Doncic helps Mavs beat Pacers 110-101 in final game as teen

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his final game as a teenager, fellow rookie Jalen Brunson scored a season-high 24 points and the Dallas Mavericks ended a five-game losing streak with a 110-101 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

Doncic, the only teenager in NBA history with multiple triple-doubles, didn’t have a shot at his fifth late. But the first-year sensation who turns 20 Thursday had two of his seven assists on a pair of key 3-pointers while getting one from Brunson on a deep 3 to help Dallas hang on.

Wesley Matthews scored 20 points in his first game against his former team after going to New York in Dallas’ blockbuster deal with the Knicks. Matthews signed with the Pacers as a free agent.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 22 points as Indiana lost consecutive games for the first time since the last of a season-high four straight losses on Jan. 31. Indiana had won eight of 10 coming into the game.

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The Mavericks held on by making their last six 3-pointers in the final six minutes, capped by another shot from well behind the arc by Doncic for a 110-101 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had one of those late 3s and finished with 20 points, while Dirk Nowitzki hit one early in the fourth for a five-point lead and finished with 11 points in the 40-year-old’s first home start in his 21st season.

Indiana’s Myles Turner, a former high school standout in the Dallas area, scored 13 points. Thaddeus Young had 11.

TIP-INS

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Pacers: C Kyle O’Quinn was given a flagrant 1 for a hard foul that sent Doncic to the floor in the first quarter. Doncic, who was going for a dunk when O’Quinn met him in midair, also lost a shoe on the play. … G Tyreke Evans was out with food poisoning, and F Domantas Sabonis was out with a sprained left ankle.

Mavericks: Doncic has 16 turnovers in two games. He had seven two nights after a season-high nine. … Dwight Powell scored 12 points.

UP NEXT

Pacers: Minnesota at home Thursday, with Timberwolves going for first two-game season sweep since 2006-07.

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Mavericks: Memphis at home Saturday.

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