Luka Doncic amassed 27 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists as the host Dallas Mavericks earned a 93-83 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night.
Doncic finally got the best of Heat guard Goran Dragic, a fellow Slovenia native, beating him for the first time in three NBA meetings. Dragic logged 10 points and seven assists.
In addition, Dallas snapped its six-game losing streak to Miami in a rivalry that has seen the teams split matchups in a pair of NBA Finals.
Miami’s biggest issue on Friday was its shooting. The Heat missed their first 14 3-point attempts, finally sinking a long-range shot when Duncan Robinson converted with 9:07 left in the third quarter.
In the end, Miami shot 7-for-33 (21.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Dallas was 12 of 37 (32.4 percent) on 3-point attempts.
Heat star Jimmy Butler returned after missing two games due to a sprained right ankle, but he was held to two points, three rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo produced his second straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He also had a game-high four steals.
Three Mavericks players with Miami ties had satisfying efforts. Tim Hardaway Jr., who played high school ball in Miami and is the son of a former Heat star, scored 18 points. Former Heat players Josh Richardson (11 points) and James Johnson (eight points, all in an impactful second quarter) also contributed.
Dallas led 20-16 after a poor-shooting first period for both teams, and the Mavericks led 46-31 at halftime, thanks to 42.1 percent shooting, including 6 of 18 from 3-point range.
Those numbers, while pedestrian, glowed when compared to Miami’s 25 percent first-half shooting overall and 0-for-14 success on 3-point tries. The Heat had no double-figure scorers in the first half.
Miami, though, scored a point after the first-half buzzer. Doncic, frustrated with a no-call on his drive to the hoop, was whistled for a technical foul, and Butler made the free throw.
Dallas extended its lead to 73-53 after three quarters. Doncic already had a double-double through three with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
The Heat went on a 17-4 run in the fourth quarter but still couldn’t get any closer than nine points. The Mavericks shot 41 percent from the floor for the game while Miami hit 37.2 percent.
–Field Level Media