DALLAS – For the Dallas Mavericks, there truly is no place like home.
For the seventh time in their ninth game this season at American Airlines Center, the Mavs went out and protected their home court. Wednesday night Harrison Barnes poured in a season-high 28 points and Luka Doncic added 21 points and nine rebounds as the Mavs got their Thanksgiving holidays off to a positive start with a 119-113 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets.
It was the fifth straight home win for the Mavs and increased their overall record to 8-9. A home win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday would bring the Mavs back to .500 for the first time since they were 2-2 on Oct. 24.
The only teams with more home wins this season than the Mavs are Philadelphia (10), Milwaukee (nine), Golden State (eight) and New Orleans (eight).
Despite holding off the pesky Nets and winning for the fifth time in their last six games, the Mavs have concerns about point guard Dennis Smith Jr., who was limited to just 19 minutes and was 2-of-3 from the field and scored only four points. Smith is bothered by a sore wrist on his (right) shooting hand.
“Yeah, he can’t shoot,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He wanted to play and he took on the toughest defensive matchup to start the game (in guarding D’Angelo Russell).
“I thought he did good things in a difficult situation. He is almost a 40 percent 3-point shooter and he just can’t shoot threes right now.”
J. J. Barea and Devin Harris stepped in and effectively ran the Mavs’ offense while Smith was nursing his injury. Barea scored 18 points, dispensed seven assists and was 8-of-14 from the field, while Harris also tallied 18 points and was 4-of-7 from the field.
“This is a good team, Brooklyn, they play super hard, they won (Tuesday) night (in Miami),” Barea said. “It was a must-win tonight, we’re playing better basketball the last week, so we just got to keep it going.
“Especially at home we’re playing great at home, so we got to take advantage.”
Harris definitely took advantage of his opportunities as there was a 69-second stretch where he went on a personal 8-0 run as the Mavs broke free from an 87-87 tie and forged ahead, 95-87, with 8:15 remaining in the game. Harris also collected two of his four steals during that stretch.
“He was awesome and he’s been awesome since he came back (from a hamstring injury on Nov. 10),” Barea said. “He’s a smart player defensively and offensively.
“He really had a great game tonight and we needed it.”
Harris was in such a zone during that 8-0 run that the Mavs were able to use his performance to cross the winner’s circle on top.
“I was just out there trying to make plays,” Harris said. “Obviously it was a big win for us tonight, especially after losing our winning streak (with Monday’s 98-88 loss in Memphis).
“It was good to come out there and protect home court.”
And that protection wouldn’t have happened without Harris.
“It was great and probably was one of the big reasons we were able to win the game,” Carlisle said. “We actually got down during the stretch, but he made two or three amazing effort energy plays, got the ball into the basket a couple of times, got to the free throw line when we were struggling to get shots and it was a throwback kind of deal tonight.
“He was absolutely gassed by the time he came out. I supposed we could have gone back to him (late) in the fourth, but felt that if we could avoid it, it would be best.”
The Mavs needed that effort from Harris because the Nets wouldn’t go quietly into the night. A three-point play by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson got Brooklyn to within 115-109 of the Mavs with 27.1 seconds left.
Following a pair of free throws by Doncic, Russell drained a 3-pointer and the Mavs were only nursing a 117-113 led with 17.5 seconds to go. But Dorian Finney-Smith closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws and the Mavs were able to skip merrily off their home court with a hard-fought victory
Barnes tallied 13 points in the first quarter, which concluded with the Mavs up, 34-32. Maxi Kleber scored seven of his 11 points in the second quarter as the Mavs assumed a 61-50 lead at the half.
And with DeAndre Jordan (12 points, 14 rebounds) controlling the paint, and seldom-used backup center Salah Mejri getting five rebounds in 17 minutes while Dwight Powell was sidelined with a knee injury, the Mavs kept finding combinations that worked.
“We’re just playing defense and letting our defense be the reason we get out and run and try to get open shots,” Finney-Smith said. “If we get stops we feel like we’re hard to guard.”
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