Doncic, Mavs snap Thunder's 5-game winning streak

Luka Doncic scored 29 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 107-97 road win over Oklahoma City on Monday night, snapping the Thunder's five-game winning streak. Doncic was just 2 of 8 from the field in the opening quarter but 8 of 16 the rest of the way.

The Mavericks have alternated wins and losses over their past five games. Dallas took advantage of the Thunder on the perimeter, hitting 19 3-pointers, the most Oklahoma City has given up all season. Doncic hit five to help the Mavericks stay in front of the Thunder in the Western Conference playoff face.

Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 points for the Mavericks while Kristaps Porzingas and Delon Wright scored 14 each. Wright added a season-high 12 rebounds. For Oklahoma City, Dennis Schroder was forced into the starting lineup for the first time this season as Chris Paul missed the game one day after the death of his close friend, Kobe Bryant.

Paul and Bryant played on two Olympic teams together. As was the case around the NBA on Sunday and Monday, the teams started by taking violations to honor Bryant. The Mavericks started with an eight-second violation, with the Thunder following by taking a 24-second violation.

Paul has been a big reason for Oklahoma City's success late in tight games this season. He leads the league in clutch-time scoring, and in the previous meeting against the Mavericks, he scored 13 points in the final 4:31 to lift the Thunder to a come-from-behind victory. But without Paul there was no comeback Monday.

Oklahoma City trimmed a 16-point lead to five with a quick 11-0 run early in the third quarter, but two minutes later, the Mavericks' lead was back up to 14. Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were a combined 11 of 36 from the floor. Schroder led the Thunder with 21 points.

Willie Cauley-Stein, the center the Mavericks acquired in a trade with Golden State on Saturday, was with Dallas but did not play. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)