DALLAS, TEXAS — After defeating the Brooklyn Nets on their home floor, the Mavericks have officially entered the home stretch of the regular season and began the final stretch with a good start blowing out the Cleveland Cavaliers 110- 90.
Defeating the Nets was a signature win for this Mavs team that had an up and down performance all season and put to bed any questions anyone may have about their potential performance in the postseason. Now the question that needed answering was if Dallas could prevail against opponents like the Cavaliers who don’t really have much to play for.
That question was answered quickly in the first quarter and the Mavericks finished the first quarter with a double digit 33-19 lead. The Mavericks approach remained unchanged in this game and had solid contributions from the starting lineup and the bench and were aggressive on the defensive end. Tim Hardaway Jr continued his hot month of scoring leading the Mavericks with 11 points and Luka Doncic was a force on the glass and scored the basketball well scoring 9 points. The Mavericks tallied 2 steals in the first quarter and held the Cavaliers to 32% shooting from the field converting on only 7 shots from the field.
Dallas picked up right where they left off after a small moment when their offense went stale. The Mavericks flexed their muscle on the defensive end and complemented their defensive effort with an efficient quarter. Not only that Dallas found the bottom of the net from behind the arc on a few occasions. The player who stood out the most in the second quarter was Josh Richardson who scored 7 second quarter points after only scoring 4 points in the first quarter. Luka also continued his solid night leading the Mavericks in second quarter points with 9 points and went to the free throw line 7 times connecting on all 7 of his free throw attempts.
The Mavericks finished the first half with 3 players scoring double digits and 13 points off the bench. The Mavericks did well distributing the ball as well finishing the first half with 10 assists. Dallas finished the first half leading the Cavaliers 62-37 which is expected to an extent. It’s no surprise the Mavericks were making light work out of a team who is nowhere near .500 benchmark, but wins are wins and that’s the only thing that matters at the present moment.
Dallas defense continued to maul the Cavaliers entering the third quarter getting their hands in the passing lane and creating turnovers. The Cavaliers did find much better success from the field but not enough success to even put a dent in the Mavericks lead. The trio of Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Josh Richardson dominated the quarter and shot 52% from the field combined. Jalen Brunson and Dwight Powell have shown how valuable they are off the bench when closing out games, the duo combined to score 7 of the Mavericks final points in the third quarter to solidify their substantial lead going into the fourth quarter.
Due to that lead the other members of the bench mob got their chance to shine and gain some valuable experience before the postseason kicks off. Dwight Powell and Trey Burke led the group in the opening minutes, but Josh Green and Nate Hinton both stood out over the span of and played well scoring 6 points each and helped the Mavericks seal the deal against the Cavaliers.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks in scoring 24 points with 8 rebounds and Tim Hardaway Jr finished with 20 points on 50% shooting. Josh Richardson also finished with a double digit night scoring 18 points in 61% from the field.
The Mavericks are on a run with only 5 games remaining in the regular season. Even though Dallas has an “easier” path to the postseason, because of the implementation of the play-in tourney, each win is vital. As long as Dallas continues to win the better and gratefully that is all that matters.
