The Mavericks They put aside the quality of untouchables that they had acquired playing at their home, the American Airlines Center in Dallas, by falling there for the first time this season against the Raptors. The Canadian team takes this trip to Texas, because the weekend they had already beaten the Wembanyama Spurs in a tough overtime, two valuable victories.

For Kidd’s this result (116-127) means staying with a qualifying balance of 6-2. They had only previously lost to the Nuggets, current champions. Toronto is now tied: four wins, four losses.

The Raptors They knew how to take advantage of the poor percentages on both sides at the free throw line, especially worrying on the home side during the second half, and, above all, winning second chances, capturing twelve more rebounds than the Mavs – fifteen of their fifty were offensive – and transforming them into simpler points. Those were the keys.

Pascal Siakam was the driving force behind Darko Rajakovic’s plan. The Cameroonian forward, who since they won the Ring in 2019 has had an irregular performance and is always thought of as a bargaining chip in the market, was in the one where he has shown that it can be his level from which he cannot lower himself. He made many of what he had (15/25), both in penetrations and in the middle distance, and diversified resources when the defense closed on him. 31 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Another tall forward, Anunoby, followed him with 26 points. Schröder (18) and Trent (16) stood out on the outside.

Trent had been the one who, with a contact layup, had put an end to the first quarter. And the Mavs, moving their attack well, were six ahead. The exchange of triples and the emergence of someone as disruptive as Chris Boucher, author of seven points in that strip, momentarily raised the Raptors on the scoreboard. Dallas stood by.

Richaun Holmes jumped one spot in the rotation due to the absence of young center Dereck Lively and had his role against Pöltl before the break. Between well-understood clashes and reluctant success in front of the basket, the small boost of this interior had helped keep the Mavs in the game before the break. Although just a trick from Siakam and another from Anunoby tipped the balance towards the red side during the break.

Toronto raised the lines on defense and was more incisive in front of the basket, with more force, as if they had taken Popeye’s spinach in the locker room. Grant Williams had stopped the inevitable by scoring two triples, but for the Raptors it was only a matter of time before he finished with the baton in his hands.

A partial 0-11 in the middle of the third quarter broke the good equality of this match. And they painted it between Siakam and Anunoby, so that the authorship remains complete. From there we only saw vague traces from the Mavericks. One point in which they saw themselves clearly was in personal fouls: of the 19/31 with which Kidd’s team finished in free throws, 14/24 were in the second half. The distance that the Canadians had put with their rival was not closed at any time during the day. Not even a joint performance of 53 points between Doncic (31) and Irving (22), without much to blame on them, marked a comeback; There had already been two in the previous games, the third time was the charm (and vice versa, in this case).

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