The Dallas Mavericks had a comeback win on Friday night after being 20 points behind the San Antonio Spurs. After a very weak start, it was mainly two bankers who turned the game around.
“They won the game for us,” said top scorer Luka Doncic after beating San Antonio 104-99. “You were amazing, led by JB [Jalen Brunson] and Maxi [Kleber].”
Dallas were 20 points behind early in the game and the start was “terrible,” as Doncic himself said. Then it was Brunson with 19 points and Kleber with 12 counters, 10 rebounds and career high 6 blocks who brought new energy from the bank and slowly started the comeback.
“Sometimes it just happens that the first group comes into play with less energy,” said Kleber afterwards. “Sometimes the second group has to make sure that everyone is involved. When JB and I walked in, we just wanted to increase the pace a little and talk more to each other on defense.”
Mavericks: Luka Doncic thaws out late
Head coach Jason Kidd also acknowledged that the pace of play changed with the bank. “You moved faster,” said Kidd. “The bank put us in and everyone started to participate in the second half.”
At the break, the Spurs lead was only 2 points, in the second half the Mavs then built up a lead of up to 10 points before it got tight again in the final minutes. In the end it was enough, also because Doncic also thawed in the second half and scored 10 of his 25 points in the last quarter.
Jason Kidd: “Maxi was everywhere”
Before that, however, it was the bank that saved Dallas. Kidd handed out a special praise to Kleber, who played a bigger role in this game than last due to Kristaps Porzingis’ knee injury.
“Maxi was everywhere,” said the 2011 champion, whose team is still not able to convince despite a 3-1 start. “He was important for us with his three-pointers and also defensively with the blocks, the rebounds and the difficulty of a number of throws. We were missing a player and he really took over.”
Is Kristaps Porzingis missing again?
For Kleber it was by far the best game of the season so far, and he will probably play a major role again next night against Denver if Porzingis should be canceled again. Kidd could not say after the game whether the Latvian will be available in the second game of the back-to-back, he should be examined again on Friday.
Kleber already set the route: “It’s a tough back-to-back flight to Denver, but we have to do the same thing again. Perform with a lot of energy and play hard,” said the 29-year-old. “Even if the throw doesn’t come, we have the ability to play better defense. And if we do that consistently, we don’t have to worry about the throws.”
Maxi Kleber: His statistics at the start of the season
| opponent | Minutes | Points | Dreier | Rebounds | Blocks |
| @Hawks | 17 | 3 | 1/4 | 3 | 0 |
| @Raptors | 20 | 5 | 1/4 | 5 | 0 |
| vs. Rockets | 16 | 9 | 3/5 | 7 | 0 |
| vs. Spurs | 29 | 12 | 4/8 | 10 | 6 |
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