ORLANDO, FLORIDA — After a hint of bad juju was added into the mix from December through January, the Mavericks have finally hit their groove and extended their winning streak to six games defeating the Magic 130-124.
The Mavericks entered tonight’s game after securing a big road win against the redefined Brooklyn Nets to extend their winning streak this past Saturday. It’s been a great two week stretch for the Mavericks winning their last five games and doing so against some of the league’s best, inching closer to .500, a glass ceiling the Mavericks haven’t broken since January.
In the first quarter the Mavericks weren’t as efficient as they would have liked to be finishing the quarter knocking down 46% of their shots while the Magic knocked down 57% of their shots from the field. Luka Doncic accounted for 10 points in the first quarter and converted on 50% of his shots including two three pointers from deep. Josh Richardson was the second leading man finishing the first quarter with 6 points and knocked down 60% of his shots from the field.
A bright spot for the Mavericks on the offensive end from the tip was how often they scored on second chance opportunities, and the Mavericks were cleaning the glass consistently.
The Mavericks second quarter performance on offense was similar to the first quarter but the Mavericks improved on the defensive end. Dallas hampered the Magic’s offensive efforts and held Orlando to their lowest shooting percentage of the night so far only converting on 35% of their second quarter shots. The Mavericks took advantage of their offensive struggles and took a 61-58 lead going into halftime.
Dallas began to separate heading into the third quarter and continued their dominance on the defensive end creating scoring opportunities off turnovers and in transition. The Mavericks knocked down 59% of their shots from the field in the third quarter. Jalen Brunson, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber gave the Mavericks solid performances off the bench converting on 67% of their shots from the floor, while Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis combined to score 17 points. Brunson had the hot hand scoring 8 of the Mavericks 12 final third quarter points helping the Mavericks extend their lead to 9 points going into the fourth.
Dallas maintained their lead for two straight quarters with their largest lead being no more than single digits, until the Mavericks began to pour it on offensively to begin the fourth quarter. The Mavericks had their most efficient quarter of the night and knocked down 6 of their 8 opening shots. Jalen Brunson was the lead contributor for the Mavericks knocking down all three of his shot attempts continuing his impressive outing on the night. Although the Mavericks opened up their offense the lead never became too out of reach for a hungry Magic team. Orlando began to push the Mavericks and cut their lead to single digits with less than a minute and a half to go in the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks were able to secure their sixth straight win.
Since the beginning of February the Mavericks have played complimentary basketball and the questions about the type of team they can be have been answered for the most part, and it’s clear, this team is not the same team they were in December and January. When everything is right and players are available, this six game winning streak is proof that the Mavericks are one of the better teams in the Western Conference and the NBA. They just needed some good juju to swing in their favor.
