Dallas Basketball

Dallas Mavs WATCH: Dante Exum Thrilling Buzzer Beater; Luka Doncic MVP Plays in OT

The Dallas Mavericks pulled out a thrilling overtime victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday afternoon after coming back from being down 22 points. Dante Exum sent the game to overtime at the buzzer, and Luka Doncic finished out the overtime period with some MVP-like plays.

Dalton Trigg

Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports
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The Dallas Mavericks officially eliminated their I-45 rival Houston Rockets from postseason contention on Sunday afternoon while also improving their record to 48-30 with an exciting 147-136 win in overtime.

While trailing by three points with eight seconds remaining, Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. went to the free-throw line to potentially seal the game for Houston. However, despite being an 83-percent free-throw shooter, Smith missed both shots, which led to Mavs gaurd Dante Exum nailing a clutch 3-pointer with time expiring to send the game to overtime tied at 129-129.

Then, in the overtime period, Dallas outscored Houston 18-7 to capture a 147-136 win. Luka Doncic finished with 37 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists while shooting 12-21 from the field and 4-10 from deep. Kyrie Irving led the Mavs with 48 points and seven rebounds while shooting 15-25 from the field and 15-17 from the free-throw line.

Apr 7, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates after making a
Apr 7, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates after making a / Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports

During one sequence in overtime, Doncic showed why he's worthy of real MVP consideration. On the offensive end, Doncic split two defenders, then drove into the paint with three defenders surrounding him. He somehow passed the ball out to P.J. Washington in the corner, who nailed a clutch 3-pointer. Then, on the defensive end, with the Rockets on their last leg, Doncic blocked a Smith 3-point attempt that essentially ended the game.

With the win, the Mavs now have a two-game lead on both the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference standings with four regular-season games remaining. Dallas holds the tiebreakers over Phoenix and New Orleans, so that two-game lead is essentially a three-game lead.

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Dalton Trigg
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.

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