Mavs vs. Magic GAMEDAY: ‘Someone’s Got to Step Up,’ Says Coach Kidd

The Dallas Mavericks fell to 2-3 after an embarrassing fourth-quarter meltdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. They don’t have much time to think about it, as they face the Orlando Magic less than 24 hours later on the second night of a back-to-back.

The good thing about the NBA is that if you suffer an embarrassing loss, you don’t have much time to dwell on it.

That’s what the Dallas Mavericks are faced with on Sunday night as they take on the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Center less than 24 hours after blowing another big lead in a 117-111 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. A 31-point triple-double from Luka Doncic somehow wasn’t enough.

Dallas led 97-82 with a little less than four minutes to go in the game before allowing OKC to finish regulation on a quick 17-2 run. You can read our full Mavs-Thunder game recap here.

Can the Mavs bounce back against the Magic while having heavier legs on the second night of a back-to-back? According to coach Jason Kidd, that depends on if his team feels like stepping up in crunch time or not.

“I think when you look at being able to guard the ball, we can’t just rely on Luka (Doncic),” said Kidd. “Someone’s got to step up and make a shot or make a play.”

The young Magic haven’t been very good, as they have a 1-5 record heading into Sunday night’s matchup, but Rookie of the Year frontrunner Paolo Banchero has been good enough to keep his team close on most nights so far. It will be interesting to see how Dallas handles Orlando’s massive starting five with Banchero leading the charge.

Here's everything you need to know before tonight's game.

WHAT TO WATCH: How will Christian Wood respond to being called out by Kidd?

After the OKC game, Kidd surprisingly went out of his way to point out how having Wood in the closing lineup didn’t work out as the Mavs blew their big lead.

“So far, I think we got them all in,” Kidd said about trying different closing lineups through the Mavs’ first five games. “So we got to figure out which ones are working. We didn’t go with Timmy (Hardaway Jr.) tonight. We left C-Wood out there with that group and it didn’t go well on either end, and that’s something we got to be better at. 

“I think we worry about offense, but we took command of that game, and with six minutes left it started to go the other way. We just didn’t finish.”

Although Kidd’s statement was valid, the Mavs had a number of things go wrong in the loss to OKC. It definitely wasn’t just on Wood. In fact, Kidd is partly to blame for not leaving Josh Green on the floor in the fourth when he was a +24 in just 15 minutes of a game Dallas lost by six points.

Kidd has singled out Doncic in the past when he hasn’t performed up to his standards, and Doncic always responds well. How Wood responds to Kidd’s latest call-out will be his next big test.

INJURY REPORT (DALLAS): Dāvis Bertans and Frank Ntilikina are OUT.

INJURY REPORT (ORLANDO): Cole Anthony, Markelle Fultz, Garry Harris, Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner are OUT.

RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (2-3), Orlando Magic (1-5)

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. CT

WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)

TV: Bally Sports Southwest (BSSW), NBA League Pass

RADIO: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

ODDS: The Mavs are currently 9.5-point favorites over the Magic. Click here for real-time betting odds updates.

NEXT UP: The Mavs get a three-day rest, as their next game will be on Wednesday night against the surprisingly-successful 5-2 Utah Jazz.

FINAL WORD: “We don't play with a lead very well which obviously is concerning, but we're also getting a lead,” said Dinwiddie. “It’s weird, man. It's not like the intent is bad, we just gotta do better because we’ve dropped several leads now.”

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