SAN FRANCISCO — Many Mavericks fans hoped Luka Doncic would cap his historic run as a 22-year-old with brilliance Sunday night at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center.
Most just didn’t expect it would take until the final minutes.
After the Mavericks trailed by 21 points with 5:41 remaining. Before a 35-8 run over the last 9:44 powered one of their most improbable wins of the season: Mavericks 107, Warriors, 101.
For much of the game, Dallas’ frustration lingered. Doncic drew his league-leading 13th technical foul on the court, and Davis Bertans garnered another from the bench. Body language faltered. Defensive rotations slogged.
But then Doncic and the Mavericks’ small closing lineup — with Dorian Finney-Smith playing the five — buckled down.
The 22-year-old — for another couple hours on U.S. time — positioned Finney-Smith for a layup with 3:21 left to cut the deficit to 95-94. Then he hit his own jumper and assisted Spencer Dinwiddie — who had 10 points in the fourth quarter — with a behind-the-head pass for a corner three.
Doncic capped the furious comeback with Dallas’ last seven points, including five free throws in the last 23 seconds, and an emphatic high five for Dinwiddie in the final moments.
A month after the Mavericks suffered their season-worst, 38-point defeat in this arena on Jan. 25, they left Sunday with their most miraculous comeback of the season — and likely of Doncic’s tenure.
Happy birthday, indeed.
The Mavericks and the Warriors entered the game tied for an NBA-best 11 comebacks after falling behind by double digits.
Dallas didn’t need much time before positioning themselves for a 12th.
The team tried 15-5 less than five minutes into the game and allowed the Warriors to shoot 60.9% from the floor in the first quarter. The Mavericks trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half and a game-worst 21 after Steph Curry hit a layup with 6:05 left in the third quarter.
Time to panic?
Though facing their second consecutive loss to a team ahead of them in the Western Conference standings, the Mavericks didn’t.
