With Mavericks star Luka Doncic absent due to a daughter’s birth, the depleted Memphis Grizzlies defeated Dallas 108-94 on Friday night, led by 30 points from Desmond Bane, who helped the team win back-to-back games for the first time this season.

In the absence of his fellow All-Star, Kyrie Irving struggled early on, missing all seven attempts and finishing with just one point before the half as the Mavericks shot 35% and trailed by fifteen points. Following the game, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd expressed his uncertainty about Irving’s participation in Saturday’s matchup with the Thunder.

Dallas shot a season-worst 37.0% overall, and the eight-time All-Star concluded with a season-low 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Tim Hardaway Jr., the third-leading scorer for Dallas and Doncic, who ranks third in the NBA in scoring at 31.1 points per game, missed his first game of the season due to back spasms.

“It was a young group out there,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “No excuse. I got to figure out if this is the group that’s playing tomorrow. I won’t know until tomorrow what’s happening.”

Memphis has played all season without suspended star guard Ja Morant. Marcus Smart, the guard acquired from Boston in an offseason trade, is sidelined by a left foot sprain.

A week after signing a 10-day contract to shore up the Memphis roster, Jaylen Nowell scored 19 points. Santi Aldama had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Vince Williams Jr. added 15 points and 11 boards.

“We know he can score at a high level, but his ability to drive and kick and get to next actions, play pick-and-rolls is really impressive,” coach Taylor Jenkins said. “The biggest thing is getting him acclimated to our defensive system. I’ve actually been really impressed.”

Santi Aldama had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Vince Williams Jr. added 15 points and 11 boards for the Grizzlies, whose consecutive victories have come after they quickly dropped 10 games under .500 coming off three straight playoff seasons.

“Let’s build off what we’ve done the last three, four days, two games and two practices,” Jenkins said. “And just understand this is something that can propel us to better days ahead. But let’s not look too far ahead.”

Derrick Jones Jr. and Grant Williams scored 16 points apiece to lead the Mavericks.

“We made Kyrie work way harder than he should have tonight,” Williams said. “We have to play with a little more energy. We came out like we had Luka or we had the talent to beat this team, and they came out with the opportunity of ‘We both have guys out, so who’s going to play harder?’ They played harder than us.”

The Grizzlies led by 17 points midway through the third quarter prior to a 10-0 Dallas surge, which came two nights after a victory over Utah snapped a four-game losing slide.

Early in the fourth quarter, Nowell scored a jumper and a 3-pointer to spark a 12-0 run that put the Memphis lead up to six points. Five minutes later, Bane’s 3-pointer gave the Grizzlies their first 20-point advantage.

Bane, a four-year player at nearby TCU, scored at least 20 points in Dallas for the third time in as many seasons. When the Mavericks selected Josh Green above him at No. 18 in the 2020 selection, he took it personally. The thirty-first and last pick in the first round was Band.