The Pacers continued to build on their established momentum, taking a 40-35 lead early in the second quarter. It became a game of runs very quickly. Doncic led an 8-0 run that was capped off by a step-back 3-pointer to put Dallas back ahead 43-40, prompting Indiana to call a timeout. Myles Turner and Haliburton helped to push the Pacers back up 51-47 shortly after by achieving a quick 6-0 run.

Irving and Turner traded scoring plays multiple times, continuing the trend of the back-and-forth nature of this game. Still, the Pacers maintained the advantage over the Mavs, with Haliburton orchestrating their offense before Doncic checked back into the game. Even with Doncic on the floor, Indiana continued to pour it on Dallas, scoring 35 points in the period to establish a 67-60 edge at the break despite Doncic already having 25 points.

The Pacers are known for being a run-and-gun team, and while the Mavs have also succeeded in playing at a faster pace lately, they struggled to take care of the ball and capitalize on simple scoring chances throughout the first half.

Indiana continued to sustain the advantage throughout the third quarter, with both teams frequently trading baskets. Both teams had 15 points at the 6:44 mark of the period, resulting in the Pacers being up 82-75. Turner’s stretch-five skill set continued to pose challenges for a Mavs defense cycling through blitzing Haliburton with an emphasis on protecting the paint while also playing drop coverage at times.

Benedict Mathurin’s finish in transition created an and-one while pushing the Pacers up by double figures (89-78) for the first time in the game. Dallas went on to give up 100 points to Indiana through three quarters, with a lack of execution defensively continuing to be a problem for the remainder of the game.

Irving heated up early in the fourth quarter, scoring the Mavs’ first nine points, cutting the Pacers’ lead to just four. However, Indiana went on a significant run, going up by 20 points midway through the period after Haliburton hit a step-back 3-pointer.

Carlisle, the coach of the Mavs’ 2011 NBA Finals team and Doncic’s first NBA coach, had high praise for what the Slovenian superstar is achieving this season. Carlisle continued to describe Doncic as a future MVP, something he predicted to DallasBasketball.com in August.

“I think everybody saw amazing things for him. I’ve been saying for really several years that it’s just a matter of time before he’s an MVP and a finals MVP and all that. Certainly this year, he’s right there with all those conversations.”

Looking ahead, the Mavs will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, marking the second segment of a four-game road trip.

Beginning a four-game Eastern Conference road trip, the Dallas Mavericks (33-24) lost against the Indiana Pacers (33-25), with 133-111 being the final score. Despite receiving a combined 62 points from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Mavs could not receive enough production from other contributors or achieve enough defensive stops to win.

Entering this game, the Mavs were on a seven-game winning streak while being talked about on the national stage as being arguably the NBA’s hottest team, right with the NBA’s best Boston Celtics. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle echoed the sentiment, describing Dallas as “really legitimate contenders.”

“What Luka is doing this year… I don’t even know how you describe it,” Carlisle said. “He’s rewriting history. Irving is playing great. These guys are in a very small group of teams that are really legitimate contenders.”

Doncic was aggressive early, scoring eight of the Mavs’ initial 10 points, using a pair of tough floaters and a step-back 3-pointer. Dallas’ early advantage grew to be 17-11 with 6:21 remaining in the first quarter, with Doncic already reaching double-figures. The Pacers called a timeout after Doncic split the Pacers trying to show in ball screen coverage, resulting in a mid-range jumper.

With Kyrie Irving struggling to convert on his shot attempts early on, the Mavs could not capitalize on having a superstar on the floor as Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam were closing out the first quarter from the bench. Indiana bridged the gap, resulting in a 30-30 tie after the opening period.