Luka Doncic’s historic streak ended as the Orlando Magic held him under 30 points for the first time this season in a 94-87 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. The loss also ended Dallas’ four-game winning streak.
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, finished with 24 points after scoring 30 or more in each of the Mavericks’ first nine games. He endured his least efficient outing of the season yet, shooting 9-of-29 from the floor, including 2-of-11 from three.
Other than Doncic, the only player in NBA history to start a season with nine games of 30 points or more was Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 30 or more points in the first 23 games of the 1962-63 season.
Dallas went stagnant in the second half and down the stretch in a game that tipped 90 minutes early because of Tropical Storm Nicole.
After halftime, Dallas made just 30.8% of their shot attempts and 15.8% from three, for a total of 33 points, a total which they have matched or exceeded five times in a single quarter this season.
The Mavericks made just one field goal in the last six minutes.
“Every NBA team can beat you and I played terribly today,” Doncic said, “but I think as a group we didn’t play good, so we’ve got to approach the game differently.”
Dallas was without sixth-man center Christian Wood (left knee sprain), and his absence may have been a big reason for the Mavericks’ offensive struggles.
Another reason for the cold offensive performance in the second half was that Doncic’s typical effectiveness in clutch time did not materialize against the rebuilding Magic coached by former Mavericks assistant Jahmal Mosley.
Mosley was Doncic’s go-to assistant for three seasons after the 2018 draft. The two would often hold solo workouts during the summers and had built a rapport off the court before Mosley left for the Orlando job in 2021.
Mosley’s familiarity with Doncic helped shape his defensive game plan to ensure his former star pupil did not gash his team as he did while scoring a season-high 44 points in a win against the Magic 10 days earlier.
The game plan was effective, as Orlando provided the most resistance Doncic has faced this year. The Magic, playing without No.1 overall pick and early Rookie of the Year favorite Paolo Banchero (left ankle sprain), became just the second team to hold Doncic under 50% shooting this season.
The other time Doncic shot below 50% through ten games this season was in an October 29 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were also shorthanded, playing without leading guard Josh Giddey and the No.2 overall pick, rookie Chet Holmgren.
Dallas’ previous loss before then was an October 24 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans, who were without three starters, All-Stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, and defensive stopper Herb Jones.
The trend of losing to shorthanded teams was not lost on Doncic after the game.
“We got to play better as a team, especially against those kind of teams,” Doncic said. “We always say it before a game, but then we don’t do it. It’s a game that later we’re going to regret. They were good defensively today, but we’ve got to be way better.”
Doncic’s final made shot, a layup with under a minute remaining, ensured he did not tie a season-low in field-goal makes (8-of-23 vs. the Thunder on October 29). But Doncic air-balled a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, allowing the Magic to drain the clock and finish their third victory in 12 games to a standing ovation from the hometown Orlando fans.
The Magic held the Mavericks to 37.6% shooting from the floor, 26.2% from three, and 87 points over the entire game after giving up 126 and 134 points in consecutive losses to Sacramento and Houston.
Orlando also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Dallas 49-29. Franz Wagner led the Magic on the offensive end with 22 points.
Spencer Dinwiddle led the Mavericks in scoring with 29 points and tallied nine of Dallas’ 13 fourth-quarter points.
Dallas led 83-82 when Dinwiddie scored with 6:02 remaining, but the Magic answered with eight straight points in a three-and-a-half-minute stretch in which Doncic missed two free throws.
A jump shot and two free throws by Wagner put Orlando up 94-85 with 56.7 seconds left.
“We just missed open shots. In this league you can’t miss open shots,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “We got a lot of good looks. We’ve just got to make them.”
Dallas planned to bus to Tampa, away from the worst of the approaching storm, to fly to Washington for their game Thursday night against the Wizards.
