The Dallas Mavericks defeated the New York Knicks 122-108 on Thursday night, with Luka Doncic scoring 39 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds. The Knicks had only seven players in the second half due to injuries and trades.

Former Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 19 points, while Derrick Jones Jr. had 18. The Mavericks won their third straight after making trades earlier Thursday to acquire big men P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. Kyrie Irving finished with 16 points.

Doncic scored 27 points in the second half, and his best pass came early in the game, a behind-the-back rocket that flew roughly 20 feet to Dwight Howell under the basket.

Donte DiVincenzo scored 36 points for the Knicks, who have lost two out of three after a nine-game winning streak. Josh Hart scored a season-high 23 points and added 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his second career triple-double, both coming in the last five games.

All-Star Jalen Brunson was unable to play against his former team due to a sprained right ankle, joining All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson as Knicks starters. The Knicks announced before the game that Anunoby underwent surgery to remove a loose bone fragment from his right elbow and would be reviewed in three weeks.

They traded four players to the Detroit Pistons earlier Thursday in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, leaving them with only eight available players. Coach Tom Thibodeau claimed it was enough, but New York was down to seven after Isaiah Hartenstein, Robinson’s replacement at centre, sat out the second half due to a strained left Achilles tendon.

The Mavericks bought Washington from Charlotte and Gafford from Washington. However, with both out and rookie centre Dereck Lively II missing his fourth straight game due to a fractured nose, the team was short on big bodies Thursday.

That didn’t matter because the Knicks are short on bodies of all sizes.

It will remain like way until after the All-Star break next weekend. The Knicks hope Robinson can return to work after that, while Randle and Anunoby’s comeback will be determined when they are evaluated around the end of February.

The Knicks had to provide playing time to guard Charlie Brown Jr., who made his fifth appearance of the season, and youngster Jacob Toppin, who will compete in the Slam Dunk Contest on All-Star Saturday but has already played in four NBA games.