Marvin Bagley III scored 22 points, including a clutch basket down the stretch as the Dallas Mavericks went ahead for good in the first quarter and earned a 123-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.
The blizzard in the New York area caused the Mavericks to arrive from Indianapolis earlier Tuesday and the Nets to fly in from Atlanta Tuesday afternoon.
Bagley made 10-of-13 shots and finished one shy of his season high as the Mavericks won their second straight following a 10-game skid. Bagley’s big night was part of a 61-point showing from Dallas reserves.
Naji Marshall added six of his 21 in the fourth quarter and reserve Brandon Williams contributed 11 of his 19 after halftime as the Mavericks shot 58.5%, scored 66 points in the paint and gave coach Jason Kidd his 200th win with the team.
Klay Thompson added 17 and hit five of the Mavericks’ eight 3s. Max Christie and P.J. Washington each chipped in 13, though Washington appeared to tweak his ankle in the final minutes.
Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 26 points but missed two shots on consecutive possessions to stunt Brooklyn’s comeback try. Noah Clowney added 22 as Brooklyn dropped its fifth straight.
Terance Mann contributed 17 and Nic Claxton finished with 16 and nine assists as Brooklyn shot 51.2%.
The Mavericks never led by more than 15 and let the lead slip to 104-102 when Mann hit 3s on consecutive possessions with 7:42 left. Dallas saw the lead cut to 115-111 when Clowney hit two free throws with 2:43 left but Marshall hit a difficult layup 20 seconds later, Bagley slipped by rookie Egor Demin for a layup to make it 119-111 with 1:43 left to finish it off.
After taking a 36-29 lead through the opening quarter, the Mavericks took a pair of 15-point leads in the second and led 76-64 by halftime.
The Nets hung around in the third, cut the lead to 89-83 on Porter’s 18-footer with 3:44 left and Dallas held a 99-91 lead into the fourth.
