OKLAHOMA CITY – For the fourth time this season, the Mavericks experienced life without Luka Doncic. For the fourth time, Dallas was reminded why it doesn’t want to make it a habit.
Youthful Oklahoma City had no trouble overcoming an early 11-point deficit, hammering out a 120-109 victory in Paycom Center on Sunday night while outscoring Dallas in the paint, 56-24.
The Mavericks had won eight of their previous nine games, including their last four on the road, but showing some wear-and-tear of playing the second night of a back-to-back, they fell to 0-4 in games without Doncic and reached the regular-season’s midway point with a 23-18 record.
“They’re one of the best teams at attacking the paint and continuing to attack the paint,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of the Thunder. “We just couldn’t stop them.
“But it’s a six-point game with all that being said and we take two threes, had two good looks, and then from there we were just uphill.”
Christian Wood scored 27 points, Spencer Dinwiddie scored 21 and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19, but Hardaway missed nine of his first 11 shots and didn’t heat up until the third quarter (4-of-7 shooting).
“I take full responsibility for this loss,” Hardaway said. “I need to be better throughout the entire game, (missing layups). Defensively, I take pride in making sure that guys are in the right spots and I’ve just got to be better – especially on the second half of a back-to-back, without one of our main guys.
“This all falls on me, nobody else. That’s just how I feel. I’ll be better.”
In games without Doncic this season, Dallas now is 0-4 and averaging 103.5 points, eight below its season average.
It was no surprise that to start this five-game road trip Dallas decided to rest Doncic, who played 39 minutes in the previous night’s home win over New Orleans.
Each of Doncic’s previous three absences came on the second night of a back-to-back: A nine-point home defeat to Houston on Nov. 16; a 29-point loss at Chicago on Dec. 10; and a one-point defeat at Cleveland on Dec. 17 when Kemba Walker scored 32 points.
Walker, waived last Friday, no longer is a Maverick, but Kidd emphasized before Sunday’s game that playing without Doncic is no excuse.
“This isn’t new,” he said, “so hopefully we’re a little bit more comfortable of being able to execute.”
Despite the early lead, primarily behind the scoring of Wood and Dinwiddie, it wasn’t a good sign that the Mavericks made 10 of their first 14 3-point attempts, yet trailed, 49-48.
When Dallas inevitably went cold, Oklahoma City went on a 23-5 run to take a 69-55 halftime lead. At that point, the Thunder had dominated the Mavericks in the paint, 28-8.
Wood noted that the Thunder got most of the 50-50 balls, but said the energy and focus lapses can’t be blamed on fatigue.
Dallas closed within seven points in the third quarter, then within six in the fourth, but Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33 points) erupted for 17 points in the third quarter and six more in the fourth.
And so at 23-18, the Mavericks finished the season’s first half fourth in the Western Conference, with a slightly better record than last season’s 22-19. It was at roughly this point last year that they overcame a slew of COVID-related player absences, caught fire and won 31 of their last 41.
Soon they expect to get Josh Green and Dorian Finney-Smith back, perhaps by the end of this road trip.
“I think we’re in a great position,” Wood said. “I think we’re going to make a good run in the playoffs. We haven’t had everybody all season, and if we did it was for a short period.”
Dallas is only 4.5 games behind first-place Memphis in the wide-open West.
“I think the positive that’s going to come out of it is when we get to the final stretch of the season,” Hardaway said of the injuries, which also include Maxi Kleber (hamstring tear) perhaps returning after the All-Star break. “Everybody will have had this experience on the floor, I think it’s going to pay off.”
Kidd often call the season a marathon. Using that analogy, the Mavericks have “only” run 13 miles.
“It’s a long journey,” Kidd said. “We’re at 41 [games]. We’re above 500, which is good. Our offense is playing at a very high level — and there’s room for improvement with defense.
“So as a coach, I think we’re sitting in a good seat. We’re fourth in the West, with a lot of games still to be played. And hopefully we can get healthy. We’ll see what we have as we as we go forward.”
