2022: Here’s our favorite Maverick moments

The year 2022 wasn’t all that bad.

Sure, COVID-19 was still around, but it didn’t hound our existence every waking moment.

The stock market wasn’t great, but it could have been worse given inflation and other economic indicators. And the future looks much brighter as every market correction in history has been followed by an impressive rebound.

That kind of describes the Mavericks, too.

When you look at the body of work, 2022 was a pretty good year for the Mavericks. They put the rebuilding years and a couple of growing-pain seasons with a new superstar behind them.

It was, frankly, a fun year to be a Mavericks’ fan. And for those who think the only time you can have fun is when the team wins a championship . . . slow down and enjoy the ups and downs.

Here’s a rundown of what we all witnessed in 2022, counting down the 10 most memorable moments for the Mavs (and apologies if your favorite memory is missing).

10. Timing is everything: An early season visit to Brooklyn provided one of the Mavericks’ best moments when Dončić came through with a 40-point triple-double – way back before they became ho-hum for him. He had 41 points, 14 assists, 13 rebounds and when the game got to overtime, he had four points and four assists as the Mavericks won 129-125. They caught the Nets when they were in disarray and would get off to a 1-5 start. Since then they are 22-7 and have a 10-game winning streak going int New Year’s Eve.

9. Five in a row: We sometimes forget that when the calendar turned to 2022, the Mavericks were a game under .500 at 17-18. Then they won five consecutive games (Denver and Golden State included) to put .500 in their rear-view and they never looked back. It was a combination of getting healthier after the COVID-19 outbreak within the team in December. And the teachings of Jason Kidd began to take hold and the Mavericks played far better defensively the rest of the season. They were 35-12 after New Year’s Day.

8. June 24. We can debate whether Christian Wood is going to be a long-term fit for the Mavericks. He is in a contract year. But ask yourself this: where would they be without him? He’s averaged 17.5 points and eight rebounds. He’s easily been the Mavericks’ most consistent and efficient big man. And he’s had two or more blocked shots in eight consecutive games. Also, consider what the Mavericks gave up to get him: Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss and No. 26 overall pick Wendell Moore, none of whom are in the Houston Rockets’ rotation.

7. Mavs Ball. After COVID-19 had scrapped the event the previous year, the Mavericks threw the gala with hundreds of attendees, all of the players, legends and dignitaries. And what a gala it was. The March event raised a cool $1.7 million for charitable causes around the area and featured a lot of laughs, plus the music of En Vogue and numerous entertaining moments from the Mavericks’ players.

6. May 24: Dorian Finney-Smith’s 2022 probably was the best of his life. On Feb. 12, he signed a four-year, $56-million contract extension, a well-deserved raise for one of the best 3-and-D players in the league. Then in May, he had 23 points in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against Golden State and the Mavericks did what any team with pride would do. They did not lose the series on their home floor. They pushed it to a Game 5 and while that ended their season, Finney-Smith’s showing in Game 4 helped solidify why he’s so important to the franchise.

5. Hoops for Troops. On Nov. 3, the Mavericks opened up practice for soldiers from the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. The military men and women watched coach Jason Kidd put the Mavericks through a workout, then joined them on the court for some fun. The interaction included a half-court shooting contest that ended when a soldier wearing a No. 5 Mavericks’ jersey over his fatigues swished the half-court shot. “No. 5 made a heck of a shot,” Kidd said, leaving unsaid that it was his No. 5 jersey that the soldier was wearing. The soldiers also joined Dorian Finney-Smith, Mavs’ CEO Cynt Marshall and other Mavericks to pack 1,200 meals for hungry kids and families across the Metroplex.

4. Playoff savior. No, we aren’t talking about Dončić. The Mavericks quite likely do not get out of the first round of the playoffs without Jalen Brunson in Game 2 of the series against Utah. The Mavericks trailed 98-96 with under five minutes to go at American Airlines Center. They already were down 1-0 in the series. Luka was out with a calf injury. Going down 0-2 on your home court? A recipe for a quick exit. But Brunson fed Maxi Kleber for a three-pointer and the Mavericks never lost the lead again. Brunson had another assist and three free throws down the stretch to lead the Mavericks to a 110-104 win. Brunson had 41 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He also would be a beast in the Game 3 win at Utah with 31 points and six assists. Simply a season-extending display.

3. Feb. 10. The Mavericks had to face the reality that the Kristaps Porzingis experiment wasn’t working. When he played, Porzingis was a high-quality big man who could do a lot of things to help the team win. But he simply wasn’t reliable enough with his health. So the Mavericks traded him to Washington for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. The way Dinwiddie has played in the last month, he’s shown he has recovered from the knee surgery that cost him virtually a whole year. And Bertans has helped the Mavericks win games. The move was one that needed to be made. And it’s turned out solidly for the Mavericks.

2. Game Seven. The Mavericks and Phoenix Suns had traded wins for six games in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, protecting the home court like it was a brim-full gas pump in your back yard. But Game Seven was all Mavericks. Dončić had 27 points . . . at halftime. So did the Suns, by the way. And the Mavericks were up by 30 points and wound up winning 123-90. It was a total domination on the Suns’ home floor and in any other year, it would have been the undeniable No. 1 moment of the season, except . . .

1. 60.  Normally, no regular-season moment can top a Game Seven playoff win over the No. 1-seeded team in the conference. But we all saw history made in incredible fashion two days after Christmas when Luka had 60 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists and the game-saving play at the end of regulation that forced overtime. And the Mavericks went on to beat the New York Knicks 126-121. The odds of winning an NBA game when you are behind by nine points with under 35 seconds to go? Before Tuesday, they were zero. It had never been done in the past 20 years of research. Teams leading by nine or more in those scenarios were 13,844-0. After Tuesday, it’s 13,844-1.

Twitter: @ESefko