The Dallas Mavericks played their final qualifying game of the NBA Cup on Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, entering the night with a good chance to make the NBA Cup’s Knockout Round as long as they won the game against Memphis.
Dallas also got a lot of players back who missed Sunday night’s win against the Portland Trail Blazers, as Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Dereck Lively II all returned to action on Tuesday, and they were only missing Naji Marshall and Dante Exum.
With a mostly healthy lineup again, the Mavericks started Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson (who was on a minute restriction), PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively II. Memphis started Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaylen Wells, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Brandon Clarke.
READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks Nearly Traded For NBA Champion, Recent Report Re-Affirms
Advertisement
This was back-and-forth action early on, with four lead changes in the first five minutes. Luka Doncic had seven early points for the Mavs, while Jaren Jackson Jr. had eight for Memphis, but a bucket by Dereck Lively II after having his shot blocked by Jackson gave Dallas a 16-15 lead midway through the quarter. This game had a playoff atmosphere early.
Doncic then hit a three-pointer and a couple of free throws to give him 12 in the quarter and extend their lead up to four. The scoring would dry up from there, as Dallas went scoreless for two minutes, and a putback dunk with the clock winding down from Memphis gave them a 26-25 advantage heading into the second quarter. Doncic was 3/4 in the opening quarter, every other Mav was just 5/15.
The second quarter started with a Dereck Lively posted over Jaren Jackson on a lob; then Lively had another dunk in transition on the next possession to put the Mavs back up three. Klay Thompson would get on the board with an elbow jumper soon after that, too. Doncic hit a three a minute later to go up six, their biggest lead of the game to this point, 38-32.
After a Grizzlies timeout, Luka hit back-to-back shots to give him 20 for the game and the Mavs a nine-point lead, and Dallas would eventually lead by 10. Memphis would respond with a 12-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer by rookie Jaylen Wells, giving them a 50-48 lead, but PJ Washington came right back down to hit a three to retake the lead. Dallas held the lead the rest of the half, going up by as much as four in the closing minutes of the half and taking a 60-57 lead into halftime, led by Luka Doncic’s 24 points.
READ MORE: How Mavericks Can Advance to Knockout Round of NBA Cup
Advertisement
Memphis started the second half on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes of the half. Dallas finally got on the board and scored six points in the span of about 30 seconds to get back within one. But the Mavs just could not score after that, with just 12 points in the quarter through the first eight minutes. That allowed Memphis to open up an 82-72 lead following a made three by backup center Jay Huff.
The Mavs started to score some points, but they couldn’t get any stops on defense, and the Grizzlies would take a 95-82 lead into the fourth quarter. Ja Morant had four points in the final eight seconds of the period to extend that lead.
A transition three by PJ Washington would briefly cut the lead to single digits early in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t get the lead under nine for the longest time. It wasn’t until an and-one converted by PJ Washington with about six minutes to go that the lead went down to six. But the good news was the Mavericks were already in the bonus.
The lead would stay around six for a few minutes before Luka Doncic hit a free throw to cut it to five, but Ja Morant came right back and hit a contested three. After a Luka Doncic three-pointer, Dereck Lively hit two free throws to cut the lead to three with a little over two minutes remaining. Doncic was then fouled 90 feet from the basket while in the bonus, hitting both before Spencer Dinwiddie hit a transition three to take a two-point lead. Dinwiddie hit another on the next possession from the exact same spot to go up by five.
PJ Washington would hit a clutch three after a Desmond Bane bucket to go up 119-113 with 26.1 seconds remaining. Ja Morant would miss a three-pointer, and Kyrie Irving would ice the game with free throws. The Mavericks would go on to win 121-116 and should advance to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup. It was an 18-5 run to close the game for the Mavs to win the game.
Advertisement
Luka Doncic led the way with 37 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists but was a shaky 10/16 from the free-throw line. After him, there were five other Mavs in double figures: PJ Washington (18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists), Dereck Lively II (17 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks), Spencer Dinwiddie (16 points), Daniel Gafford (11 points), and Kyrie Irving (10 points, just 3/14 shooting).
Dallas won this game because they shot 44 free throws to Memphis’ 14. That kept Dallas alive when the offense looked shaky, as they ended with 25 turnovers.
Ja Morant had 31 points, Desmond Bane had 19, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 16, Santa Aldama had 15, and Jaylen Wells had 10.
The Mavericks will travel to play the Wizards on Thursday night.
