ORLANDO, FL — After a 108-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers (49-14), the Dallas Mavericks (40-27) looked to keep the momentum going today against the Indiana Pacers (39-26) at the HP Field House. This was the second of three total scrimmages for both teams before the season restart. The Pacers entered today’s scrimmage coming off a 91-88 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, and Goga Bitadze did not play against Portland due to injuries. Sabonis left the NBA bubble with a foot injury and is out indefinitely. Turner did get the start today and played at center.
Dallas looked just as energized in today’s scrimmage as they were Thursday against the Lakers. In the opening frame, the Mavericks led by as many as 11 points. Maxi Kleber led the team with seven points and two rebounds. The 6’10” German was riding his hot hand all game long. He finished with 18 points and six rebounds.
Pacers’ Victor Oladipo was essential for chipping away at the deficit in the second quarter. He scored 10 points in 10 minutes to get Indiana within five points of Dallas.
Indiana pushed hard to come back from a 13-point deficit but couldn’t slow down Dallas before halftime. The Mavericks maintained their lead of 64-61 at the break. Doncic collected 14 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists for the Mavericks and T.J. Warren led the Pacers with 14 points and three rebounds.
Kristaps Porzingis was not available for today’s scrimmage due to a break in protocol. The team was off yesterday but the players were still responsible for getting tested. Porzingis did not get tested therefore was unable to participate in the scrimmage against the Pacers. Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle said in his pregame presser, “I did speak to him and he was very contrite…and really felt bad about letting the team down. Something like this is something I think that all of us can take as a cautionary tale…”
KP was missed in the paint but the Mavericks were still able to put together a competitive game. Carlisle also mentioned before the game that he wanted to see improvements on transition defense and to limit fouling. He said, “we want to move more and more in the direction of playing in a playoff style…”
It’s safe to say that the Mavericks moved in the right direction today against the Pacers–at least for the first two quarters. Dallas shot 48.9 percent from the floor, 54.5 percent from beyond, and 66.7 percent at the free throw line in the first half. It’s no wonder that Dallas was on pace for having the best offensive rating in NBA history before the season was postponed. However, an excellent first half of shooting was nearly overshadowed by the Mavericks’ weaker shooting performance in the second half.
Within the first few minutes of the third quarter, the Pacers took their first lead of the day off of a three-point play by Turner. Indiana went on a 7-0 run before Dallas was able to stop the momentum with a pair of made free throws by Doncic. The Mavericks would continue to trail the Pacers for the rest of the third quarter.
Indiana began the final frame up by six points and after three straight buckets, Carlisle called a timeout to readjust the Mavericks’ game plan. The final frame looked a little bit like deja vu for Dallas. Blown leads and coming up short in clutch moments are problems the Mavericks are all too familiar with and are still haunted by.
J.J. Barea scored a quick eight points to make it a two-point game. The 13-year veteran provided a much needed spark off the bench for the Mavericks in the fourth quarter. However, because Dallas trailed for the majority of the second half, they were forced into a game of catch-up. The Pacers continued to play strong defense and escaped with a victory of 118-111.
LEADING SCORERS
LUKA DONCIC – 20 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists
T.J. WARREN – 20 points, 6 rebounds, one assist
Up next, Dallas will take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday at 7:30pm CT in the final scrimmage before the season officially starts. The Mavericks are slated to play the Houston Rockets July 31 at 8:00pm CT to kick off the NBA season restart.
