At long last, the Dallas Mavericks have won a basketball game.
The Mavericks (20-36) won their first game in a calendar month with a 134-130 decision over the Indiana Pacers (15-43) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday. Dallas got a season-high 25 points from Khris Middleton to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists in the win. Andrew Nembhard led the listless and even more shorthanded Pacers with 22 points and 11 assists in the loss.
Hey, you can’t lose them all. Here are five stats that tell the tale of the streak-busting win for the Mavs.
9: Players unavailable due to injury
In a game featuring two teams doing everything they can to avoid the dreaded win column, Sunday’s game between the Mavericks and the Pacers featured 13 players on both rosters who were unavailable due to injury. Indiana and Dallas came into the game at fourth and fifth, respectively, in man games missed due to injury, illness and suspension in the NBA this season.
Cooper Flagg missed his third straight game for the Mavs with a foot sprain, while T.J. McConnell (hamstring), Aaron Nesmith (ankle), Obi Toppin (foot) and Ivica Zubac (ankle) all missed the game for the Pacers.
36-33: Mavericks’ first lead after one quarter since Jan. 19
Sunday marked exactly one month since the Mavs’ last win, a 123-115 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 22 at American Airlines Center. But did you know that it had been even longer since the Mavericks led a basketball game at the end of the first quarter? Dallas had trailed after one quarter in every game of the team’s 10-game losing streak, and trailed the Warriors after one in their last win, 27-24.
Before Sunday’s 36-33 lead at the end of the first quarter against the Pacers, the last time the Mavs had won the first quarter was on Jan. 19 at Madison Square Garden, 31-22, over the New York Knicks. Dallas ended up winning that game, 114-97, in one of the ugliest losses of the year for the Knicks.
17-of-32 (53.1%): Combined first-half 3-point shooting
Despite their short benches, both teams came out with a hot hand from 3-point range. The Mavericks made seven of their 13 first-half 3-point attempts, while the Pacers shot 10-of-19 from deep. Indiana’s tried-and-true three-headed beast from the outside featured Jarace Walker (3-of-3), Quenton Jackson (2-of-2) and Ben Sheppard (2-of-3), who combined to shoot 7-for-8 from beyond the arc.
P.J. Washington led all scorers with 16 points at the break and made his only 3-point attempt of the first half, while Pascal Siakam led Indy with 14 and made 1-of-2 from 3-point land. Dallas led 71-66 at intermission. And then, like clockwork, the two teams combined to go 1-of-6 from long range to start the second half.
48: Combined scoring from P.J. Washington and Khris Middleton
Sunday’s win was Washington’s best game since Dec. 15, when he scored 25 points and pulled down 14 boards in a 140-133 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz. Any sign of life from Washington, who has hibernated through the rougher stretches of the 2025-26 season, is a good sign.
If Washington and Khris Middleton were the story for the Mavericks in the first half, Naji Marshall was the story in the third quarter. He shot 4-of-5 from the field in the third as the Mavs extended their modest five-point lead at the half to eight entering the fourth quarter. Gafford found him with a little room in the lane in the final minute of the third to give Dallas a 98-93 advantage, before late buckets by Caleb Martin and Klay Thompson gave the Mavs some momentum going into the fourth.
Then Washington and Middleton, who paced the Mavs in the first half, reemerged to lead the team to its first win in a month down the stretch. Middleton scored nine points in the fourth quarter, heating up from the mid-range and answering the bell each time Indiana crept to within two possessions of the lead. He banked one in from 12 feet out with 4:41 left in the game to give the Mavericks a 123-116 lead, before knocking down his third 3-ball of the game the next time down to answer an Andrew Nembhard 3-pointer on the other end and make it 126-119.
12/11: Marvin Bagley’s third double-double as a Maverick
More to come on this in the coming days, but Marvin Bagley III notched his third double-double in his first five games as a Dallas Maverick on Sunday with 12 points and 11 rebounds. It remains to be seen if the Mavericks can fix Bagley, who was drafted second overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2018, ahead of both Luka Dončić and Trae Young, or if they even have any interest in taking on the project. Bagley’s current contract is up at the end of this season, but he seems to be playing with a spring in his step since coming to the Mavs from the Washington Wizards in the Anthony Davis trade.