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On Monday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Orlando Magic on the road in the first game of March. The Mavericks look to finish the first half strong before the All-Star break begins. The Mavericks hope the month of March brings a whole lot of “luck” and some pot of gold at the end that could make or break their season.

On Saturday, the Mavericks played the Brooklyn Nets in their final game in the month of February. The Mavericks got their costar, Kristaps Porzingis back on the court after he missed the previous three games with “back tightness” and made his presence felt as he contributed for 18 points in his return. The Nets, on the other hand, were without another star, Kyrie Irving, as he sat out with a shoulder injury. Already without Kevin Durant, the Nets were put in a difficult situation to come out with a win being shorthanded. The Mavericks led 68-64 at halftime and never looked back as they picked up the pace in the second half to seal the deal for a 115-98 victory. In the victory, Luka Doncic scored 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field in his final game as a 21-year-old. The Mavericks snapped the Nets’ 8-game winning streak while seeing their record improve to 16-16 on the season as they are once again at the .500 mark. The Mavericks have now won seven of their last ten games to close out the month of February 8-4.

The Orlando Magic are coming into this game by going 4-6 in their last 10 games. They are recently coming off a 124-109 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday to see their record drop to 13-21 on the season. The Magic are in the process of trying to find their identity as they are in the “rebuilding process” which has led to their record being the fifth-worst record in the NBA this season. The Magic, led by Nikola Vucevic, are trying to do everything they can to hopefully “luck” their way into a playoff spot as they are still within range of doing so, by being three games behind the eighth seed in the eastern conference. With a strong run in the second-half of the season, the Magic could certainly surprise teams in the eastern conference.

Coming into this game, the Mavericks already defeated the Orlando Magic 112-98 on January 9th, 2021 at the American Airlines Center and are looking for the season sweep this season. The Mavericks were able to do it last season as they swept the season series last season by going 2-0 against the Orlando Magic. The Mavericks have taken 26 of the last 35 matchups against the Magic as the home team has taken 11 straight meetings. Overall, the Mavericks lead the all-time series with a record of 37-27.

The Mavericks started this game as healthiest as they been with no injuries to report. As a result, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Richardson, Finney-Smith, Kleber and Porzingis as their starting five in this game. The first points in the game would belong to Kristaps Porzingis as he nailed a two pointer for the Mavericks to get this game underway. The Magic wouldn’t get their first points until the 11:04 mark as Nikola Vucevic nailed a two pointer to tie the game at 2-2 in the quarter. The Mavericks would go on a 6-2 run that featured Josh Richardson making a layup with 10:00 minutes left to make it 6-2. The Magic would come within one point on a couple of occasions, the most recent, 2-of-3 free-throws from Evan Fournier with 7:22 left in the quarter to come within 12-11 of the Mavericks. The Magic would call a timeout with 6:49 left in the quarter as they had a chance to tie the game on a free-throw by Michael Carter-Williams. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were shooting the ball well but the Magic were a little bit better as they made five of their first eight attempts taken thus far. Coming out of the timeout, Michael Carter-Williams couldn’t tie the game as he missed the tying free-throw to keep the score at 14-13 with 6:49 left in the quarter. The Magic would take their first lead in the game with Michael Carter-Williams drilling a three pointer with 5:07 left in the quarter to take a 18-16 lead. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 3:50 left in the quarter as the Magic bounced back in front by having Evan Fournier make a layup to take a 20-19 lead. Prior to this timeout, the Magic were on a 7-2 run as they were gathering some momentum by getting on a roll. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Tim Hardaway Jr but couldn’t convert as he missed a two pointer to keep the Magic’s lead at 20-19. The Magic would increase their lead to seven points that featured Evan Fournier drilling a three pointer with 2:15 left in the quarter to extend their lead to 28-21. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Magic were able to maintain onto their lead as they took a 33-29 lead into the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Evan Fournier as he scored 12 points for the Magic. The Mavericks were led by Luka Doncic as he scored 10 points. The Mavericks started this quarter on a rhythm but went quiet in the final minutes of the quarter as they ended the quarter shooting 46.2% on 12-of-26 shooting from the field.

The second quarter would begin by having Terrence Ross nail a two pointer for the Magic to get this quarter underway. The Mavericks wouldn’t get their first points until the 11:21 mark as Jalen Brunson nailed a jump shot to come within 35-31 of the Magic. The Mavericks would restore their lead with 10:01 left in the quarter as Josh Richardson nailed a three pointer to take a 37-35 lead. The Magic would tie the game on the following possession as Michael Carter-Williams nailed a two pointer to tie the game at 37-37 with 9:42 left in the quarter. Both teams would go on a scoring drought for just over 1:00 minute until Dwayne Bacon drilled two free-throws to give the Magic the lead again at 39-37 with 8:34 left in the quarter. Luka Doncic would take the lead right back for the Mavericks as he drilled a three pointer on the following possession to take a 40-39 lead with 8:25 left in the quarter. The Mavericks would extend their lead to four points that featured Dwight Powell cutting to basket to nail a layup with 6:53 left in the quarter to take a 45-41 lead. The Magic would call a timeout with 6:27 left in the quarter as they saw their lead “disappear”. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were on a 8-2 run as they were able to generate some momentum by getting good looks on offense. Coming out of the timeout, the Magic turned to Gary Clark but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer to keep the score at 47-41 with 6:15 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to hit the 50-point mark first as Trey Burke nailed a three pointer to give the Mavericks an even 50 points in the game with 5:31 left in the quarter. The Magic would call a timeout with 4:28 left in the quarter as they saw their deficit “magically” larger as their offense would go quiet. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks got a 7-0 personal run from Trey Burke as he gave the Mavericks points in their last three possessions, most recently nailing a jump shot with 4:32 left in the quarter. Coming out of the timeout, the Magic turned to Nikola Vucevic but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer to keep the score at 54-46 with 3:51 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain onto their lead as they took a 61-58 lead into halftime. The game leading scorer after two quarters of play would belong to Luka Doncic and Evan Fournier as they both scored 15 points for their respective teams. The Mavericks were able to fix their sluggish offense as the ended the first half, shooting the ball 47.1% on 24-of-51 shooting from the field. The Mavericks were able to pull all the “bags of tricks” against the Magic in the first half.

