MEMPHIS — After getting fouled less than 10 minutes into the game, Luka Doncic gathered the other four Mavericks sharing the court with him for a quick huddle.
That those players were Dante Exum, Jaden Hardy, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Dwight Powell spoke volumes about the undermanned state of the Mavericks — and Doncic’s determination to galvanize them on this Monday night in FedEx Forum against also-shorthanded Memphis.
In this battle of attrition, Dallas roared to the lead for good eight minutes into the game and answered repeated Grizzlies runs, earning a 120-113 victory behind Doncic’s 35 points; rookie Dereck Lively II’s 16 points and 16 rebounds; and 19 points off the bench from Hardy.
Ten players scored for the Mavericks (14-8), five of them reaching double figures, but make no mistake, Doncic led the way with his 44-minute performance.
“I think you’ve seen enough of him that he believes anytime he takes the floor he has a chance to win,” coach Jason Kidd said. “His leadership of always getting that group together, to make sure everybody was on the same page, he’s done that all year for us.
“That just shows his leadership, his maturity. He’s growing. On the road, against a talented team, we found a way to win, but it starts with Luka and he set the tone.”
Kidd called it an MVP-type performance in an MVP-level Doncic run of seven straight games of scoring 30 or more points. In those games, he’s averaged 34.9 points, 9.4 assists and 9 rebounds.
“I think leadership is important,” Doncic said. “I think this year has been way better for me. Obviously we had like five guys out, so it’s a pretty amazing win.”
The Mavericks played without half of the players who made up their top-eight rotation to start the season: Kyrie Irving, Grant Williams, Josh Green and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Hardaway became a late scratch after feeling lower back tightness about 90 minutes before the game. And just 6:26 into the game Dallas lost starter Derrick Jones Jr. to quadriceps contusion.
Of course Dallas got no sympathy from Memphis, which in addition to suspended star Ja Morant is without Marcus Smart, Steven Adams, Luke Kenard and Brandon Clarkson.
Doncic limped into the interview room, thanks to a stiffened back after suffering a first-quarter fall.
“It’s hurting a lot,” he said. “And my knees are swollen, so I’ve gotta get ready for tomorrow. . . Now that it’s cold, it’s not fun.”
For this 2-0 road trip to Portland and Memphis, the Mavericks can in large part thank, along with Doncic, general manager Nico Harrison and the rest of the front office for adding depth to the roster this past summer.
Playing pivotal roles Monday were rookies Lively and Prosper (11 points, 4 rebounds). And players who were brought in on veteran-minimum or relatively low salaries: Seth Curry ($4 million), Dante Exum ($3 million) and second-year, second-round draft acquisition Hardy ($1.7 million).
“There’s a lot of talent around the league and he’s done a good job of bringing in guys that complement the stars,” Curry said of Harrison. “We can play a lot of different ways. We can play big. We can play smaller at times.
“We have a lot of guys who have accomplished some good things in the league and shown flashes throughout the year and throughout the careers what they can do. . . . Hopefully everybody’s ready for that moment.”
The task is about to get harder. A lot harder, starting with a quick-turn Tuesday night home game against the Lakers, followed two nights later by a home matchup against surprising Western Conference leader Minnesota.
Prosper played a key 18 minutes, making 3-of-6 3-point attempts — with two of those makes thwarting Grizzlies rallies, the biggest coming with 6:16 left after Memphis closed to within 104-94.
“It’s not somewhere I haven’t been before,” Prosper said. “Yes in the NBA it’s new to me, but my teammates have been great, telling me to fly every time. I stepped into it with confidence and knocked it down.”
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