 has won three of four to become the sixth team in the league to reach 30 wins.Harrison Barnes scored 20 points for Dallas (20-25), and DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 16 rebounds. But the Mavericks were unable to overcome a lackluster performance by rookie star Luka Doncic.The 6-foot-7 forward scored eight points - his fewest in more than a month - and was ejected for the first time after drawing a second technical with 3 minutes left in the third quarter.Without Doncic, the Mavs never seriously challenged again in their third consecutive loss.Indiana seized control midway through the second quarter, and then reasserted itself after Doncic's ejection by closing out the third quarter on an 8-3 run to make it 84-69.Dallas closed to 92-83 on Devin Harris' layup with 8:28 to play, but Indiana answered with a 13-5 spurt to seal the victory.Doncic was 3 of 14 from the field. He also had six assists and five rebounds.Darren Collison had 16 points for Indiana, and Victor Oladipo finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists.TIP-INSMavericks: Wesley Matthews had 17 points. ... Doncic had his worst shooting performance and scoring total since Dec. 10. He was trying to become the first rookie to score 25 points in six straight games since Tim Duncan in February 1998 and the first rookie to record 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in five consecutive games since Michael Jordan did it twice in 1984-85. ... Jordan has 27 double-doubles this season. ... Pacers fans gave Dirk Nowitzki a standing ovation when he re-entered the game with 2:59 to go - after chanting ''We Want Dirk.'' Pacers: Coach Nate McMillan moved within one victory of tying Jim O'Brien (121) for No. 9 on the Pacers' NBA victory list. McMillan needs two wins to become the 26th coach in league history with 600 wins. ... Indiana hasn't lost back-to-back games since Dec. 18-19. ... Sabonis had 12 points and nine rebounds in 14 minutes in the first half. ... Indiana is 20-1 when scoring 110 or more points.BASKETBALL DAY IN INDIANASaturday's game capped a daylong celebration of basketball around the state of Indiana.The 14-hour marathon featured two high school games played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, three additional high school games that were televised, the Indiana-Purdue game in West Lafayette and the St. John's-Butler game a few miles away from the Pacers-Mavs game. It was the Pacers' latest installment of the Hickory night promotion that celebrates the movie ''Hoosiers.'' In addition, Indiana State held a reunion honoring the 40th anniversary of its national runner-up team, which featured Hall of Famer Larry Bird.It's the third consecutive year the event has been held.UP NEXTMavericks: Head to Milwaukee for an afternoon game Monday.Pacers: Complete this back-to-back by hosting Charlotte on Sunday.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Jan 18, 2019Luka Doncic takes his All-Star campaign to the Midwest on Saturday night when the Dallas Mavericks open a two-game trip against the Indiana Pacers.The rookie sensation ranked second to LeBron James among Western Conference frontcourt players when the most recent fan-voting tabulations were announced this week.Balloting ends Monday night, giving Doncic two more games -- both on the road -- to get enough votes to remain ahead of the likes of Paul George, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis in a loaded Western race.The Mavericks (20-24) will wrap up their trip Monday at Milwaukee.They won't have second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr. on the trip, coach Rick Carlisle said Friday. Smith has missed the past four games while reportedly being frustrated with his role and having heavy friction with Carlisle.Multiple reports claim Smith is upset that his role is different this season with Doncic evolving as the leader of the offense. Smith is averaging 12.6 points, 3.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds this season. As a rookie, he averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds.Doncic has saved some of his best performances for the road this season, with his three highest-scoring games -- 34 at New Orleans, 32 at Los Angeles (Clippers) and 31 at San Antonio -- all coming away from home.Two of his three points/assists double-doubles have come at Minnesota and Denver, while three of his four points/rebounds double-doubles have come at Portland, Memphis and Charlotte.The 19-year-old has done just fine at home as well, even if his teammates haven't of late. The Mavericks are coming off back-to-back home losses to Golden State and San Antonio despite 26- and 25-point efforts by the rookie.Doncic got an endorsement earlier this week from Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who should know a little something about All-Stars. After all, he vowed to start five of last year's All-Stars against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, making the Warriors the first team to accomplish that feat since the 1967 Boston Celtics."He's a brilliant player. I think he's already an All-Star," Kerr said of Doncic. "I don't know how the vote's gonna shake out, but he looks like an All-Star player to me." Mavericks owner Mark Cuban remains hopeful."It would mean a lot to our fans and obviously to Luka," he noted recently. "He has worked hard and is creating a lot of excitement for Mavs fans. An All-Star berth would only make it more exciting." Selecting 20 picks later, the Pacers (29-15) predictably haven't gotten the same type of production out of their top rookie, guard Aaron Holiday, who has seen his playing time whittle down to next-to-nothing in recent games.After scoring in double figures six times, including five games in a row, earlier this season, Holiday has played six or fewer minutes in the Pacers' past 10 games, never leaving the bench on four of those occasions.Holiday's playing time would figure to increase should the Pacers decide to give struggling Victor Oladipo more time off to deal with a right knee that some observers believe is still bothering him despite sitting 11 games bridging November and December.He found himself playing doctor after a second consecutive subpar effort in Thursday's blowout home loss to Philadelphia."I'm not injured," he said to reporters after scoring 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting. "If I'm injured I wouldn't be playing. I'm perfectly fine. I have no worries." --Field Level Media
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