Red-hot Luka Doncic, Mavericks set sights on 0-3 Grizzlies

Luka Doncic will aim to continue his strong start to the 2023-24 season when he leads the Dallas Mavericks on the road on Monday for a matchup with a Memphis Grizzlies team seeking its first win.

Doncic followed up his season-opening triple-double of 33 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over San Antonio with 49 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists Friday in a 125-120 defeat of the Brooklyn Nets.

Fourteen of Doncic's points vs. the Nets came in the final 3:22, including four 3-pointers.

"That's a Luka special right there," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said in his postgame press conference. "He likes the ball in late situations and he finds a way.

"The thing about Luka," Kidd added, "(is) he practices these crazy shots. Sometimes, they're caught on camera. Sometimes, it's just the human eye that catches them. Tonight (Doncic made) one of those shots."

Doncic averages 24.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game in 11 career matchups with Memphis, but Monday marks his first time facing the Grizzlies in more than a calendar year.

He recorded 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in a 137-96 Mavericks' win over Memphis on Oct. 22, 2022, but missed each of the other three meetings between the teams last season.

Those three matchups -- all Memphis wins -- were played over a 10-day stretch from March 11-20 during which Doncic recovered from a left thigh strain.

The Grizzlies were also without their two-time All-Star Ja Morant for the three-game stretch vs. Dallas last season, and they will be again on Monday.

Memphis is seeking its footing while Morant serves a 25-game suspension for detrimental conduct. The Grizzlies are winless through three games to open the season after dropping a 113-106 decision on Saturday at Washington.

Each of Memphis' three losses to open the campaign have been by seven points or fewer -- 111-104 last Wednesday vs. New Orleans and 108-104 on Friday vs. reigning champion Denver -- but the Grizzlies dug a 25-point hole in Saturday's contest before their attempted rally fell short.

Memphis also tipped off its season last week with the news it would be without veteran center Steven Adams for the duration of 2023-24 due to knee surgery. The Athletic reported on Saturday the Grizzlies will sign Bismack Biyombo to address the defensive and rebounding voids left with Adams out of the lineup.

Filling in for Morant, offseason additions Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose have manned point-guard responsibilities through Memphis' first three games. Smart finished with 20 points, five assists and five steals in Friday's loss to Denver, and went for nine points and six assists Saturday in Washington.

Rose scored 16 points off the bench on Friday and recorded seven points with five assists on Saturday.

"Extremely important, especially him being the (veteran) that he is," Grizzlies big Xavier Tillman Sr. said of having Rose in the rotation. "Not only him coming in to help us with the scoring aspect, but his voice. If you hear him in these timeouts, he's the energy for our team."

--Field Level Media