Mavs bow out in play-in game, proud despite 'tumultuous' season - ESPN

MEMPHIS — Anthony Davis limped to the Dallas Mavericks' bench during a timeout with 5:22 remaining Friday night and put a towel over his head.

Davis, nursing a calf that was sore after being kneed by Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey earlier in the fourth quarter, finally called off the fight. He was done for the night. And the Mavericks were done for the season.

«I just wanted to leave everything out on the floor, no matter what,» Davis said after the Mavericks were eliminated with a 120-106 loss to the Grizzlies in the Western Conference's final play-in game, which Dallas trailed by 25 points in the first half.

Davis' 40 points, his most in a Mavericks uniform, weren't enough to give Dallas a chance to extend a season that teammate Klay Thompson succinctly described as «tumultuous.»

After advancing to the NBA Finals a year ago, Dallas' season was turned upside down with general manager Nico Harrison's shocking decision to trade face of the franchise Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that brought Davis to Dallas. The rest of the Mavs' season was ravaged by injuries, especially a strained left adductor suffered by Davis in his Dallas debut that sidelined him for six weeks and the torn ACL that ended All-Star guard Kyrie Irving's season in early March.

«I think we persevered,» said Thompson, who scored 18 points in the season-ending loss. «We were down to eight, nine guys at one point and we held up the fort and got into the play-in and gave ourselves a shot to get to the playoffs.

»It sucks. It really sucks, but I'm really proud of every man in this locker room. We showed up to work every day. We try to do the right thing every day."

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd called the Mavericks' 39-43 campaign, which