READ MORE: Mavericks Connected To Possible Jimmy Butler Trade
Advertisement
Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2024-25 Season
Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey onTwitter
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jason Robertson had two goals and an assist, and the Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks 8-3 on Friday night for their third straight win.
Roope Hintz and Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist, and Oskar Bäck, Sam Steel, Ilya Lybushkin and Adam Erne also scored for the Stars. who are an NHL-best 13-2-4 on the road. Mikko Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen each had two assists, and Casey DeSmith had 23 saves.
Ryan Poehling, Beckett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks, who have lost four of five. Lukas Dostal gave up four goals on seven shots before he was pulled with 5:41 left in the first period. Petr Mrazek came on and stopped 14 of the 18 shots he faced the rest of the way.
The Stars’ eight-goal output tied a season high, matching their 8-3 win at Edmonton on Nov. 25, and was the most the Ducks have given up.
Advertisement
Sports Roundup
Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Bäck gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal 2:37 into the game after the Ducks turned the puck over behind their net.
Poehling tied it 55 seconds later, scoring in close on the rebound of a point shot by Radko Gudas.
Advertisement
Hintz put Dallas back ahead at 4:42, getting a pass from Robertson in the slot, sliding backwards and firing a shot past Dostal for his 11th.
Steel pushed the Stars’ lead to 3-1 with 7:19 left in the first, scoring past Dostal while crashing into the net and dislodging it. The goal was confirmed after a review.
Harley made it a three-goal lead 1:38 later as he got a pass from Rantanen and scored from the right circle.
Robertson scored in front on a power play with 8:50 remaining in the second, and then put a backhander past Mrazek from the right circle 4 minutes later to make it 6-1. It gave Robertson a team-leading 22 goals.
Erne made it a six-goal lead with 1:30 left in the middle period.
Advertisement
After Sennecke pulled the Ducks back within five 1:01 into the third, Lybushkin got his first of the season 41 seconds later to extend the Stars’ lead to 8-2. Granlund capped the scoring with 5:38 remaining.
Up next
Stars: Host Toronto on Sunday.
Ducks: Host Columbus on Saturday.
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Don Stone, a Dallas civic leader and strong supporter of the arts, died on Sunday. He was 96.
Angela Stone, Don’s youngest child, said her father was one of a kind, a rare mix of sweet and tough.
“He was just the most wonderful man I ever knew, just generous to a fault, smart, charming. He influenced so many people,” she said.
Stone gave widely across North Texas, including $500,000 to endow college scholarships for musically gifted Dallas ISD students. Stone also held leadership positions at several North Texas arts organizations, including the Dallas Public Library, Voices of Change, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Fine Arts Chamber Players, Orchestra of New Spain, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Shakespeare Dallas and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Advertisement
News Roundups
Catch up on the day’s news you need to know.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
“He just believed that all of our lives would be so much poorer without music, art and theater. He said in our country we have the freedom to support whatever we want and that we needed to support the arts so that they would continue to exist,” Stone said.
Stone, a businessman who lived in Turtle Creek, worked for Sanger Harris, which later became Macy’s. He was a 2018 TACA Silver Cup Award honoree for his arts and culture advocacy in North Texas.
Advertisement
Maura Sheffler, president and executive director of The Arts Community Alliance (TACA), said in a statement that Stone’s legacy will continue to inspire the local arts community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Don Stone, a devoted champion of the arts whose leadership and generosity,” she wrote.
Stone’s wife of over 72 years, Norma, died in June. She was the one who first got her husband involved in the arts, according to their daughter Angela.
Michelle Miller Burns, the DSO’s president and CEO, said the Stones had a profound impact on the DSO.
“It is with such a heavy heart that I received news of Don Stone’s passing earlier this week. Don was a devoted patron, a donor and a board member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his leadership and generosity really have helped shape the Dallas symphony across five decades,” she said.
Advertisement
In 1980, Stone served as DSO’s chairman of the Board of Governors and helped launch efforts to raise $80 million for Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and secure architect I.M. Pei.
In 1997, the Stones launched the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund and committed $1 million to continuously support new works. Some of the works supported through the fund include this year’s world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s requiem For Everything You Keep Losing. The fund also supported a Grammy award-winning violin concerto by Aaron Jay Kernis co-commissioned with the Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Melbourne Symphony.
“I think it is rare for a couple who so firmly believes in the future of classical music and creating opportunities for new musical voices to be heard to really put support behind that in a meaningful way to fuel that process, to ensure that it can come to fruition,” Burns said.
She said the DSO will continue the Stones’ legacy by commissioning new works through the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund.
