MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Anthony Davis limped to the Dallas Mavericks‘ bench during a timeout with 5:22 remaining Friday night and put a towel over his head.
Davis, nursing a calf that was sore after being kneed by Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey earlier in the fourth quarter, finally called off the fight. He was done for the night. And the Mavericks were done for the season.
“I just wanted to leave everything out on the floor, no matter what,” Davis said after the Mavericks were eliminated with a 120-106 loss to the Grizzlies in the Western Conference’s final play-in game, which Dallas trailed by 25 points in the first half.
Davis’ 40 points, his most in a Mavericks uniform, weren’t enough to give Dallas a chance to extend a season that teammate Klay Thompson succinctly described as “tumultuous.”
After advancing to the NBA Finals a year ago, Dallas’ season was turned upside down with general manager Nico Harrison’s shocking decision to trade face-of-the-franchise Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that brought Davis to Dallas. The rest of the Mavs’ season was ravaged by injuries, especially a strained left adductor suffered by Davis in his Dallas debut that sidelined him for six weeks and the torn ACL that ended All-Star guard Kyrie Irving’s season in early March.
“I think we persevered,” said Thompson, who scored 18 points in the season-ending loss. “We were down to eight, nine guys at one point and we held up the fort and got into the play-in and gave ourselves a shot to get to the playoffs.
“It sucks. It really sucks, but I’m really proud of every man in this locker room. We showed up to work every day. We try to do the right thing every day.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd called the Mavericks’ 39-43 campaign, which earned them the West’s 10-seed and final play-in berth, an “incredible season.”
“When you look at the injuries that we’ve had [and] the change, for us to even be here playing in this game tonight, it’s incredible,” Kidd said. “It just shows the character of that group in that locker room, the fight, being prepared, moving on, learning from our losses and also our wins. So an incredible season with the change and injuries. Some would say we shouldn’t even be here, so give those guys in that locker room a lot of credit.”
The Dallas fan base’s outrage about trading Doncic, a five-time first-team All-NBA selection who has yet to hit his prime, loomed over the Mavericks like a black cloud for the past 2½ months. There were frequent chants calling for the firing of Harrison at Mavs home games, especially during Doncic’s 45-point performance when he led the Lakers to a win in his emotional return to Dallas on April 9.
“Obviously, it’s a lot of emotions that I know is not directed toward me,” Davis said. “The city loved [Doncic]. You get rid of the guy, new guy comes in. While they want to embrace you and are thankful for you, it still stings. So I’m just thankful and appreciative of the city of Dallas and their fans to welcome me and my teammates coming in to a situation.”
Davis added: “Obviously, it was a tough situation, but I tried to do as much as I can to go out and just when I was on the floor to compete and try to help us win games.”
Davis returned for the final three months of the season despite some in the organization suggesting he shut it down due to Dallas’ hopes of contending taking a hit with Kyrie Irving‘s injury, which will prevent the star guard from playing for a significant stretch to begin next season.
“I just wanted to, if I was able to play, come back and play,” Davis said. “I think the fans deserved it, my teammates deserved it, organization deserved it for myself to come out and just do whatever I can to get back on the floor to try to compete at the highest level and try to obviously get further than what we did this season.”
Thompson, a four-time champion during his 13-year stint with the Golden State Warriors, opted to sign with the Mavericks over a more lucrative offer from the Lakers last summer because he believed Dallas presented his best opportunity to win another title. He also wanted to play with Doncic, a brilliant playmaker that Thompson expected would create a lot of wide-open 3-point looks for him.
With the Mavericks’ season ending far short of their goal, Thompson declined to give a straight answer when asked if he would have made a different decision in free agency if he knew what would ensue.
“Don’t do this to me. Don’t do that to me. Don’t do that,” Thompson said, dropping his head and shaking it, letting out a pained laugh. “That’s kind of a ridiculous question. I don’t own a time machine, and I don’t believe in going back, looking back. If I did that my whole career, I would not be where I’m at and I wouldn’t have been able to persevere through two really hard injuries.
“So I’m here in Dallas, and I enjoyed my time and I’m looking forward to the future.”
