CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Luka Doncic appeared to have the offensive burst and verve Saturday night to match the fast-paced Charlotte Hornets in Spectrum Center.
The rest of his Mavericks teammates, however, didn’t provide the same punch.
Doncic finished with 37 points, four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes while shooting 13 of 20 from the floor and making a season-high 8 of 12 attempts from 3. But Dallas’ 129-108 loss turned into a blowout by the end of the third quarter because Charlotte’s 47.6% 3-point shooting and feisty penchant for hope-squashing runs befuddled the Mavericks’ tired defense.
A five-game, 11-day road trip that featured early sizzle and comeback heroics ended in the Mavericks’ first consecutive losses since Jan. 30-Feb. 2 and with fans concerned about playoff standing with 11 regular-season games remaining.
Because the Western Conference No. 5 Mavericks (43-28) couldn’t top a Hornets team trying to keep its hold on a No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in spot in the East, they dropped to 1.5 games behind No. 5 Utah (44-26) for first-round home-court advantage and to just one game ahead of No. 6 Denver (42-29) and No. 7 Minnesota (41-30).
Matchups with the Timberwolves (twice) and Jazz loom over the next four games.
Road-trip-weary Mavericks, beware.
Already facing the Hornets, who hadn’t played since Wednesday, at a rest disadvantage, the Mavericks’ depth took another hit hours before the game. The team announced Spencer Dinwiddie — who delivered game-winning 3s twice on this road trip — sat out for right knee “injury recovery,” his custom on the second night of back-to-backs since January 2021 ACL surgery.
And starting wing Reggie Bullock missed a fourth consecutive game for personal reasons.
Bullock re-joined the team in Charlotte, but coach Jason Kidd said the training staff wanted him to do at least one ramp-up workout before playing for the first time since March 11 in Houston.
So, Bullock ran through a series of shooting and cardio sets with assistant coach Peter Patton on the Spectrum Center court before the game and then watched from the second row of the bench as a trio of Mavericks attempts to log a 16th double-digit comeback this season fell victim to the Hornets’ hot shooting.
After Charlotte opened a 16-2 lead in the first 3:01, Doncic made four 3-point shots over the next few minutes, and the Mavericks pulled within four points (25-21) with about three minutes left in the quarter.
Then the Hornets closed the period on a 10-3 run.
Rinse and repeat over the next two quarters.
Dallas took a two-point lead (52-50) with 2:15 left in the first half — only for Charlotte to enter the break with 11 unanswered points from there. Midway through the third quarter, the Mavericks again cut their deficit to two points (74-72) before the Hornets scored the next nine points in less than two minutes.
The spurt started what would become a 40-10 Charlotte run over the next nine minutes, ensuring the Mavericks wouldn’t come close again.
Doncic’s offense showed little sign of fatigue.
Perhaps many should’ve expected a strong shooting night after his 5-of-20 performance Friday night in Philadelphia.
Doncic has shot below 33% in just four games this season. In two of three instances before Saturday, he returned the next game to score more than 40 points. He likely would have reached the mark again in Charlotte had Kidd not turned to all reserves with the deficit too large to overcome by the time Doncic’s typical fourth-quarter substitution pattern arrived.
The Mavericks defense — which entered as the NBA’s third-best against 3-point shooting, allowing just 33.7% to opponents — didn’t help to capitalize on Doncic’s efficiency.
A night after allowing the 76ers to shoot 42.1% from deep, Charlotte connected on 20 of 42 3s. Aside from Doncic’s season-best 66.7% long-range performance, the 10 other Mavericks who played hit just 6 of 26 from 3 (23.1%).
Dallas trailed 20-9 in fast-break points and committed 15 turnovers that Charlotte turned into 21 points.
Signs of fatigue and inefficiency that even a standout night from its 23-year-old All-Star couldn’t mask.
