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NBA: Mavericks face depleted Raptors, look to solidify playoff spot

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Field Level Media/Reuters

<p>The Dallas Mavericks head into their final two regular-season games looking to pin down playoff positioning, a mission that begins Friday night at home against the Toronto Raptors.</p><p>Dallas (41-29) is getting hot ahead of the postseason, picking up its fifth win in six games and eighth over the past 10 with a 125-107 defeat of the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.</p><p>Luka Doncic led the way with 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 27 points.</p><p>Hardaway&#x27;s performance continued a strong spell for the eight-year veteran wing. He is averaging 26 points per game in his past eight appearances, including outings of a career-high 42 points on April 29 against Detroit and 36 points in a May 4 win at Miami.</p><p>Hardaway&#x27;s scoring uptick coincided with a move into the starting lineup for seven of those eight games.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/14/21/nba-nikola-jokic-scores-31-as-nuggets-topple-wolves">NBA: Nikola Jokic scores 31 as Nuggets topple Wolves</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The game naturally flows better,&quot; Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of the difference in starting versus coming off the bench, during his postgame press conference on Wednesday. &quot;You go right from warm-ups to the flow of the game.&quot;</p><p>&quot;With Tim, the proof is in a sample size of well over a year,&quot; Carlisle added. &quot;When he was starting last year, he had a great flow. He started early this year, we made a change to go to more of a defensive lineup. ... He was willing to do it. That&#x27;s one reason I&#x27;m willing to make other changes in the lineup.&quot;</p><p>One lineup change for Dallas heading into the postseason is the return of Kristaps Porzingis to the rotation. Porzingis missed 10 of the past 11 games, first due to a left ankle sprain then with soreness in his right knee.</p><p>Porzingis scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds in 22 minutes of play Wednesday.</p><p>Porzingis scored a team-high 23 points, while Doncic posted just 15 and Hardaway went scoreless when Dallas last faced Toronto (27-43) in January.</p><p>The Raptors&#x27; 116-93 win in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 18 was part of a stretch in which they won five of six. With a 114-102 loss Thursday in Chicago, Toronto dropped its fifth straight and eighth loss in the past 10.</p><p>Stanley Johnson recorded a career-high 35 points to go with another career-high of six made 3-pointers, 10 rebounds and five assists in Thursday&#x27;s first leg of a back-to-back. It marked Johnson&#x27;s first double-digit points since notching 12 on April 18 against Oklahoma City.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/14/21/nba-chicago-bulls-stay-alive-for-play-in-with-season-sweep-of-raptors">NBA: Chicago Bulls stay alive for play-in with season sweep of Raptors</a></li></ul><p>&quot;As a kid I asked, &#x27;God, can you just please put me on an NBA team and if I can run the bench for 10 years I&#x27;ll be the happiest in the world?&#x27; And you get to 24 and you start getting ungrateful for things,&quot; Johnson said in his postgame news conference. &quot;For me, it&#x27;s all about being grateful.&quot;</p><p>Johnson entered Thursday&#x27;s game averaging 3.3 points in just a little more than 15 minutes per game.</p><p>With Toronto eliminated from contention for a play-in tournament spot, Raptors coach Nick Nurse ran with a young starting lineup in Chicago. Johnson started alongside Yuta Watanabe and Khem Birch, along with rookies Malachi Flynn and Jalen Harris.</p><p>Meanwhile, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Chris Boucher (injury management), Aron Baynes (foot), Rodney Hood (hand), Kyle Lowry (scheduled rest), Pascal Siakam (shoulder) and Paul Watson (knee) were scratched on Thursday.</p><div><strong>--Field Level Media</strong></div><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1661697" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>The Dallas Mavericks head into their final two regular-season games looking to pin down playoff positioning, a mission that begins Friday night at home against the Toronto Raptors.</p>

The Dallas Mavericks head into their final two regular-season games looking to pin down playoff positioning, a mission that begins Friday night at home against the Toronto Raptors.