Dallas Mavericks handed the Brooklyn Nets their fourth straight loss after defeating them 113-109 on Thursday night.
Kyrie Irving dropped season-high points for the Nets despite the loss.
The loss gave the Nets their season-high fourth straight game loss.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks held on to the fifth seed in the West with a win percentage of .500.
Dallas is now at 38-28 half-game ahead of the 6th placed LA Lakers and 6 games behind the 4th place LA Clippers in the Western Conference.
The Nets enter the court with a three-game losing streak while the Mavericks have won their four of five last games.
“I think the pressure is good,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “You’re going to face pressure in the playoffs and you have to be pressure-tested.
This is a little bit of pressure for us, a little bit of a hole for us to dig out of. How can we solve this riddle? How can we get over the line in some of these games.”
Also, the Mavericks really needed this win to secure their position in the playoff spot and now with the win, they secure fifth place.
The Mavericks lead in the first quarter.
The Nets started quickly with Joe Harris dropping a three-pointer to start the quarter.
However, soon took the lead 6-7 with 9:25 remaining in the quarter. Then the Nets trailed the Mavericks going forward in the quarter.
They were as much as four points behind about three minutes into the game.
The Nets Kyrie Irving dropped a three-pointer to bring the game within a point. Subsequently, the Mavericks made a 5-0 run.
With 7:34 remaining every Mavericks stater scored, giving six points lead then Willie Cauley-Stein dropped a layup on Josh Richardson pass to extend the lead to seven points.
Then Blake Griffin dropped a three-pointer on Landry Shamet’s pass.
Soon the Mavericks answered back with Cauly-Stein bucket with alley opp from Luka Doncic.
The Nets went back and forth scoring with Mavericks in the lead. They scored a consecutive basket with Kyrie Irving dropping a jumper and Kevin Durant scoring a three-pointer.
Dorian Finney-Smith got the rebound and finished with a bucket to answer the Nets bucket.
Kevin Durant brought the game to 20-23 with a layup shot with 4:43 remaining in the clock.
Then Luka extended the lead with a three-pointer over the Nets Griffin on the defensive end.
To the shot, Blake responded with a three-pointer on the offensive end. The Mavericks Richardson then stole the ball and scored on the other end extending the lead for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks took the ten-point lead over the Nets with 2:28 left for the end of the quarter.
Jeff Green and Nicolas Claxton score consecutive baskets for the Nets, ending the quarter 37-32.
The Mavericks took the lead again.
The Nets trailed the Mavericks for about 4 minutes into the second quarter before Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer to cut the lead within a point and Kevin Durant hit a jumper to tie the game 42-42 with 6:21 remaining in the quarter.
Soon the Nets took a two-point lead on the Mavericks with Bruce Brown Jr. dropping a bucket from Kevin’s pass.
But Mavericks answered right back with Dwight Powell scoring a bucket on Luka Doncic’s pass.
Kyrie Irving‘s fancy finish dropped right after Powell tied the game, giving the Nets lead again.
It didn’t last long with Luka dropping a shot from behind the arc to take a point lead.
Both the teams dueled with the lead going back and forth with the shots as the clock winded down going towards the end of the second quarter.
The Nets were three-point ahead at 60-57 with a minute remaining.
Dwight Powell tied the game by scoring a three-pointer with 55.8 seconds left.
Irving scored a layup giving the lead to the Nets but soon the lead scattered after Powell drew a foul scoring a layup to answer right back.
The teams entered the third with 62-63 on the board with Mavericks on the lead after Luka drew a foul at the last second and hit one of two free throws for the lead.
The Nets come back on the third.
Luka Doncic missed his first six shots at the start of the third quarter giving Kyrie Irving a start 6-0 run with a three-pointer and Harris hitting another from behind the arc for the run.
The Nets took a four-point lead with 6:44 remaining on the clock with Griffin’s dunk.
The lead went back and forth in the midst of the quarter with both the teams answering each other bucket every time.
The Mavericks took the lead with four-point afterward. Both the teams were at 74-78 with 2:54 left on the clock.
Kyrie paced up and scored a jumper and Doncic lost the ball to the Nets on the next possession giving Bruce Brown a chance to score a bucket on Cauley-Stein’s pass.
Kyrie is COOKING ♨️ pic.twitter.com/MYeIWJoRR0
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 7, 2021
This cut the lead within a point with the Mavericks still in the lead.
The Mavericks soon extended the lead after Jalen Brunson scored a three-pointer.
