One week after the Dallas Mavericks shockingly traded away the face of the franchise, Luka Doncic, MFFL (Mavs Fans For Life) were still hurting. They gathered outside of American Airlines Center before Saturday’s game against the Houston Rockets to protest General Manager Nico Harrison’s decision to pull the plug on a 25-year-old generational superstar.

Although it will take time for fans to fully heal from such a loss, newcomers Anthony Davis and Max Christie performing as they did in Dallas’ 116-105 win over the Houston Rockets will certainly help ease the pain for the time being. In his Mavs debut, Davis finished with a team-best 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks while shooting 10-of-18 overall and 2-of-2 from deep. He had to leave the game in the second half due to a “lower-body injury,” but Davis told the media after the game that it was just some tightness in his groin/quad area and nothing serious.

Christie was the Mavs’ second-leading scorer with 23 points on 5-of-10 shooting overall, 4-of-5 from deep and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. With 1:38 remaining in the game, Christie nailed a clutch 3-pointer off a pass from Kyrie Irving to give Dallas a 109-100 lead over Houston, which ended up being the nail in the coffin. On the night, the Mavs’ stout defense set a new franchise record with 18 blocks. On this episode of the Mavs Step Back podcast, I break down Davis and Christie’s performances while also offering some words of encouragement for MFFL, who might not be ready to accept this new chapter just yet.

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