Mavericks: Against Boston, Dallas provides its opus to a season full of resiliency
Two teams with similar seasons, and records, met Sunday afternoon in Boston. The game went somewhat as expected, with the Boston Celtics taking a double-digit lead early and the Dallas Mavericks storming back to win 95-92. Luka Doncic, through a hurt hamstring and a precluded hesitancy in the first half, somehow ended up with 26 […]
Two teams with similar seasons, and records, met Sunday afternoon in Boston.
The game went somewhat as expected, with the Boston Celtics taking a double-digit lead early and the Dallas Mavericks storming back to win 95-92.
Luka Doncic, through a hurt hamstring and a precluded hesitancy in the first half, somehow ended up with 26 points and eight assists. He scored 17 of his points after the halftime break. And coincidentally, his production mirrored the ebbs and flows of Dallas' season, highlighting this team's one virtue that makes it so dangerous when staring down the potency of Western Conference contenders.
Resilience.
"I thought Luka was patient," Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said. "There is no stage big enough for him. He just wants to win."
It is easy to fall into the malaise that comes with watching greatness. The impossible is deemed possible — or routine — when Doncic takes the floor. His eminence covers the sins of others on the team. For example, when Jalen Brunson's mental lapse resulted in a turnover amidst a moment when the game hung in the throws of victory or defeat.
Doncic's otherworldly gravity also creates opportunities for restoration and resurrection, like when he forced a double team on a drive and found Spencer Dinwiddie for what amounted to the game-winning three.
"He was open," Doncic said. "That's the best shot we could get. I knew he was going to make it, and we won the game after that."
Resilience is easy when Superman is on your side. So, it makes sense that Dallas feels as though it's in every game it plays — regardless of the score. Doncic's ability makes them believe.
"LD [Luka Doncic] is a competitor," Dorian Finney-Smith, who scored 19 points, said.
Dallas spoils Boston's celebration
Heading into the halftime break, Dallas trailed Boston 47-38. Jayson Tatum was scoring at will. And everything that could go wrong did for Dallas.
Out of the break, it was like watching a different game.
The Mavericks scored 38 points behind Finney-Smith and Doncic in the third quarter. And the former played with a unique ferociousness that has followed him of late.
Finney-Smith ran the floor, hit corner threes (3-4 in the frame) and blocked a shot. He's become a prototypical forward to compliment Doncic on the floor.
And though the game was decided in the final quarter — on the final play — it was Dallas out of the halftime break choosing not to back down that made a win seem tangible.
With Doncic, it always felt tangible.
So much of this Mavericks season has been built on the reality of playing through difficulty. A few weeks ago, Kidd said he would know his team was ready for the NBA playoffs when adversity hit and they didn't waver. Against Boston on Sunday, Dallas provided an opus on what a season of resilient basketball looks like. And that story begins and ends with Doncic. It always has.
"We stick together when things aren't going our way," Finney-Smith said.
And that stick-to-it-ness Finney-Smith describes makes all the difference.
Related Dallas Mavericks reading
"NBA scouts and executives believe Luka Doncic belongs in elite company."
"Mavs poor shooting dooms them against New York."
"Luka Doncic belongs in the MVP conversation, and it shouldn't be a surprise."
Feature image via Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports.