Mike James passed the ball for Jeff Green, who scored a three-pointer from behind the arc for the Nets.
For the first time in the game, the Nets took the lead to end the quarter.
The Nets enter the court with 83-82 on the scoreboard with a point lead over the Mavericks.
The Mavericks defeat the Nets.
The Nets caught fire early in the fourth quarter with the Nets taking a four-point lead to start the quarter.
Brunson helped the Mavericks cut the lead to two points.
Trey Burke couldn’t finish the layup for the Bucks but Dorian finished it off for Burke tying the game at 90-90 with 9:19 left in the quarter.
Subsequently, the Mavericks took a two-point lead and extended the lead to 7 points with back-to-back buckets on the consecutive possession.
Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer from behind the arc bringing the game to 97-101 as the clock showed 4:34.
Luka passed Tim Hardaway who convert the ball to a three-point bucket. And Kevin answered with a jumper.
Just like that Doncic answered back with a layup on the other end.
3 thoughts as the Dallas Mavericks hold off Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets, 113-109 – NBA News https://t.co/j3pMHOGB8V
— NBA, NFL & MLB News Now (@MLB_News247) May 7, 2021
Irving then drew a blocking foul when dropping a bucket scoring a three-point for the Nets, bringing the game 102-106 with 58.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Doncic and Powell then scored back-to-back buckets extending the lead to six points with 26.5 seconds left on the clock.
Irving missed a layup at the end of the game but made up with a three-pointer however damage already done giving the Mavericks to win the game 113-109.
The win over the Nets secured the fifth position under the Mavericks name for now.
“This is all experience we need,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “There’s a lot of new situations. Last year at this time we were locked into the seventh position and we weren’t going lower.
This year is a whole different ballgame. There’s so much in play. The thing I’m most proud of with this group is they’re blocking out all the external noise.”
Kyrie Irving huge scoring in the losing effort.
The Nets star Kyrie Irving missed a layup in the final seconds, soon he made a three-pointer but it was already late.
“We need to be tested like that,” Irving said. “We’re not a perfect basketball club. We could be doing ourselves a great disservice if we weren’t honest. We’ve just got to have better continuity down the stretch.”
Even so, he dropped a season-high 45 points along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists to keep the Mavericks on their toes throughout the game.
A season-high in PTS (45) and FPTS (74) for Kyrie lifts him to the top of Thursday's #NBAFantasy leaderboard 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DRtF3nI7KI
— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) May 7, 2021
Meanwhile, All-star Kevin Durant dropped 20-points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Blake Griffin who started for the Nets contributed a double-double scoring 10 points, 10 rebounds along with 3 assists.
Similarly, Jeff Green led for the Nets bench, contributing 10 points and 2 rebounds and an assist, while Bruce Brown Jr made 10 points just after Jeff Green on the board along with 6 rebounds.
Luka receive help from the team to defeat the Nets
On the other hand, the Mavericks star Luka Doncic scored 24 points leading on the scoreboard for the Mavericks along with 10 rebounds making his double-double of the night.
But he was just 2 of 11 from the field in the game however he dropped 8 assists.
“When Luka goes through periods where he’s not scoring, he finds other ways to impact the game,” Carlisle said. “He was rebounding really well during that stretch. He moved it to some guys for some really good looks.”
All other players on the team shined and contributed to the Mavericks win.
The Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 113-109
Tim Hardaway Jr- 23 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Luka Doncic- 24 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals
Kyrie Irving-45 points,5 rebounds,4 assists,4 steals,2 blocks
Kevin Durant-20 points,9 rebounds,3 assists,1 steal,1 block pic.twitter.com/WJcGsQhRIk— NBA Daily Stats (@nbadailysta) May 7, 2021
Along with Doncic, five other players scored in double-figures for the Mavericks’ win over the Nets.
Tim Hardaway Jr followed right behind Doncic with 23 points along with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
Then Dorian Finney-Smith scored 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists for the Mavericks’ starter.
Josh Richardson also scored in double-figures as the starter, contributing 10 points.
Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson led the scoreboard for the bench, dropping 15 points along with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Dwight Powell is the last player to score in double-figures for the Mavericks, scoring 12 points and 10 rebounds with this he also scored a double-double along with 5 assists.
Next, the Nets will face the Nuggets at Denver on Sunday while Cleveland Cavaliers visit Dallas for the match against the Mavericks at Dallas on Friday.
