The Dallas Mavericks will set out to snap an untimely three-game losing streak when they play host to the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
The Mavericks’ recent skid has caused them to fall into the 10th and final play-in spot in the Western Conference, and a turnaround doesn’t seem likely based on recent events. Former franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic returned to Dallas on Wednesday for the first time since being traded to the Lakers and proceeded to hang 45 points on his former team, 31 of which came in the first half.
The Lakers handled the Mavericks (38-42) with relative ease, 112-97, as Dallas was held below 100 points for the second time in three games. Anthony Davis didn’t make much noise against his former team, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the loss.
“I have a job to do, and that’s to coach the players that are in that locker room,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “The guys in that locker room, I’ve got to put them in a better position to win.
“We’re getting healthy, we’re getting off of minute restrictions. We have two games left to get things going in the right direction before we play Sacramento (in the play-in). That’s all we’re worried about. This game is over, there’s nothing we can do, (Doncic) isn’t coming back.”
Dallas suffered consecutive blowout losses to the Clippers in their previous two games leading into Doncic’s revenge game. The Mavericks were held to 91 points in a 23-point loss without Davis on April 4. Davis returned for the second leg of the back-to-back on Saturday, but the Mavericks were again blown out, this time by a score of 135-104.
Naji Marshall has led Dallas in scoring in two of its last three games and averages 13.4 points per game. P.J. Washington’s 14.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game lead the Mavericks’ active roster, while Klay Thompson chips in 14.1 points per game on just 41.2 percent shooting. Dallas lost Kyrie Irving for the season after he suffered a torn ACL against the Kings on March 3.
The Raptors (30-50) enter Friday’s game having won six of their last nine. Toronto beat the visiting Hornets 126-96 on Wednesday.
Jonathan Mogbo became the first member of the 2024 draft class to register an NBA triple-double, tallying 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the win. It was a surprising performance for a player who averages just 6.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
“(I’ve gotten more comfortable) just being aggressive,” Mogbo said. “At the beginning, it was on and off a little bit. Every day, (coach) Darko (Rajakovic) always tells me to go out there and play aggressively. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. At the end of the day, you’ve got to learn from that. It’s a learning process. Every time I go out there, I try to be aggressive and open things up on the court.”
Jared Rhoden led the Raptors in scoring with 23 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Rhoden has now scored more than 20 points in two of his last five outings after never doing so in his two previous stints in the NBA.
RJ Barrett leads Toronto in scoring with 21.1 points per game in addition to 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Scottie Barnes averages 18.9 points and 7.7 rebounds along with a team-high 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Jakob Poeltl leads Toronto with 9.6 rebounds per game while averaging 14.5 points.
