By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Anthony Davis surprised the NBA after returning from a six-week injury layoff and immediately made an impact during the Dallas Mavericks’ dominant 120-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on March 25, 2025, in the ongoing regular season.
Despite being sidelined for over a month due to a groin injury he suffered in his debut game with the Mavericks, the premier frontcourt star picked up where he left off and tallied an impressive stat line of 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and a block.
Davis had to be managed under a playing time restriction for preventive measures, logging in a total of 26 minutes with an efficient 6/9 shooting from the field.
The decorated big man looked loose from the get-go, scoring Dallas’ first bucket of the game with a wide-open cutting dunk off a well-timed assist from PJ Washington.
It was clear that Dallas head coach Jason Kidd wanted to get Davis going as he ran multiple isolation plays for him in his sweet spot down the left block. After that cutting dunk, Davis scored another layup and followed it up with a dime to Kai Jones that set the tone for the Mavericks.
Davis wrapped up his first-quarter clinic with a huge block, while also cashing in a tough step-back jumper that increased Dallas’ lead to 10 points.
His energy on both ends of the floor resulted in an early blowout for the Mavericks as the visiting Western Conference squad held a comfortable 15-point lead heading into the second frame.
From that sequence, Dallas just never looked back and ran over the Nets with their points in the paint backstopped by their second-chance markers off collected offensive rebounds.
The Mavericks dominated the shaded lane with 64 points underneath while capitalizing on Brooklyn’s turnovers with 31 makes out of the freebies.
Leading Dallas in the inter-conference victory was Naji Marshall who continued his consistent offensive production with 22 points built from two three-pointers and a barrage of daredevil drives.
Former Brooklyn floor general Spencer Dinwiddie also showed up against his past teammates and delivered a double-double outing of 16 markers and 12 assists alongside four steals.
The Mavericks will resume their four-game road trip today against the New York Knicks while Brooklyn seeks to bounce back tomorrow on their home floor against the Toronto Raptors.
