{"id":540017,"date":"2026-01-16T05:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T05:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/540017\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T05:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T05:55:16","slug":"klay-thompson-makes-history-leads-plucky-mavericks-fill-ins-to-runaway-win-over-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/540017\/","title":{"rendered":"Klay Thompson makes history, leads plucky Mavericks fill-ins to runaway win over Jazz"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dismal perspective of the current situation<\/a> is that the Dallas Mavericks are forced to rely upon two-way contracts and emergency signees to sustain their roster. The sanguine perspective is that those same part-time players might manage to impact a victory. The proposterous perspective \u2014 at least given how things have gone for, well, the last year \u2014 is that they might witness history. <\/p>\n

Try Mouss Ciss\u00e9\u2019s point of view on for size. The 6-foot-11 rookie, a two-way player in his sixth NBA game, rumbled up the court and positioned himself under the basket for a would-be offensive rebound with just over a minute left in the first quarter of Thursday\u2019s game vs. the Utah Jazz. <\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t get one. Not due to a lack of effort, or a lack of opportunity, but because his teammate Klay Thompson drained a historic 3-pointer from the wing before he flung his hands up to celebrate a high point in an otherwise wayward season. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy to be a part of that,\u201d Ciss\u00e9 said. \u201cI set him a couple of screens.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Thompson, told of Ciss\u00e9\u2019s remark, chuckled. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I threw it to him,\u201d Thompson said, \u201che gave me an assist.\u201d <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Thompson gave a makeshift roster an anchor in a blowout win in return. He scored a season-high 26 points and moved further up the sport\u2019s 3-point leaderboard in a 144-122 win vs. the Utah Jazz Thursday night at American Airlines Center. <\/p>\n

The 35-year-old sharpshooter passed Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard for fourth place on the all-time made 3-pointers list late in the first quarter. He tied Lillard with his 2,804th made three at the 3:52 mark of the first quarter and passed him with his 2,805th two-and-a-half minutes later. <\/p>\n

He passed Lillard with a 3-pointer that gave the Mavericks a 31-24 lead with 1:18 left in the first, walked toward the baseline with both hands raised, and turned back up the court with a double fist pump to boot. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny time you can move up the history books, it\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI I just kind of enjoyed that moment of euphoria for a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry (4,201), Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (3,293) and Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen (2,973) are the only players who\u2019ve made more 3-pointers than Thompson has. <\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, one day I stay healthy, and I\u2019m able to pass Ray Allen,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThat would be really, really cool for me. I watched him so much growing up and I was able to meet him my rookie year. That conversation we had inspired me to be the player I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd: \u201cI believe Klay has a lot left in the tank too. He should climb up that list.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson was one of seven Mavericks who finished with double-digit points in Thursday\u2019s win. That they even had seven players available to score in double figures was a miracle in and of itself. The Mavericks were without four of their five lead scorers and rookie Cooper Flagg, who left Wednesday\u2019s game vs. the Denver Nuggets with an ankle sprain<\/a>, was among eight Mavericks players ruled out Thursday night. Daniel Gafford (ankle sprain), P.J. Washington Jr. (ankle injury management) and Max Christie (illness) were also sidelined. <\/p>\n

Kidd said he has \u201cno idea\u201d if the players with short-term injuries will be available to play Saturday vs. the Jazz. <\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we can get healthy,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cUnderstanding ankles, last night, that\u2019s just part of basketball. It\u2019s a next-man-up mentality. We\u2019ve been through this before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next men up \u2014 a group that included those on two-way and 10-day contracts \u2014 were enough against a young Jazz team that started exclusively players in their first, second or third seasons. <\/p>\n

Ciss\u00e9, whom the Mavericks signed to a two-way contract in the fall, out-physicaled Utah\u2019s frontcourt to post a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Nembhard, another two-way signee, had 12 points and 10 assists off of the bench. Even Jeremiah Robinson-Earl \u2014 who signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks Thursday afternoon<\/a> \u2014 pulled down five rebounds, slammed an emphatic dunk and cashed a 3-pointer in his Dallas debut. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know when I\u2019m going to get in,\u201d Ciss\u00e9 said after his sixth game with the Mavericks this season. \u201cSo, whenever I get a chance, I go over there and just perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks led by as many as 38 points in the second half and never relinquished the 20-point advantage that they built in the first. Thompson, who threw up a goggles celebration and a few fist pumps during a blitz of somewhat vintage bucket flurries, helped spur a 14-3 run that ended the first quarter and a 9-2 run midway through the third that solidified the lead. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Klay was the leader of the group,\u201d Kidd said, \u201cin the sense of the energy that the guys played off of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks, now 16-26, have won half of their last eight games as they draft toward the Feb. 5 trade deadline that may determine the immediate future and direction of the franchise. Their season has been marred by the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade, the dismissal of general manager Nico Harrison, the will-they-won\u2019t-they of an Anthony Davis trade and, now, injuries. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s given some, like Ciss\u00e9, a chance. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s given others, like Thompson, milestone moments. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of those wins that you look back on,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThose dog days in mid January were fun. You got to play with guys who cherish these moments and don\u2019t get the opportunity as frequently as we do. It was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X: @McFarland_Shawn<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos: Mavericks slam Jazz, run away with dominant win<\/p>\n

\"DallasView Gallery\"Dallas<\/a>Watch: Mavericks\u2019 Klay Thompson moves into 4th place all-time in 3-pointers made<\/a><\/p>\n

Thompson passes Damian Lillard and added another bulletpoint to his Hall of Fame career.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Cooper Flagg (ankle sprain) out for Dallas Mavericks\u2019 matchup with Utah Jazz<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mavericks will be without Flagg as they close out a back-to-back Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\"Indiana<\/a>Dallas Mavericks signing forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to 10-day contract<\/a><\/p>\n

Robinson-Earl will be active for Mavericks-Jazz on Thursday at American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dismal perspective of the current situation is that the Dallas Mavericks are forced to rely upon two-way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3793],"tags":[6071,7,686,149,4057,498,166,6,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-540017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-american-airlines-center","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-dallasmavericks","13":"tag-klay-thompson","14":"tag-mavericks","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115903236465306780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}