After a crazy up and down, the Dallas Mavericks have retracted a close 104-99 win against the San Antonio Spurs. Thanks to the strong bench, the Mavs fight their way back from a 20-point deficit before Luka Doncic also gets going. Maxi Kleber has a career record.
Dallas Mavericks (3-1) – San Antonio Spurs (1-4) 104:99 (BOXSCORE)
The starters of the home side got off to a disastrous start, Dallas quickly fell behind with 20 points. Then it was the second unit around Maxi Kleber and Jalen Brunson who breathed new life into the Mavs. The guard put up 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists (+21), Kleber collected 12 points (4/8 threes) and 10 rebounds, and he also provided 6 Blocks his career high. The plus / minus value of the German was an excellent +22.
The Mavericks’ top scorer was Luka Doncic, who turned up in the second half and scored 10 important points in the final section. He had a total of 25 points (11/19 FG), but definitely not everything went according to plan that evening (5 assists with 7 turnover). From the free throw line, he didn’t even hit a single one of his three attempts, the team was 4/13 from the Charity Stripe.
“That was an ugly game,” was Kleber’s conclusion. “We got off to a bad start, but the second unit gave us energy and the starters built on that. No matter how ugly this game was, we won and we will take this victory with us.”
On the side of the Spurs, Dejounte Murray advanced to the best man, 23 points (10/17 FG), 10 rebounds and 8 assists were in the end for him in the box score. Bryn Forbes contributed 15 points from the bench, Lonnie Walker IV and Jakob Pöltl each had 14 points. The Viennese also grabbed 13 ricochets and 2 blocks.
Maxi Kleber and Brunson bring Mavs back into the game
After Kristaps Porzingis was already bothering in the duel with the Rockets, he got a break against the second Texas rival. Reggie Bullock was in the starting five, but Dallas struggled with enormous starting difficulties. San Antonio overran the home side with an 18-1 start, the Mavs offense found no rhythm at all.
Of the first eleven attempts to throw, only one landed in the basket, and the Spurs’ lead grew to 20 points. Only after nine and a half minutes of the game did a Mavs player who does not go by the name Luka score points on the scoreboard. Brunson brought the offense from the bench new impetus, Kleber showed some good defensive actions and Dallas reduced to 15:25 by the end of the first quarter.
The reserve defense was an important factor in why Dallas turned the game in the second section. Kleber was already at 4 blocks at halftime, and San Antonio remained almost nine minutes without a successful field goal. The German fought together with Brunson against the brick collection on the other side of the court, several threes of the duo put Dallas in the front for the first time in the middle of the quarter. But now Forbes and Murray woke up for the Spurs, 49:47 San Antonio at halftime.
Dallas Mavericks: trembling victory after strong comeback
After the different runs in the first half, the two teams had a balanced affair in the third section. Kleber set another highlight block against the onrushing Pöltl, meanwhile Doncic found his game better and better. It went into the final section with 76:76.
After a few minutes in the fourth quarter, Kleber sank another triple to take the lead, which the now hot Doncic expanded. Across quarters, the Mavs star sank eight throws in a row, two stepback three-pointers brought Dallas away with +10. But that was not yet a preliminary decision.
San Antonio kept it exciting, among other things because Pöltl Dwight Powell cleared badly, Dallas gave the ball away, Doncic missed two free throws and Murray hammered a threesome to 99: 102 a minute before the end through the trap. But shortly afterwards, the 25-year-old failed with a tip-in and Dallas raised several attempts from the free-throw line to bag the victory. For the Mavs, the duel against the Denver Nuggets starts on Saturday night (live on from 4 a.m. DAZN) Further.
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