Mavs Sweep Spurs in Finale; Dallas to Face Utah in First Round

The Dallas Mavericks are officially the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket.

Dalton Trigg | Apr 10, 2022

The Dallas Mavericks came into Sunday night's season finale against the San Antonio Spurs winners of three-straight games and eight of their last 10. Although this game ended up not meaning much for either team in the standings, bragging rights and pride were at stake, as the Mavs attempted to sweep the regular-season series with the Spurs for the first time in franchise history.

USATSI_18060347 — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs swept the Spurs for the first time ever.

USATSI_18060349 — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic fights through contact.

USATSI_18060362 — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic drives to the cup.

Dallas did just that, as it put San Antonio away by the final score of 130-120. The Mavs finished the season with a 52-30 record, which the Play-In Tournament-bound Spurs finished 34-48. The Mavs are officially the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket and will face the Utah Jazz in the first round.

Although sweeping the Spurs should've produced nothing but good feelings, a dark cloud formed over the night, as superstar Luka Doncic left the game in the third quarter with what the team called a calf strain. The injury isn't believed to be significant, but Doncic did not return game. He finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in just 29 minutes.

Jalen Brunson (18), Dorian Finney-Smith (16) and Dwight Powell (12) joined Doncic as starters to score in double figures. Brunson also pitched in six rebounds and five assists while only recording one turnover.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks — Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic passes as Murray defends.

Doncic utilizes a Bullock screen.

Doncic strikes a pose after hitting a deep 3-pointer.

When Doncic went out with his injury, two-way contract player and designated team hype man Theo Pinson picked up the slack by putting up a career-high 16 points on 5-5 shooting from the field in 14 minutes. Since two-way players aren't eligible to play in the postseason, it was fun to see Pinson go out on a high note.

Next up, the Mavs will open the first round of the playoffs at AAC in Game 1 against the Jazz. Dallas and Utah split the season series 2-2. Despite Utah's late-season struggles, the combination of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell is still a formidable duo with ample playoff experience. The Mavs should be favored to win the series, but don't be shocked if the Jazz make it tough on them.

Published Apr 10, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.