Mavs beat Pacers 127-104

Mavs beat Pacers 127-104

NBA

Mavs beat Pacers 127-104

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Luka Doncic started Monday hopeful he would play at Indiana.

A few hours later, NBA officials announced they had rescinded the All-Star’s most recent technical foul and the subsequent one-game suspension. Doncic responded to that news with the kind of dazzling performance the Dallas Mavericks desperately needed for their final playoff push.

He finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, helping the Mavericks snap a four-game losing streak with a dominant 127-104 victory over the short-handed Indiana Pacers.

“That’s what he does,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s one of the best players in the league at finding guys and then he’s able to catch and shoot — not just once but multiple times.”

The victory keeps Dallas within striking distance of the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the race for the final two play-in spots in the Western Conference.

 

Dallas took control after a back-and-forth first quarter by starting the second on a 14-2 run to make it 43-29. The Mavericks led 59-47 at the half, extended the advantage to 77-56 midway through the third quarter and just kept pulling away.

Doncic had picked up his 16th technical that was rescinded on Sunday in the team’s second loss to Charlotte. The technical came with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter of a 110-104 loss when Doncic argued a no-call after missing a shot on a drive to the basket.