halftime and opened their first 20-point lead about four minutes into the third.
Doncic led with 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one steal in 28 minutes, while Hardy led the 10 reserves who earned playing time with 20 points (8 of 11 shooting) in 24 minutes.
While winning their fourth of 12 games Doncic and Irving have played together since the early February trade, the Mavericks showed their long debrief in the locker room after Sunday’s loss might’ve resonated and revamped the team’s urgency.
Kidd met with his assistant coaches for nearly an hour to discuss how they could better use their rotation players to snap the losing skid. He implored players to stay focused and to keep from getting discouraged by missing open shots and teetering out of the play-in standings.
And Kidd asked: “Do we understand what’s at stake?”
The remainder of this five-game road trip will offer a better answer than Monday’s result against the lottery-bound Pacers.
Dallas’ next three opponents — Philadelphia, Miami and Atlanta — started Monday in the Eastern Conference top eight and have significant seeding and guaranteed playoff implications to motivate their effort.
