Jason Kidd and his Dallas Mavericks’ coaching staff had to improvise when the team’s starting backcourt found itself in serious foul trouble Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Mavericks overcame adversity in that contest and won. Next they have a home date with the struggling Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
Mavericks franchise player Luka Doncic sat out most of the third quarter against Atlanta after collecting his fifth foul. Jalen Brunson was whistled for his fifth foul later in the quarter.
Dallas already was missing Tim Hardaway Jr., who underwent foot surgery last week. The Mavericks still outscored the Hawks 49-44 in the second half of a 103-94 victory.
“I’ve never been in that situation before. …. It shows that the coaching staff has done a great job of keeping guys ready when they don’t play,” Kidd said. “I thought Trey (Burke) was a perfect example of that. He came in and ran the show and kept us going in the right direction.”
Burke had seven points and an assist in 15 minutes, while starting small forward Reggie Bullock supplied 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Bullock is averaging 19.6 points over the last five games while absorbing most of Hardaway’s minutes.
“He’s doing everything,” Kidd said. “We’re asking him to guard. We’re asking him to rebound. We asked him to start the first play in the pick and roll. He’s answered the call for us. We know he had great looks early in the season that didn’t fall. And you can see our quarterbacks are trying to find him, which is kind of cool. He’s getting a lot of looks because of Luka and JB finding him.”
Doncic achieved his third triple-double in four games on Sunday despite the foul issues, piling up 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in just 28 minutes.
The Mavericks also played without two key front-court members. Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t suited up the last four games due to a right-knee bone bruise. Maxi Kleber sat out for the second consecutive game due to a sore left knee.
Dallas is 2-1 during its current six-game homestand.
The Pistons, in turn, have lost four straight and eight of their last nine games.
They’ve played the last three without star rookie Cade Cunningham, who is recovering from a right hip pointer. He was a game-time decision on Sunday at Minnesota for the Pistons, who are hopeful he’ll play against the Mavericks.
The Timberwolves opened a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter and held on for a 118-105 triumph. Detroit closed the gap to five points with 3:55 remaining before being held to three points the rest of the way.
“We’ve got to get more stops down the stretch,” Pistons forward Saddiq Bey said. “They had a couple of stretches where we would score, but they scored every time, as well. We needed to get three, four stops in a row and convert to either push out the lead or stay closer at the end of the game.”
Second-year point guard Killian Hayes was a bright spot. He contributed 10 points and eight assists in 24 minutes off the bench.
“I’ve got shoes older than him,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “Patience is paying off. I was really proud of him. I’m as hard on him as anyone. Every film session. He’s so tired of me getting on his behind that he’s picking it up and growing.”
–Field Level Media
