Mavs Beat Pacers
The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Indiana Pacers 109-103 Monday night at the American Airlines Center. The score was knotted at 75 early in the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks used an 18-5 burst to go up by 13 (93-80). Dallas then led for the duration of the contest. With the win, the Mavericks swept the season series with the Pacers, 2-0.
Six players scored in double figures for Dallas in the win: Harrison Barnes (21), J.J. Barea (19), Doug McDermott (15), Dennis Smith Jr. (14), Wesley Matthews (13) and Dwight Powell (10). The Mavericks produced at least five double-digit scorers for the 10th straight game (1/31-2/26).
Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes tallied a team-high 21 points in 32 minutes. It marked his 24th 20-point effort of the season. He led Dallas in scoring for the team-high 28th time this year.
Mavericks big man Dwight Powell made his sixth start of the season (11th career) and registered his third double-double of the year (eighth career) with 10 points (5-10 FGs) and a career-high (game-high-tying) 14 rebounds in 32 minutes. His previous high rebounding game was 13 (twice). Powell pulled down 10-plus boards for the seventh time this season (13th time in his career).
Mavericks guard J.J. Barea tallied 19 points (7-11 FGs, 3-5 3FGs, 2-2 FTs) and a game-high nine assists in 26 minutes off the bench. He totaled at least 17 points and nine assists for the third time in his last four games. It was his eighth consecutive game with at least five assists (38th this season). Barea is averaging 12.5 points and 9.1 assists per game over his last eight games (2/3-2/26).
Mavericks forward Doug McDermott, who was acquired at the trade deadline, went a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and netted 15 points (5-8 FGs, 4-4 3FGs, 1-1 FTs) in 16 minutes off the bench. It marked his highest scoring game as a Maverick. McDermott has now scored in double figures in each of his last three games with Dallas (10 at L.A. Lakers 2/23, 12 at Utah 2/24), after he failed to reach double figures in each of his first three games with the team.
Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews knocked down his 1,400th career 3-pointer at the 32.4-second mark of the fourth quarter. Matthews, who reached the milestone in his 652nd career game, became the sixth-fastest player to 1,400 3-pointers in NBA history (in terms of games played). Stephen Curry (459) achieved the milestone in the fewest number of games, followed by Klay Thompson (485), James Harden (620), Ray Allen (629), Peja Stojakovic (640) and Matthews (652). Matthews finished with 13 points on the night.
Texas native Myles Turner notched his seventh double-double of the season (26th career) with a game-high 24 points (10-14 FGs, 2-2 3FGs, 2-4 FTs) to go along with 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal and a game-high three blocks in 36 minutes. It was tied for his second-highest scoring game of the season (25 at Miami 11/19, 24 vs. Denver 12/10, 24 vs. Detroit 12/15). Turner scored 20-plus points for the ninth time this year. It was his third 20-point, 10-rebound game of the season.
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo, who was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this year, had 21 points (8-13 FGs, 5-6 FTs), including 13 in the fourth quarter, to go along with five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 23 minutes. He scored 20-plus points for the 38th time in his first 54 games of the season.
Dallas trailed by two (43-41) with under 2 minutes to go in the opening half, but closed the half on an 8-0 run (capped off by a Dennis Smith Jr. floater with 1.7 seconds remaining) and led by six (49-43) at the break.
Indiana used an 11-0 run early in the third quarter to turn a nine-point deficit (52-43) into a two-point advantage (54-52). The Pacers were up four (63-59) with under 2 minutes left in the third frame, but the Mavericks closed the period on a 9-2 run and took a three-point edge (68-65) into the fourth. Doug McDermott banked in a 28-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Mavericks the lead going into the final stanza.
Nerlens Noel (left thumb surgery), Dorian Finney-Smith (left knee quadriceps tendinitis) and Seth Curry (left leg surgery) remained out for Dallas. Johnathan Motley and Jalen Jones were on assignment with the Mavericks’ G-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. Darren Collison (arthroscopic left knee surgery) was unavailable for Indiana. Ike Anigbogu, Ben Moore and Edmond Sumner were on assignment with Indiana’s G-League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
The attendance was 19,536. The Mavericks have now sold out 668 consecutive regular-season home games, which is an NBA-best sellout streak. The streak began on 12/15/01 and Dallas has sold out an additional 67 playoff games during that same stretch.
The Mavericks’ next game is vs. Oklahoma City on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT
