DALLAS – Three games after recording a franchise low-tying zero blocks against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks were very aggressive Wednesday night in recording a season-high 13 blocks against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The tenacious defense by the Mavs enabled them to snap a six-game losing streak and earn a hard-fought 122-119 triumph over the New Orleans Pelicans before a sellout crowd of 20,340 at American Airlines Center.
The win increased the Mavs’ record to 16-17 before they take on the Pelicans again, this time Friday night in New Orleans.
With chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP” raining from the stands, rookie Luka Doncic sank three free throws to give the Mavs a 122-119 lead with 11.7 seconds remaining. Then the Mavs watched as Anthony Davis misfired on a 3-point field goal, and finally Dallas was able to celebrate a victory for the first time since it defeated Atlanta back on Dec. 12.
“When you’ve lost six (in a row) and you’re desperate to get a win, this is the kind of win you’ve got to have,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Every little thing that everybody did was needed.
“The most important thing is to get off a losing streak.”
The Mavs got off that losing streak because of major contributions from numerous players. Doncic finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists and was just one rebound shy of recording his first NBA triple-double.
DeAndre Jordan went 7-of-7 from the field and registered his 22nd double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. J.J. Barea (18 points, seven assists) and Devin Harris (16 points, 17 minutes) came off the bench and were very explosive in keeping the Mavs afloat in the fourth quarter.
And Maxi Kleber made his first start of the season and responded with 10 points and a career-high six blocked shots.
“I knew my job today was to bring another big body in there, because they have two centers playing out there really well,” Kleber said. “We had to do a better job on the rebounding end and, of course, challenging shots.
“That was my part for the game today, so my mindset was going out there and playing defense.”
Even 40-year old Dirk Nowitzki came off the bench and found his groove. In playing his best game of the season, Nowitzki collected seven points and blocked two shots in 12 minutes and kept hearing the roar of the crowd with each field goal that he attempted.
“He did a good job out there,” Carlisle sad. “Dirk’s fighting through a lot to be on the court and to compete.
“I gain more respect for him every day, and he helped us out there tonight a lot. The crowd got more into it, he hit a couple of big shots – it was good stuff.’’
The Mavs led 33-30 after the first quarter and 67-64 at the half before the Pelicans assumed a 94-90 lead going into the fourth quarter. Then it was nip-and-tuck during the final stages of a game that extended the Pelicans’ losing streak to five straight games.
The win was even more gratifying to the Mavericks since they lost the last three games of a recent winless four-game road trip by a total of 11 points. That includes Sunday’s three-point overtime loss in Portland.
“It was good to get a win, it was good to come home and protect home court a little bit after a little slippage that we had,” Jordan said. ‘We had a chance to win in all of those games (on the road last week) and that’s what makes it a little bit more frustrating.”