Stone is survived by his children Michael, Lisa and Angela, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The family will have a private funeral.
Advertisement
Irving-raised David Garza to perform at Kessler Theater in homecoming show
Singer Sarah Brightman talks her Christmas tour, shares advice for aspiring artists
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
Following the Pistons’ big win over the Boston Celtics, Omari and Bryce break down the improvements they’ve seen from the franchise star player.
DALLAS — A late comeback attempt fell short for the Detroit Pistons.
They fell to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime, 116-114, after recovering from a third-period 18-point deficit. A dunk by Anthony Davis gave the Mavericks the lead for good with 1:32 to play in overtime.
Advertisement
Cade Cunningham (29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) missed a short jumper with 7 seconds left that would’ve tied the game at 116, and Jalen Duren (17 points, 13 rebounds) couldn’t convert two offensive rebounds into a tip-in basket. Davis corralled the rebound with 0.9 seconds left, and the Mavericks called timeout.
INJURY UPDATE: Duncan Robinson exits vs Dallas Mavericks
The Pistons fouled Davis after the inbounds pass with a foul to give. Daniss Jenkins, who scored 11 points after halftime, stole the second inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds left but didn’t have enough time to get a shot off.
The Pistons trailed by 18 points with five minutes to play in the third quarter. Their bench unit was instrumental during a 31-11 run that gave the Pistons the lead again, 99-97, midway through the fourth quarter. They held Dallas to 38.5% shooting and forced nine turnovers in the second half.
Advertisement
No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg gave his Mavericks the lead, 110-109, with under 20 seconds to play with a midrange jumper. Isaiah Stewart was fouled by Davis on the other end with 3.4 seconds left, and he split the trip to the line to tie the game at 110. Klay Thompson missed a floater at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
LET’S MAKE A DEAL: 3 needs − and 5 targets − Pistons can explore at NBA trade deadline
‘Dallas’ unit leads Detroit back from big deficit
Down 86-68 with 4:57 to play in the third quarter, coach J.B. Bickerstaff looked to the end of his bench for a spark. Jenkins, Marcus Sasser and Paul Reed checked into the game for the first time in consecutive order, joining Ron Holland and Javonte Green. The Pistons have a Dallas-centric roster — Holland, Sasser and Jenkins are all from the city, and Cunningham is from nearby Arlington.
Advertisement
They led an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to 10, tallying four steals during the stretch — two for Green and one each for Jenkins and Reed. Cunningham checked in for Green to open the fourth quarter, and the run continued. A 3-pointer from Jenkins, coast-to-coast layup by Holland and midrange jumper from Jenkins extended the run to 21-7, cutting the deficit to 93-89 with under 10 minutes to play.
As he has done several times this season, Jenkins rose to the moment in the final period. An entry pass from Jenkins to Holland created an open layup to slash Dallas’ lead to two, and Jenkins made a layup over three Mavericks defenders to tie the game at 95 with 7:46 remaining and push the Pistons’ run to 27-9.
With 59 seconds left in the fourth, a pair of free throws from Jenkins extended the Pistons’ lead to 3, 109-106. He played 11 minutes and 32 seconds in the final period, second only to Cunningham, and overtime.
Ausar Thompson ejected in second quarter
The Pistons lost Thompson — their primary defender on Flagg — midway through the second period after an exchange with an official.
Advertisement
With 5:09 remaining before halftime, Thompson tied up Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard under the rim and was whistled for a foul. Thompson didn’t like the call and got in the ref’s face, and was instantly ejected. NBA rules make it an auto-ejection when a player makes physical contact with an official.
It was a strong start for Thompson prior to the ejection, as he had eight points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in nine minutes of play. Stewart entered for him in the second quarter.
In all, it was a rough night for the Pistons regarding the officials. Cunningham was whistled for a tech late in the second quarter after disagreeing with a call, and Bickerstaff was whistled for a tech during halftime after arguing with an official.
Duncan Robinson exits with left knee injury
With 11:08 to play in the third quarter, Robinson suffered a knee-to-knee collision with Mavericks wing Naji Marshall. Robinson limped off of the floor and was initially ruled “questionable” to return until he was downgraded to “out” in the final period.
Advertisement
Robinson finished with two points and two rebounds, shooting 1-for-7 overall and 0-for-5 from 3. He missed two games in early December with a right ankle sprain.
[ MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
Follow the Pistons all year long with the best reporting at freep.com/sports/pistons.
Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook. (@detroitfreepress).
