The Mavericks are getting closer and closer to avoiding having to go through the play-in. The Texan team achieved a new victory by beating Detroit by 127-117, which added to the new loss of Portland allows them to place only half a game behind the Blazers, who currently occupy the sixth place. This promises to be undoubtedly one of the most interesting disputes at the close of the regular season, as both teams will want to guarantee their presence in the postseason without having to face the tenth seed first.
Those from Dallas, who had lost their last four games at the American Airlines Center, had a relatively placid day as they took the lead in the second quarter and never trailed again. The difference in the score was up to 17 points in the fourth quarter, which allowed Carlisle’s men to close the match without too many complications and find themselves with the victory after some consecutive setbacks.
Luka Doncic was in charge of leading the team with 30 points, to which he added 10 rebounds and 9 assists to stay at the gates of a new triple-double. The Slovenian returned to sign a very complete performance and with many quality details, helping his team to try to avoid a play-in that he himself has questioned in his recent statements.
His best ally was Jalen Brunson, who finished with 20 points and was key for the Texans to begin to dominate the game. The point guard scored 18 points in the first half, 13 of which came in the second quarter and allowed Dallas to take the lead on the scoreboard and start scoring distances. Kristaps Porzingis finished with 19 and Tim Hardaway Jr. with 15.
On the Pistons’ side, Jerami Grant led the Michigan team with 26 points, closely followed by Cory Joseph’s 24, which equaled his highest score of the season. In addition, Mason Plumlee also signed an interesting performance by going to 13 points without missing a single shot (4/4 in field goals, 5/5 in free throws), capturing 16 rebounds and distributing 7 assists.
(Cover photo: Tom Pennington / Getty Images)
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