The Dallas Mavericks may have been stuck in the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed for approximately a
month. But they’ve beaten some pretty good teams during that span.
Since Feb. 4, the Mavs have posted a 9-2 record. And eight of those wins – all, except the 116-86 victory over Detroit on Feb. 8 – have come against teams that will either be in the playoffs or in the play-in tournament if the season ended today.
That includes a pair of wins over the Golden State Warriors in a five-day span, and victories over the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers. The Warriors have the second-best record in the entire NBA, Miami owns the best record in the Eastern Conference, and the Sixers have the second-best record in the East.
In short, while the Mavs (38-25) may be mired in the No. 5 slot out West — two games behind the 39-22 Utah Jazz — they’ve been busy knocking off some of the NBA’s best teams. And that includes handling their business Thursday night while defeating the Warriors, 122-113, at American Airlines Center.
“I feel like our team is gelling now,” forward Dorian Finney-Smith said. “We’re playing great basketball. Even when things aren’t (flowing), we’re talking to each other and staying together.”
Here are our five takeaways from the win over the Warriors.
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA: News flash! NBA defenses aren’t built to stop a player with Luka Doncic’s extreme talents. Oh, they’ve 
tried. They’ve tried guarding Doncic one-on-one, with a box-and-one, utilizing a zone defense, or frequently double-teaming him to get the ball out of his hands. A few of the tactics may work for a few minutes. But Doncic’s basketball IQ is so extraordinary that it doesn’t take long for him to figure out what they’re trying to do to him. Whatever the Warriors tried Thursday night, Doncic deciphered it and wound up lighting them up for 41 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. He was 15-of-26 from the field and 4-of-10 from three-point territory. In the first quarter, Doncic let the Warriors know they were going to be in for a very long night. That’s when he scored almost at will, finishing the quarter with 19 points. It was that kind of night from the unstoppable force known as Luka Doncic.
DINWIDDIE WAS CLUTCH: Mavericks’ fans got an in-person look at Spencer Dinwiddie on the basketball court for the first time Thursday night. And it’s safe to say, he didn’t disappoint. The eight-year veteran point guard finished with 17 points and seven assists in 29 minutes. More importantly, when the Mavs needed some clutch baskets after the Warriors had wiggled their way back into the game, Dinwiddie was there to oblige. With the score tied at 104, Dinwiddie untied it with a driving floater. Shortly thereafter – and sandwiched around a pair of hoops from Luka Doncic – Dinwiddie drained a step-back 20-footer. He also added another basket, was fouled and competed the three-point play which gave the Mavs a 115-108 lead with 3:34 remaining in the game. Davis Bertans and Dinwiddie were acquired in a Feb. 10 trade which shipped Kristaps Porzingis and a protected 2022 second-round pick to the Washington Wizards. Since the trade, Dinwiddie’s first five games with the Mavs were on the road, where he was spectacular. Now, he also looks very comfortable playing on the Mavs’ home court.
NERVES OF STEEL: The Mavs showed just how much they’ve grown under first-year coach Jason Kidd. Thursday, replays
showed a controversy 24-second shot-clock violation that was whistled against the Mavs shouldn’t have been whistled against the Mavs. At the time, the score was 104-98 Mavs. Warriors reserve Moses Moody then made a pair of three-pointers to tie the score at 104. But instead of throwing a fit, the Mavs rallied and finished the game on an 18-9 run. “We have in the past maybe melted mentally when the ball hit the rim and there was no call, and then they came down and made two threes,” Kidd said. “It just showed growth. I was more looking at how we were going to respond with the no-call. (Bad calls) happen, but I think our maturity level was high and we responded in a positive way. There were a lot of good things (Thursday), but the biggest thing was our mental. We didn’t melt when that (bad call) happened. That’s the growth of our young team. That group in that locker room, we kept our composure and we kept playing.”
FINNEY-SMITH’S DRIBBLE DRIVE: The scouting report probably shows that Dorian Finney-Smith pitches a tent outside of the three-point line and that’s where he launches a lion’s share of his shots. While that may be true, the six-year veteran can also put the ball on the floor and go downhill towards the basket. Finney-Smith showed that rare side of his game when the Warriors chased him off the three-point line and he wound up scoring a crucial basket right at the rim – as the shot-clock was about to expire – that put the Mavs ahead, 120-113, with just 56.3 seconds left in the game. Finney-Smith finished the game with 18 points, and was 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from downtown. And a few of his three-pointers came while he was stationed in front of the Warriors’ bench and hearing chatter while waiting on the ball’s arrival. “I probably said something before the ball even came to me,” Finney-Smith said. “I’m going to say something anyway, even if they didn’t. It’s all basketball, though.”
LATE-GAME DEFENSE: From the Mavs’ perspective, it must be nice knowing when they need to make some critical stops on defense, they can go into their toolbox and get those stops. To hammer home that point, let’s examine. When the dust settled on Thursday’s erroneous 24-second shot-clock violation that went against the Mavs, the Warriors quickly tied the game at 104 with 6:28 remaining. After that, the Mavs’ ball-hawking defense limited the Warriors to just three field goals in seven attempts, and also forced Golden State into committing three turnovers as Dallas finished the game on an 18-9 run. And that includes not even allowing Warriors’ sharp-shooter Stephen Curry to get off a shot in the fourth quarter, although he played the entire fourth quarter. Flash back to this past Sunday in San Francisco, and the Mavs overcame a 21-point deficit by strategically maneuvering through one eight-minute stretch of the fourth quarter where they outscored the Warriors, 26-1, with Golden going 0-of-11 from the field. Also, this past Tuesday after the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 21-point deficit to emerge with a 100-94 lead, the Mavs regrouped and outscored the Lakers, 15-4, during the final seven minutes of the game while holding LA to just 2-of-9 shooting from the floor. (Defensive) point hammered home by the Mavs.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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