Anthony Davis finally freed Mavericks from glaring issue that seemed endless

the Dallas Mavericks can finally call themselves a team on a win streak. After a victory at home against the Detroit Pistons on Friday, the Mavs got Anthony Davis back from an adductor strain and looked dominant on the road against the Brooklyn Nets in a 120-101 win on Monday night.

Jason Kidd and the coaching staff played conservatively with Davis’ minutes, playing him 27 minutes while contributing with 12 points, six rebounds, one block, and one steal. Davis wasn’t necessarily a game changer, which wasn’t expected in her first game back, but doing all of the little things was a nice change to what the Mavs have been dealing with lately.

Even though Davis will slowly and surely get back to his regular dominant self, the Mavs seem as if they just solved a long nightmare that looked to be going toward historic disaster territory.

Mavericks’ frontcourt is no longer in shambles with Davis back

The much-anticipated Davis return wasn’t the dominant return that Mavs fans had hoped for, but it was more than enough to get by. Of course, the Brooklyn Nets have a lot of issues to solve, but this was the perfect game to get Davis involved to give the Mavs more big man depth.

Dallas’ bigs have been injured for weeks now, but Davis’ return silenced any concerns that were present in that area and gave fans hope that their frontcourt is finally trending in the right direction health-wise.

The team just looked more comfortable and confident early in the game. Having P.J. Washington and Dwight Powell makes for a smoother rotation with Davis and Kai Jones also in action. It looked like the first time in a while that more size made for a more regular game.

Going from conversations about the organization potentially needing to forfeit games to getting Davis back and getting Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II to potentially return soon, are much-needed headlines that the Mavericks are depending on. The other bigs have been thriving as well, with one of their young big guys quickly getting adjusted in a Maverick uniform.

Jones has looked impressive recently slashing to the rim and hitting jumpers. Jones looks like a guy who’s going to soar to new heights under Davis’ wing. As Jones has been one of the few bright spots during this nightmare season for the Mavs, it might be time for Nico Harrison to offer Jones a standard contract.

It’s now apparent that the Mavs aren’t playing to tank, and with Lively II and Gafford set to follow Davis any moment now, the Mavs are playing with urgency. With the Phoenix Suns having a train wreck of a season, it’s still possible to see the Mavs take back that 10th spot in the Western Conference.

Anthony Davis gave his perspective on injury to Kyrie Irving

BROOKLYN – Less than a month after he suffered a strained left adductor, Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis watched teammate Kyrie Irving sustain a season-ending tear of his left anterior cruciate ligament.

Reflecting on Irving’s injury following Monday’s 120-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, Davis said: “It was devastating. Kyrie is a phenomenal basketball player, but even more a phenomenal human.

“Anytime anyone goes down to an injury like that it always sucks.”

Davis waited a bit before he contacted Irving about the injury. He wanted to give the mercurial guard time to digest all of the circumstances surrounding his injury.

“Obviously, the initial injury in the initial moment you want to give him space,” Davis said. “He came back to the locker room, got everything out of his system and was excited about the rehab process.

“He’s in a good head space.”

Irving attended Monday’s game and was cheering on the Mavs every step of the way. And Davis is patiently for the day when Irving will return to the lineup at some point next season.

“He’s been around the team,” Davis said. “He was on the bench tonight. So, to see him in a great head space is good for our team, good for me and I’m pretty sure it’s good for him.

“Obviously, (Irving’s injury) sucks. But we’ve got to hold the fort down for this season, and then until next season until he’s ready to come back.”

The Mavs desperately tried to hold down the fort until Davis returned on Monday. They produced a 6-12 record while Davis was sidelined, but quickly got back on track against the Nets.

“It’s AD,” forward Naji Marshall said. “He’s going to find his own shots (and) he’s going to find the ball.

“He trusts in us, just like coach. So, we just go out there and play.”

Here are the takeaways from the Mavs’ 19-point win over the Nets.

DAVIS MADE A TRIUMPHANT RETURN: Much to the delight of the Mavs, forward Anthony Davis returned to the lineup on Monday and responded with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 27 minutes. It was the first game for Davis since he strained his left adductor after scoring 26 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, distributing seven assists and blocking three shots during the Feb 8 game against the Houston Rockets.

WHEREVER HE PLAYS, MARSHALL IS A BALLER: Mavs forward Naji Marshall proved to be just as comfortable coming off the bench as he is when he’s in the starting lineup. Marshall came off the bench on Monday and finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shots in just 27 minutes. It was Marshall’s first time coming off the bench since he collected 18 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals during the March 3 game against the Sacramento Kings.

MAVS LOOKED VERY COMFORTABLE: With Anthony Davis back in the lineup, the Mavs looked very comfortable from top to bottom. For starters, the Mavs were able to form a tall lineup with Kai Jones (6-11) at center, P.J. Washington (6-6) at small forward and Davis (6-10) at power forward. That also meant the Mavs were going to be able to get their fair share of rebounds, and they promptly wound up out-rebounding the Nets, 41-37. In addition, it meant the Mavs were going to have more rim protection, and they also collected 19 of their 34 assists in the first half.