Facing a double-digit deficit and living to tell about it has become a way of life for the Dallas Mavericks this season, which they showed again with Wednesday’s thrilling 113-111 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
In the latest edition of lifestyles of the rich and famous, the Mavs fell behind the Nets by 14 points with just over 11 minutes left in the game. But apparently, the Mavs are at their luxurious best when they have to dig themselves out of a deep hole.
In chasing down and upending the Nets, the Mavs (43-26) now have 15 wins this season after rallying from a deficit of 10 or more points. That’s the most in the NBA this season, ties for the second-most in one season in Mavs history, and is eclipsed only by the 18 comebacks from a deficit of 10 or more points Dallas set during the 2009-10 season.
This year’s team has a swagger and a great sense of resiliency about them that probably has made opponents shake in their sneakers. At the very least, the Mavs have proven that the game isn’t over – until it’s officially over.
“I think our growth all season on this journey, you can see our team is growing and maturing and trusting and having fun,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve got a great group of young men in there who believe that they can win no matter what the score is, and we’ve gotten better at it.
“If you want to win at the next level you’ve got to be able to deliver, and hopefully we understand what it takes to do that.”
Here are our five takeaways from the two-point win over the Nets.
DINWIDDIE FOR THE WIN: If Spencer Dinwiddie keeps making game-winning buckets, pretty soon he’s going to officially become the No. 2 person in the Mavs’ offensive arsenal behind Luka Doncic. Not only did Dinwiddie bury a dramatic three-pointer at the buzzer on Wednesday that stunned the Nets, 113-111. He also buried a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining on Sunday that shocked the Boston Celtics, 95-92. In a little over a month after joining the Mavs in a trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards, Dinwiddie has quickly established himself as a player who simply knows how to go get buckets. Big buckets. Obviously, in late-game situations defenders would love to take the ball out of Doncic’s hands. But they do so at the risk at having to deal with Dinwiddie, who has 11 career game-winning field goals in the final minute of a game. He also – in the last five seasons – has strung together six go-ahead buckets in the last 10 seconds of a game. That puts him one behind DeMar DeRozan and ties him with Nikola Jokic for second-place in the entire NBA during that span.
LUKA THE MACHINE: When it comes to basketball, Luka Doncic is a proverbial machine. Not only is Doncic able to look at a situation and dissect it three or four steps ahead of an opponent, but he completes this mission so effortlessly. For instance, when the Mavs brought the ball inbounds with 10 seconds left and trailing the Nets by one point, Doncic calmly trotted up the court with the ball, surveyed the situation, and quickly knew the Nets were going to bring a double-team and force the ball out of his hands. It was at that point that Doncic already knew if Kevin Durant were to slide off Spencer Dinwiddie – which he did – Doncic was going to fire the ball to Dinwiddie, which he did. And with Doncic having all the trust in the world in Dinwiddie, he knew it was going to be game, set and match. In essence, if Durant doesn’t double Doncic, then it would have been up to Doncic to fire up the game-winning shot. (Ask the Boston Celtics how that worked out for them). But since Durant took Option No. 1 taken away from Doncic, the four-year veteran decided to perform the next best task. And that was to put the game-deciding field goal attempt in the hands of Dinwiddie. Meanwhile, the machine finished the night with 37 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one crafty assist that ended this very entertaining game. Mission accomplished.
BRUNSON KEPT THEM AFLOAT: This may have gone unnoticed. But when the Nets were valiantly trying to put some distance between themselves and the Mavs, it was Jalen Brunson who kept Dallas within striking distance of Brooklyn. A jumper by Kevin Durant gave the Nets their largest lead of the night (93-79) with 11:44 remaining in the game. After that, Brunson fed Spencer Dinwiddie for a bucket. Dinwiddie was fouled on the play and converted the ensuing free throw. A short time later, Brunson nailed an eight-footer and six-footer as the Mavs inched to within 93-86. And with the Nets obviously feeling the heat of the moment, Brunson completed the Mavs’ 23-9 run by tying the game at 102 with a driving layup with just 4:20 left in the game. Brunson finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. The fourth-year guard was 8-of-15 from the field and 1-of-3 from downtown in 34 minutes.
KIDD GANGS UP ON DURANT: You know a coach is in your head when Nets superstar Kevin Durant said this after facing a bushel of double-teams all night long from the Mavs. Durant said: “As soon as I came across half court, if I got the ball, I saw two people running at me. That’s the first time I’ve ever played against something like that from the tip. Everywhere I went, as soon as I touched the ball guys were just setting up to stop me. That shows me that the level of respect is high for them to forget about their schemes as a team, (and) forget about what they’ve been working on most of the year for them to do that. I asked (coach) Jason Kidd, I said, ‘Well, (expletive delete), you paid Dorian Finney-Smith all that money. Is he a defender? Are you going to rely on this for this next four years with him? It’s smart strategy. You’ve got to tip your hat to them. They executed it. But late in the game they did a good job of mixing it up, because sometimes I was driving and I had a lane and I’m thinking it’s going to be more (defensive) help (coming), and I rushed the shot. So they did their job with it. I respect it.”
BIG-TIME ROAD WARRIORS: Every team would love to get home court advantage – at the very least in the first round of the playoffs. But apparently with the Mavs, it doesn’t really matter where they play. They just want to play. The Mavs have won eight of their last nine road games, including their past five. Among those eight victims are the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and the Nets. The Mavs, in fact, are 20-14 on the road this season. The only teams better on the road are the Phoenix Suns (27-6), Philadelphia 76ers (23-11) and Memphis Grizzlies (24-12). Yes, having home court advantage in the playoffs is a huge chip to have. But in the second round of the 2011 playoffs, the Mavs didn’t have home court advantage against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. And the Lakers, at the time, were the two-time defending NBA champions. That series ended up with the Mavs sweeping the Lakers in four games in what were Phil Jackson final games as an NBA coach.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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