The last time the Orlando Magic won at American Airlines Center, the Mavericks were on their way to the NBA championship.
It was January 8, 2011, and Jason Kidd has since gone from point guard to coach.
So it’s the equivalent of an NBA generation that the Mavericks have dominated Orlando and the streak continued Sunday night as they took the lead early and cruised to a 108-85 victory over the short-handed and tired Magic, who were at a five- game is. trip and play without their best player, all-star Paolo Banchero.
None of that mattered for the Mavericks, who improved to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in this five-game home stretch that continues Monday against Indiana.
Luka Dončić led the Mavericks with 32 points, but barely had to change the box score after halftime. He also had nine rebounds and seven assists. He and Kyrie Irving (17 points) got long breaks in the fourth quarter when the Mavericks led 88-61 after three frames. Daniel Gafford had a season-best 18 points in support of Irving and Dončić. Lively had 11 points and 11 rebounds to match.
In other words, the Mavericks couldn’t have handled their business better on Sunday than they did.
Kidd credited Dončić with getting the team’s spirits right.
“I thought his energy was great,” Kidd said. “As our leader, he immediately set the tone and I thought the boys followed him. Our sofa was really good. We won a first quarter. It’s been a while.
“Luka came out and normally in the past he has dominated the first one and I thought tonight was the first time he really dominated on both sides, in attack and in defence.”
It was the first time this season that Dončić played the entire first quarter, which was the plan “if he scored,” Kidd said with a smile.
And the dominance was thorough for the Mavericks.
When Irving and Quentin Grimes started the second quarter with three-pointers, the Mavericks had turned an early seven-point deficit into a 36-22 lead.
And the route had begun. Before the Magic knew it, the Mavericks’ lead was 55-28.
It was an important victory for the Mavericks to ensure that Thursday’s 108-102 loss to Houston did not turn into a losing streak.
Dončić was fantastic in the first half, hitting 9 of 15 shots, including 5 of 10 from three-point land, and scoring 25 points. It’s the 30e In his career, he has scored at least 25 points in a half, the most in the NBA since entering the league in 2018-19 (James Harden also has 30).
It must be something about the Magic and their coach, former Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, that brings out the best in Luka. Last season in the AAC meet, he had 45 points in a 131-129 Mavericks win.
“I just had to have a good game ahead of me, just try to go out there and have fun,” Luka said when asked what it is about Orlando that lights a fire under him. “Playing at home is always fun with the fans. I just wanted to give them something.”
So what was the key to making his offense look smoother?
“Just be myself,” Dončić said. “Play basketball, have fun out there. Today was really fun. We defended, rebounded and played with a lot of pace. That’s fun for me.”
The defense was impressive. Orlando shot just 33.3 percent and was just 8 of 41 (19.5 percent) from three-point range. The Mavericks also had their best rebounding game of the season, winning the glass 53-43.
And they got some important contributions from outside the normal sources. Naji Marshall hasn’t made much noise in the first five games, but had five assists in the first half on Sunday. Two of those came via lob passes to Daniel Gafford, who took advantage of the small Magic with 12 points in the first half as the Mavericks effectively put the game away. Those lobs mainly came in the transition phase, not the half-court sets.
Marshall, Quentin Grimes, Spencer Dinwiddie and Lively were all at least plus-15 in the first half.
“We weren’t playing our best basketball at that point,” Luka said. “I think Naji changed that when he came off the bench. He was great today. I like his playing. I always loved him when he was in New Orleans. He is a very complete player. And he’s just starting to get used to (us). It’s a new team and he will continue to get better.”
That can be said about all the Mavericks, as they’ve now played a handful of games with Luka, and he with them.
“We have to remember that he (Luka) hasn’t had training camp, so he’s getting into his rhythm,” Kidd said. “And the group that played without him and now added with him, they have to get used to him. That’s for everyone.”
The Magic were without Banchero, who tore an oblique muscle last week and will be out for at least a month. The second-year forward averaged 29 points and 8.8 rebounds in the first five games before the injury.
Without him, the Magic have struggled to score and have now lost the first three games of this five-game trip that continues to Oklahoma City and Indiana.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, picked up a win that also gave them a chance to give their heavy lifters some extra rest as Monday’s late game (8:45 p.m.) quickly approached.
X: @ESefko
