LAS VEGAS – Doing the dirty work, diving on the floor for loose balls, never giving up on a play. That defensive concept took center stage Sunday afternoon as the Dallas Mavericks survived and walked away with a hard-fought 81-78 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Cox Pavilion.
The victory squared the Mavs’ MGM Resorts NBA Summer League record at 1-1.
The Mavs will next play the Golden State Warriors on Monday at 6:30 p.m. CT at the Thomas & Mack Center. After that, all 30 NBA teams will be seeded in a double-elimination tournament style format, which begins on Wednesday.
Johnathan Motley led the Mavs against the Bucks with 20 and seven rebounds in just 23 minutes. Dorian Finney-Smith added 14 points and seven rebounds, Dennis Smith Jr. tacked on 10 points, seven assists and four steals, and Jalen Jones collected nine points and a team-high nine boards.
While those four players rightfully caught the undivided attention of summer league coach Jamahl Mosley, he was equally pleased with the way his team gave up their body and got on the floor and got their hands dirty.
Case in point: Jacob Wiley made a critical turnover with just 38.5 seconds left and the Mavs nursing a slim three-point lead. But instead of pouting, Wiley came right back and forced Milwaukee’s Sterling Brown into a wild shot, which Wiley eventually retrieved under the basket.
Shortly thereafter, point guard Jalen Brunson lost the ball. But undaunted, Brunson proceeded to dive on the floor for a loose ball, and time expired during the chase for the basketball.
“That goes a lot to who we are and who we want guys to be,” Mosley said. “You don’t give up on plays, and that was the challenge from (Friday’s 92-85 loss to Phoenix in) Game 1 to this game that you take on the challenge of whatever you need to do in order to win the game, and that’s getting on the floor. The last play of the game, that’s what it’s about.
“No matter what, no matter how, find a way to win games, and that’s who we’re bringing in and that’s what we want our guys to do and each one of these guys is putting out that effort. You mess up on a play, get it right back. It doesn’t matter. Find a way to win.”
Motley definitely did his part in helping the Mavs find a way to win as he made eight of his 10 field goals and really had his way with the Bucks. The second-year product from Baylor repeatedly kept beating double-teams and controlling the game around the basket.
“Just dominating the paint, just doing what I do,” Motley said. “Just making sure everyone on the opposite team feels my presence.”
Consider Motley’s presence felt as the Bucks simply had no answer for the Houston North Shore High School product.
“Johnathan has always been an efficient player,” Mosley said. “He does a very good job of finishing at the rim.
“We’ve challenged him to roll harder to the rim and he took that challenge on and you saw the results. He did a great job of finishing at the rim, so I think for him that’s a lot of progression.”
Smith also continued his steep climb as he amply ran the offense and recorded a pair of dunks. That includes one dunk where he brought down the house by hammering home a breakaway tomahawk dunk in the first half after making a steal near midcourt.
Yet, it was Smith’s exceptional defense which Mosley wanted to highlight.
“Dennis has always made it a point to get better defensively,” Mosley said. “He really likes to take on the challenge of (defending) guards that he goes against to see how he can sit down and guard.
“He does a very good job defending, he’s gotten better and better, he’s learning the system more and I think that’s the one thing about him. He’s so competitive and he really likes to take on that challenge.”
The Mavs – they turned 18 Milwaukee turnovers into 17 points — fell behind 28-26 after the first quarter and trailed 50-48 at the half before inching ahead, 65-63 after the third quarter. The fourth quarter became a nip-and-tuck affair with the Mavs making the necessary key plays at both ends of the floor in order to salt this one away.
“We just tried to play good positional defense,” Motley said. “We tried to make them take tough contested shots and just clean up those rebounds, because they like to take a lot of threes.
“So I think we did a good job of that.”
While all that was going on, Brunson struggled offensively for the second straight game. College basketball’s National Player of the Year out of Villanova was just 1-of-9 from the field with six points and five turnovers after going 3-of-14 from the field in the loss to the Suns.
“At the end of the day Jalen Brunson is a winner,” Mosley said. “He’s a confident kid, he’s a winning kid. He continues to understand that as the games go on he just keeps getting better and better because the same reads he had, he figured it out.
“He’s getting to his spots, he’s working it the way he’s supposed to work it. He’s working on just finishing. He’s finding his rhythm, he’s finding his way and I think he’s getting better and better as the games go on.”
The Mavs fell behind by as many as 11 points, but kept chipping away and chipping away until a dunk by Motley, an offensive put-back bucket by Jones and a drive by Ray Spalding helped them bolt ahead, 79-72, with 3:32 remaining in the game
“The challenge from our guys from the last game was the little improvements,” Mosley said. “A lot of them didn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it was the little things of our offensive guys running to the corner, and defensively, scrapping and getting after it and making sure we played harder than whoever the opponent was, and tonight I think we really did a good job of that.
“The hustle plays, little plays, winning plays. Small things change the way the game is going to be played. Don’t worry about your mistake. We’re a next play mentality team and that’s who we have to continue to be.”
NOTES: Prior to Sunday’s 81-78 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks, rookie guard Luka Doncic told Mavs.com that he doesn’t know when he’ll be able to play his first summer league game with the Mavs. In addition to a buyout with Real Madrid, Doncic needs a letter of clearance from FIBA. “We’re working our way through the buyout,” said Donnie Nelson, the Mavs’ president of basketball operations. “The buyout process has gone a lot longer than we thought, so we’re just working our way through that right now.” Doncic was asked three times Sunday about his dilemma and each time he said: “I just want to play.” Doncic also said he didn’t know if he’ll be able to play in Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, which tips off at 6:30 p.m. CT at the Thomas & Mack Center. “There’s been a lot of no comprendos, a lot of. . .It’s just logistical stuff with the buyout,” Nelson said. “So we’re working our way through it.”. . .Forward Jalen Jones and center DeAndre Jordan have never met, but they have a built-in connection. Jordan played just one season for Texas A&M – the 2007-’08 campaign – while Jones played for the Aggies during the 2014-’16 seasons. While Jordan made the Big 12 All-Rookie team in 2008, Jones was first-time All-Southeastern Conference in 2016. “We’ve got a strong Aggie network,” Jones said. “I’m looking forward to meeting DeAndre. This will be my first time meeting him, so we Aggies try to stick together. I’m excited about seeing DeAndre when he comes out here. He’s definitely a rim protector, a guy that can catch lobs. His defensive intensity is through the roof. I’ve watched him over the years and watched him develop, and he’s a big-time player in this league. He clogs up the paint, so if somebody gets blown by (on the perimeter) you’ve got to beat him at the rim, and that’s going to help us a lot.”. . .The victory over the Bucks, center Johnathan Motley said, was very important because it helped keep the Mavs out of the tougher bracket of the upcoming double-elimination tournament. “Going into this tournament I think you need some wins,” Motley said. “Just some good chemistry, some good momentum going into the tournament.”
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