FILE–Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
Luka Doncic scored 28 points and dished out 10 assists in three quarters of play and Kyrie Irving added 23 points as the Dallas Mavericks swamped the hapless San Antonio Spurs 142-116 on Thursday to snap a three-game losing streak.
It was just the third game the Mavericks’ new dynamic duo have played together since a trade brought Irving to Dallas from the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 6, and the Mavs lost the prior two contests.
San Antonio extended its franchise-record losing streak to 15 games.
Dallas was up by 11 points at halftime and by just nine after three periods but ran away with the game with a 12-3 surge to begin the fourth quarter. Doncic was not involved in that pivotal spurt as he sat out the entire fourth quarter, but Irving scored eight points over six minutes of the period before leaving with the Mavericks up 126-100.
Tim Hardaway Jr. put up 22 points for Dallas, with Christian Wood scoring 16, Justin Holiday hitting for 15, and Reggie Bullock contributing 12, Josh Green 11 and Dwight Powell 10.
Luka tonight:
28 PTS
7 REB
10 AST
W pic.twitter.com/3MqDus8XDm— NBA (@NBA) February 24, 2023
Malaki Branham led the Spurs with 23 points while Keldon Johnson added 22, Charles Bassey scored 16, Keita Bates-Diop had 15, Zach Collins amassed 13 points and 12 rebounds and Devonte’ Graham threw in 10 points.
The Mavericks led for almost all of the first period, with Doncic (11 points) and Irving combining for 18 points as Dallas held a 34-26 edge after 12 minutes of play. Johnson’s 10 points in the quarter (on 4-of-5 shooting) kept the Spurs within reach.
Dallas extended its lead to 11 points when Doncic canned two free throws to make it 57-46 with 5:01 remaining in the half. San Antonio answered with a 7-0 run capped by a three-point play by Branham, but the Mavericks quickly swung back, with Irving’s reverse layup just beating the buzzer to produce a 74-63 advantage at the break.
Doncic led all scorers with 21 points before halftime, with Irving adding 13 and Wood hitting for 10 off the bench for Dallas. Branham paced the Spurs with 14 first-half points while Johnson tallied 13.
The Mavericks stoked their lead to 84-68 on Dwight Powell’s dunk with 8:18 to play in the third quarter, but San Antonio whittled its deficit to 99-90 entering the final quarter.