The Tribune

THE injury-riddled Dallas Mavericks called up Bahamian big man Kai Jones to the starting role and he certainly delivered in the first start of his National Basketball Association (NBA) career against the Indiana Pacers.

Jones logged 24 minutes and posted 18 points, 11 rebounds and one assist. He was quite efficient in the starting role, making 8-of-9 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws at the line.

Despite Jones’ numbers, the Mavericks’ woes post-Luka Doncic trade continued against the Pacers. The latter won the matchup 135-131 at home to improve their record to 39-29 for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks, who are down to an eight-man rotation, continued to tumble down the Western Conference standings with just a 33-27 win/loss record for the eleventh spot. 

The athletic Bahamian big man expressed how he felt about his performance in his first NBA start.

“I think for me I liked the way that I rebounded throughout the game. I want to continue to see high motor from myself and hold myself to that standard. But just continue to be more efficient, make my shots, keep working on my game, stay in the gym, stay in the lab, stay consistent but I love the way that we played overall. For myself, I feel like I could have been a bit better but pretty good overall,” he said.

Jones was not the only Mavericks starter to put up double digits.

Forward PJ Washington pitched in a team-high 26 points to pair with five rebounds.

Jaden Hardy also got it going off the bench for 24 points, two rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes.

Pacers’ forward Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 29 points, five assists and a block. He drained 11-of-16 field goals and 3-of-4 three pointers in 34 minutes.

The Mavericks trailed the entire first half as the Pacers got ahead by double digits from the opening quarter.

Pacers’ power forward Obi Toppin got fouled at the 1:45 mark and made both free throws to shift the lead to 10 (28-18) in the first. The Pacers were on top 33-21 moving into the second period of play.

Jones subbed in to start the second and threw down a dunk off a Spencer Dinwinddie assist at the 10:17 mark. He was fouled on the dunk and converted on the three-point play for the Mavs to trail by 11 (37-26).

The Mavs managed to cut the score differential down to single digits at the intermission. The Pacers had a 68-57 advantage at halftime.

Dallas mounted a rally in the third period and Jones was the catalyst.

The 24-year-old centre scored seven straight points early in the third, including three dunks and a three-point play. 

His free throw at the 7th minute put the Mavs within five (76-71).

Hardy nailed a floater with less than a minute to go in the third to give Dallas their first lead of the game.

They took control 91-90 going into the fourth. 

Dallas’ third quarter surge went up in flames down the stretch. The Pacers overcame an 11-point hole in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter to close out the Mavs. 

Indiana got the lead again with 14.7 seconds on the clock when Siakam stole the ball and Andrew Nembhard canned an open three to seal the win for the Pacers.

Jones remained optimistic about the team’s play despite the loss.

“We played a beautiful game. I love the way we fought back but at the end of games taking care of the ball is crucial, making your shots so it is a learning experience for sure gotta take the good out of it and stay positive moving forward. But I am proud of the team played we did a great job fighting back,” he said.

The Mavs played without the services of recently acquired big Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Bahamian three-point specialist Klay Thompson.

Jones expressed that he does not mind the eight-man rotation as of right now.

“I am not gonna lie it is fun because you know you are gonna play a lot so I love it…That first game I was like ‘keep me in’ I love to play. It is sad to see that players are getting hurt and I pray that they come back quickly…Playing with the eight guys has been amazing love getting up and down with them and you could tell that everybody understands the situation so they are giving the best that they got,” he said.

For Jones, it was his second time putting up double-digits in points for the Mavs and his first double-double showing for the team since being signed to a two-way contract earlier this month.

With the Mavs reeling from the injury bug, it is expected that Jones will register more minutes as the NBA regular season comes to an end.

Dallas returns to action tonight at home against the Detroit Pistons at 8:30pm.