Dallas

Pacers Defense Shuts Down Doncic, Mavs

Tyreke Evans scored 19 points, Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Dallas Mavericks 111-99 on Saturday night.

Indiana (30-15) has won three of four to become the sixth team in the league to reach 30 wins.

Harrison Barnes scored 20 points for Dallas (20-25), and DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 16 rebounds. But the Mavericks were unable to overcome a lackluster performance by rookie star Luke Doncic.

The 6-foot-7 forward scored eight points -- his fewest in more than a month -- and was ejected for the first time after drawing a second technical with 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

Without Doncic, the Mavs never seriously challenged again in their third consecutive loss.

Indiana seized control midway through the second quarter, and then reasserted itself after Doncic's ejection by closing out the third quarter on an 8-3 run to make it 84-69.

Dallas closed to 92-83 on Devin Harris' layup with 8:28 to play, but Indiana answered with a 13-5 spurt to seal the victory.

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Doncic was 3 of 14 from the field. He also had six assists and five rebounds.

Darren Collison had 16 points for Indiana, and Victor Oladipo finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

TIP-INS

Mavericks: Wesley Matthews had 17 points. ... Doncic had his worst shooting performance and scoring total since Dec. 10. He was trying to become the first rookie to score 25 points in six straight games since Tim Duncan in February 1998 and the first rookie to record 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in five consecutive games since Michael Jordan did it twice in 1984-85. ... Jordan has 27 double-doubles this season. ... Pacers fans gave Dirk Nowitzki a standing ovation when he re-entered the game with 2:59 to go -- after chanting "We Want Dirk."

Pacers: Coach Nate McMillan moved within one victory of tying Jim O'Brien (121) for No. 9 on the Pacers' NBA victory list. McMillan needs two wins to become the 26th coach in league history with 600 wins. ... Indiana hasn't lost back-to-back games since Dec. 18-19. ... Sabonis had 12 points and nine rebounds in 14 minutes in the first half. ... Indiana is 20-1 when scoring 110 or more points.

BASKETBALL DAY IN INDIANA

Saturday's game capped a daylong celebration of basketball around the state of Indiana.

The 14-hour marathon featured two high school games played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, three additional high school games that were televised, the Indiana-Purdue game in West Lafayette and the St. John's-Butler game a few miles away from the Pacers-Mavs game. It was the Pacers' latest installment of the Hickory night promotion that celebrates the movie "Hoosiers."

In addition, Indiana State held a reunion honoring the 40th anniversary of its national runner-up team, which featured Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

It's the third consecutive year the event has been held.

UP NEXT

Mavericks: Head to Milwaukee for an afternoon game Monday.

Pacers: Complete this back-to-back by hosting Charlotte on Sunday.

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