Dallas Mavs, Luka Doncic Bounce Back vs. Washington Wizards: 'It's 82 Games’

The Mavs and Luka Doncic had a letdown loss against the Pelicans in New Orleans on Tuesday but responded in a major way against the Wizards.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Coming off his worst season performance against the New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic achieved a major bounce-back game against the Washington Wizards less than 24 hours later. The Mavs improved to 9-3 through 12 games with the victory. 

Against the Pelicans, Doncic was contained to 16 points, two rebounds, and two assists, with eight turnovers on 5-16 shooting from the floor. He ultimately did not log any playing time in the fourth quarter, and the Mavs lost 131-110. The focus was on the Slovenian superstar's performance, given he began the first quarter with an uncharacteristically poor level of play that never recovered. 

Doncic remained level-headed after his performance, expressing to reporters in the locker room that it was simply a "bad game" and there are naturally ups and downs throughout an 82-game NBA season. 

"People don't understand it's 82 games in the NBA season," Doncic said in New Orleans. "Of course, there will be a bad night, you know? It's the NBA; you have another chance tomorrow."

Many factors went wrong for the Mavs in their second of two matchups against the Pelicans in New Orleans beyond just Doncic's play. As a collective, Dallas turned it over 20 times, resulting in 31 points for the Pelicans, while also giving up 46 fastbreak points. 

"We expected that response," Mavs forward Grant Williams said in New Orleans. "You knew after a game like that, the team's always going to respond in a tougher, more physical way. And they also played just harder than us. We gave up like 30 fastbreak points in the first half; it has to be unacceptable for us. 

"It's one of those things where you have to look each other in the eye and challenge one another, and we didn't do that tonight," Williams explained. "We just allowed it to keep happening, even at the start of the third. That's when you post them, you know. We've shown that we can fight through adversity, and that, that we just didn't do that."

While having a letdown performance playing against the same team twice who got dynamic wing defender Herb Jones back in the lineup was a disappointment for a Mavs team in the midst of a strong start to the season, the group quickly shifted focus to formulating a response with a chance to do so the next night. 

"It happens over the course of a season, but you can't let it be recurring," Williams said in New Orleans. "We've had two or three games or three losses that we've had that are uncharacteristic.  Like we have a game where we don't do our job and rebound, and in the game that we lost to Toronto, they were just more physical and out-toughed us. 

"In this game, they played faster than us; they played with a little more edge; they were just playing passive lanes gambling because that team is very athletic; they do a great job of getting out of transition," Williams explained. "They're hard to beat when they do that. Keep them in the half-court; you might have a better chance, but we didn't do that tonight."

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic against the Washington Wizards / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic took full advantage of his next chance, leading the Mavs to a 130-117 victory against the Wizards at Capital One Arena despite arriving in Washington, D.C., in the middle of the night traveling from New Orleans. He totaled 26 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists, while the team managed to overcome not having Kyrie Irving available to play due to a left foot sprain. 

"Luka set the tone, understanding getting in at four in the morning, the excuse of being tired or scheduling or playing, or not playing a game at the tournament,' Mavs coach Jason Kidd said in Washington, D.C. "I thought the maturity, the trust to go out and execute, they did a great job. 

"That group was really good from the start. I thought just the throw-ahead passes and the pace — the way we've been talking about playing, you saw that this evening."

Doncic had already totaled 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists at halftime, the Mavs leading 71-51. A significant boost was provided by Tim Hardaway Jr., who scored 21 of his 31 points in the opening half, his highest-scoring half of the season. For a team that entered their loss in New Orleans with only two losses on the season, there was a major motivation to bounce back, especially with Irving out. 

"I'm happy we got the win for the most part," Hardaway said in Washington D.C. Just the next-man-up mentality. Everybody came out with a chip on their shoulder today and just made sure they didn't get too comfortable and played with poise, played with passion, played defense, grab rebounds, run, and have fun."

The Mavs received strong outings from their starting frontcourt, with Derrick Jones Jr. making the defense pay for daring him to beat them with his catch-and-shoot jumper when spacing the floor. He racked up 20 points, seven rebounds, one steal, and two blocks, with a pair of made 3s. He offered defensive versatility, particularly as an on-ball defender, and an all-around play-finishing presence on the perimeter as a release valve. 

Dereck Lively II set the tone as an interior play finisher and paint protector, totaling 16 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. He often deters Wizards guards from attempting finishes in the paint while using his length to pressure jump shots and shots at the rim. 

"Look at just his presence on the defense," Kidd said in Washington, D.C. "But I thought he did a great job in running and rewarded him with that, being able to know when to finish and then know when to pivot. And I thought he made a heck of a play to Timmy when he ran there, there in the first and caught it, first of all, catching it and then being aware of where Timmy was in the corner for three just shows his growth.

"I thought his energy to bounce back from last night was a high for a rookie."

Lively took full advantage of Washington shifting its defensive gameplan from having a wing guard him in the first half to being on the receiving end of Doncic ripping apart more neutral ball screen coverages in the third quarter to score most of his 13 points that he provided within the period.

"Yeah, I think we're going to see everything from box-and-one to trying to just get us to think about the different matchups and try to slow the offense down," Kidd said in Washington D.C. "I thought for last night, for us to see it again tonight, I thought the guys handled it well.

"We talked about it — we're going to see different defenses that are going to try to slow us down and make us think about who we should bring instead of just the continuity of flow, and the ball is going to find the open guy. I thought the guys did a great job tonight with that."

For a rookie, Lively already has an impressive comprehension of not only his responsibilities but the greater context of the importance of fulfilling those obligations, even when teams are deploying various coverages against him. For example, he hasn't frequently faced the wing starting out guarding him to be the one to switch in ball screening actions so the big can sag off of Derrick Jones Jr. as the low-man, but he's already well-aware of how to attack it. 

"You could play it a couple of different ways," Lively said in Washington, D.C. "You could put me in the ball screen and have them switch, or you can have them blitz, and I'm just going to play out of the short roll. Or if you have a wing guarding me, I'm going to pull the wing — I'll go to the short corner and have whoever the biggest guarding set the screen, and then whatever action they play out of that.

"It's either going to be a pocket pass in the short roll, or they're gonna play out of it and pass-pass," Lively explained. "And I'm either going to play on the offensive rebound or wait for my teammates to find me in the right spots."

Seth Curry provided a 15-point scoring punch off the bench on a perfect 6-6 shooting overall and made both of his 3-point attempts after largely not being in the Mavs' rotation to start the season. He tied Jones as being the Mavs' second-highest-scoring player in the second half of the game, keeping the Wizards from rallying back. 

"Just working with the staff, trying to get my extra work in pre-game, post-game, off days, trying to do whatever I can to most importantly stay in shape, keep my legs right," Curry said in Washington D.C. "Nothing simulates a game, but as I said, just keep being positive with the guys on the bench. ... Everybody's gonna get an opportunity to affect the team, and tonight was a good chance for me to get my feet wet."

Grant Williams, another player who shouldn't be overlooked for their impact, recorded 10 points, three rebounds, and seven assists. He often made the right play in transition, either by making the extra pass or throwing it ahead to a more athletic player. He also was helpful within the flow of the half-court offense, either making a drop-off pass to Lively out of the 4-on-3 to counter Washington's blitzing or simply getting into a handoff with a shot creator.

With a team in shape, committed to playing faster, and embracing their responsibilities, there is a stronger foundation to produce bounce-back performances or general consistency, even as the team sorts out roles and establishes continuity within their play style. There will be a significant test on Saturday when they face the Milwaukee Bucks to conclude a four-game road trip.