DALLAS – On second thought, maybe Dallas Mavericks guards Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. can coexist on the same team. With some tinkering here and there by coach Rick Carlisle, that’s exactly what has happened the past two games.
Doncic collected 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists Friday night, and Smith added 19 points and five assists to lead the Mavs to a hard-fought 106-101 triumph over the Detroit Pistons before a sellout crowd of 20,327 at American Airlines Center. The win was the second in a row for the Mavs and boosted their record to 22-26, while Detroit dropped to 21-17.
There had been some debate over whether Smith — or Doncic — should be running the Mavs’ offense. As it has turned out, Smith starts each half running the offense, then each player runs it while the other player is on the bench resting.
With that formula, the Mavs are 2-0 and appeared to be back in focus after losing seven of their previous nine games.
“Look, those guys can play, there’s no doubt in my mind about it,” Carlisle said of Doncic and Smith. “And I like staggering them because it creates a different look.
“The important thing is to win games, and that is what we are trying to do.”
The Mavericks also wanted to try and do whatever it took to contain Blake Griffin. Although Griffin wound up with 35 points, he turned the ball over six times and had two of his shots blocked at the rim late in the fourth quarter by Maxi Kleber.
“Our key was to take Blake Griffin out of the game, because he is obviously a good player that can make big shots and can make good decisions,” Kleber said. ”Our key was to trap him and make it hard for him.”
Following one of his blocks on Griffin, Kleber stormed down the court and buried a 3-pointer that put the Mavs ahead, 100-95. The Dallas lead extended to 104-97 after Doncic fed DeAndre Jordan for a dunk, and then whirled and dropped in a 15-footer with 1:20 left in the game.
“The two blocked shots he had down the stretch were enormous plays in the scope of the game,” Carlisle said. “If he doesn’t make those two blocks it is probably a one-point game going back-and-forth in those last two minutes instead of us getting a five-to-seven point cushion.
“He was terrific and his shot-making in the first half got us going and got the crowd into it.”
In all, Kleber poured in 12 points, blocked four shots and was 4-of-7 from 3-point range. The four threes are the most he’s made in a game this season.
“I’ve been working every day in the gym and I changed my shot in the summer, so I knew there would be ups and downs,” said Kleber, who was 4 of 7 from 3-point range and tallied 12 points. “I just have to believe in my shot and I just have to keep shooting.”
That’s precisely what Doncic did. After making just 14 of 46 shots the previous three games, Doncic kept firing away and wound up converting 9 of 19 shots against the Pistons.
“You have 82 games, you’re not going to play every game good,” Doncic said. “It’s an up and down thing.”
Doncic tallied 11 of his points in the second quarter when the Mavs scored 39 points and led 62-54 at intermission. Those 39 points helped the Mavericks overcome the nine-point hole they dug themselves in midway through the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Mavs shot 45.7 percent from the field, dispensed 24 assists and only committed 10 turnovers. They also got three first-half transition buckets by Smith, who used his mercurial speed to beat the defense up the floor. Add all of that up to the 13 points and 11 boards Jordan grabbed, and the Mavs were able to gain control of the game in the waning moments.
As far as the staggered way he and Doncic have been employed to run the offense, Smith is a huge fan of the strategy.
“It’s been working,” Smith said. “We were on a four-game losing streak, and since we’ve been doing that we won our next two games.
“So if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
