On Monday night, the Dallas Mavericks played against the Washington Wizards, and Luka Doncic led his team to victory with an impressive performance. Despite missing five minutes of the game after taking a charge, Doncic recorded his 10th triple-double of the season, scoring 26 points, providing 15 assists, and securing 11 rebounds. The Mavericks trailed 95-86 when Doncic checked back in, but he managed to score six straight points and helped his team build a 103-98 lead with 3:57 to play. With this win, the Mavericks have a season-best five-game win streak.
Doncic’s injury occurred after being knocked to the floor on a charge by Corey Kispert, and he was taken to the locker room to receive stitches on his chin. However, Doncic returned to the game, and despite the injury, he helped the Mavericks outscore the Wizards 34-16 in the fourth quarter. Doncic now has 66 career triple-doubles, placing him ninth in NBA history.
Kyrie Irving also had an impressive game, scoring 26 points for the Mavericks. Additionally, Daniel Gafford, who was recently dealt to Dallas from Washington, had a good game, scoring 16 points, matching a career-best with 17 rebounds, and recording five blocks. Gafford said that he has already learned that his role on offense is to set picks for Doncic or get out of the way and let him do his thing.
Deni Avdija led the Wizards with 25 points, while Kyle Kuzma added 23. Tyus Jones had 14 points and 16 assists, and Marvin Bagley III scored 12 points and provided 13 assists. However, the Wizards have now lost seven games straight and are 2-8 under interim head coach Brian Keefe.
The Mavericks entered the game ranked second in the NBA, averaging 12.3 turnovers. They committed 13 turnovers in the first half and were outscored 14-4 in points off turnovers. However, they committed only three turnovers in the second half, which helped them secure the win.
Dallas played without starting rookie center Dereck Lively II, who has a broken nose, for the seventh consecutive game and without starting guard Dante Exum, who has right knee soreness, for the ninth straight game.
Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks’ new governor following the sale of the team approved by the NBA in late December, attended his first Dallas game this season. He was seated in the front row between CEO Cynt Marshall and general manager Nico Harrison.