Coming out of the half, the Magic were able to get on the board first in the third quarter by having Evan Fournier nailed a three pointer to tie the game at 61-61. Kristaps Porzingis was able to score the first points for the Mavericks as he nailed a three pointer to answer the Magic with 11:30 left in the quarter to reclaim the lead at 64-61 in the quarter. The Magic would come within two points as Nikola Vucevic nailed a hook shot with 9:11 left in the quarter to come within 69-67 of the Mavericks. The Mavericks would soon extend their lead to five points as part of Luka Doncic completing the “three point play” as he nailed the basket while being fouled and able to hit the free-throw with 8:53 left in the quarter to take a 72-67 lead. Evan Fournier would head into the locker room as he appeared to have suffered a groin injury. The Magic would call a timeout with 7:00 minutes left in the quarter as their offense appeared to be running out of “magic” as the Mavericks took a 75-69 lead. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks nailed six of their first ten attempts taken in the quarter thus far as they were able to maintain control of this game. Coming out of the timeout, the Magic turned to Michael Carter-Williams as he was able to convert on a contesting layup with 6:42 left in the quarter to come within 78-71 of the Mavericks. Both teams would go on a scoring drought until Kristaps Porzingis had thunderous put-back slam dunk with 5:11 left in the quarter to extend their lead to 80-71. The Mavericks would have the largest lead of the game at 12 points as a result of Luka Doncic completing the “three point play”, nailing the shot while being fouled and hitting the free-throw with 4:39 left in the quarter to extend their lead to 83-71. Evan Fournier would return back to the Magic’s bench as he appeared to be ready to come back into the game. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 3:24 left in the quarter as the Magic quickly cut the Mavericks lead to five points. Prior to this timeout, the Magic were able to go on a roll as they gathered a 9-2 run to come within 85-80 of the Mavericks. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Dwight Powell as he was able to convert on a slam dunk to extend their lead to 87-80 with 3:09 left in the quarter. A technical foul would be called on Nikola Vucevic with 2:39 left in the quarter and Jalen Brunson nailed the technical free-throw to extend their lead to 88-80. The Mavericks were able to hit the 90-point mark as Dwight Powell made a driving slam dunk to give the Mavericks an even 90 points in the game with 2:17 left in the quarter, to take a 90-80 lead. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to take a 95-86 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Luka Doncic as he scored 26 points for the Mavericks. The Magic were led by Evan Fournier as he scored 21 points. The Mavericks were dominating the Magic in points in the pain as they were out scoring them 38-26.

The fourth quarter would begin by having Jalen Brunson nail a jump shot for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Magic would call a timeout with 11:18 left in the game as they saw the Mavericks go on a 4-0 run to increase their lead to 99-86. Coming out of the timeout, the Magic turned to Al-Farouq Aminu as he was able to convert by nailing a three pointer to give the Magic their first points in the quarter with 10:56 left in game to come within 99-89 of the Mavericks. The Mavericks were able to hit the 100-point mark as Jalen Brunson drilled a three pointer with 10:26 left in the game to give the Mavericks 102 points and a 102-89 lead. The Magic would cut their deficit to 10 points as Al-Farouq Aminu nailed a two pointer with 9:10 left in the game to come within 106-96 of the Mavericks. The Mavericks would have the largest lead in the game at 16 points Kristaps Porzingis nailing the three pointer with 6:52 left in the game to extend their lead to 116-100. The Mavericks appeared to be well in control of this game in order to come out of this with a victory. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 6:07 left in the game to give the Mavericks a breather in hopes of finishing the rest of the game strong. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks were able to generate some points on offense as Porzingis would heat up in the fourth quarter. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Tim Hardaway Jr but couldn’t convert as he missed a three pointer to keep the score at 116-102 with 5:49 left in the game. The Magic appeared to have no answer for the Mavericks as Luka Doncic did a fancy under-the-legs pass to Dorian Finney-Smith to nail the layup with 4:56 left in the game to extend their lead to 120-102. The Mavericks were simply having fun while the Magic were hoping for some “magic” to make this deficit go away somehow but that’s not how the game of basketball is played.

This team looked like they were sluggish at first but the Mavericks fixed their offense to get some type of momentum on their side as they were able to get their offense going. The Mavericks were able to take a 61-58 lead in the first half as they used a late run to create a lead in the second quarter. The Magic would need more production other than Nikola Vucevic in order to escape with a victory. This was shaping up for the Mavericks game to lose as they were the ones with the keys.

In the end, it was the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Orlando Magic 130-124. The Mavericks record would improve to 17-16 on the season as they are once again above .500 for the first time since January 22nd, 2021. Luka Doncic finished the game with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in the win. The Magic were led by Nikola Vucevic as he finished with 29 points. It was a career game for Jalen Brunson as he scored a career-high 24 points off the bench on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. The Mavericks were able to complete the season series sweep for the second consecutive season. The Mavericks start the month of March 1-0 for the time being. With the win, the Mavericks are one game back from 7th seed in the western conference

The Mavericks will look to stay above .500 as they conclude their first half of the season by coming back home to play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at the American Airlines Center.