The Mavericks got significant games from various players in Wednesday night’s 127-123 overtime win over New Orleans.

There was Kristaps Porzingis’ 34 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. There was Luka Doncic’s franchise-record 22nd career triple-double. They became the first Mavericks teammates to post at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same game since Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard in 2008.

There was Seth Curry scoring 21 points and making six of his nine 3-point attempts, and afterward offering the quip of the night when asked whether his shooting causes other facets of his game to slip under the radar.

“I feel like it’s been like that all of my life, growing up with my dad who was really only a shooter. Me and Steph are obviously, I feel like, a lot more than that. Yeah, that’s how it’s been.”

But the Maverick who did most of the heavy lifting, emphasis on heavy? That had to be Maxi Kleber, who started and was tasked with guarding 6-foot-7, 285-pound Zion Williamson.

How did Kleber fare? He blocked five shots on Wednesday, all of them on Williamson’s attempts, accounting for more than half of Williamson’s nine missed shots on 18 attempts.

“My legs are a little bit heavy right now,” Kleber said with a smile after playing 39 minutes.“Obviously he’s a strong, heavy dude. It’s a lot of work to keep him away from the basket.”

The Mavericks’ 13 blocks, which included a franchise-record 11 in the first half, were a season-high and the most by a Mavericks team since the franchise-record 17-block effort against New Orleans in 2013.

“I just tried to hold my ground,” Kleber said of Williamson. “Every time he bumped into me, I tried to stand in there. Sometimes he got the layup; sometimes I got my hand on it and blocked it.”

Williamson was asked about the Mavericks’ physical play: “Yeah, I am used to the physicality. They were very physical. Just got to make reads. Got to make the better read.”

Kleber blocked three of Williamson’s shots in the second quarter, one in the third (with Dallas leading 63-57), one in the fourth (with Dallas leading 95-93) and also stole the ball from Williamson with 10:39 left in the game.

Kleber plays with a fearlessness, especially on defense, that was put to the test against Williamson. Williamson got one dunk on Kleber in the third quarter when Kleber tried to take a charge. By then, though, Kleber had blocked four of Williamson’s shots.

“If you’re scared of that and you don’t put in the effort, then obviously you can’t defend him,” Kleber said. “He’s a monster. He’s super-athletic. He can get those dunks and you’ve just got to be prepared for it, but overall it’s just about us winning the game.”

Block party

The Mavs recorded a season-high 13 blocks vs. the Pelicans on Wednesday. Here’s where that ranks in franchise history for the most blocks in a game

Date(s) Opponent Blocks Feb. 22, 2013 New Orleans 17 April 7, 1998 Portland 16 Dec. 13, 1988; Nov. 11, 2010; March 24, 2012 San Antonio, Philadelphia, Houston 15 Feb. 18, 1989; Dec. 5, 2009; Feb. 5, 2011; Nov. 17, 2012 Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland 14 March 4, 2020 New Orleans 13

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