Monday’s game included a Mavericks feel-good subplot when, with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter, two-way signee Kylor Kelley made his NBA debut at age 27 years and 154 days.

Kelley, 7-feet and 230 pounds, was signed on Sunday, a day after Maxi Kleber became the third Mavericks center in 11 days to be sidelined by a significant injury.

Kelley said he was getting ready to practice on Sunday with his G League South Bay Lakers teammates when his agent, Mayar Zokaei, called.

“When’s your next game?” Zokaei coyly asked.

“Wednesday,” Kelley said.

“No,” Zokaei said, “because you’re getting picked up by the Dallas Mavericks.”

Recalled Kelley: “It was mind-blowing, so I was speechless for about two minutes.

“It’s been a crazy 24 hours.”

Kelley arrived in Dallas on Sunday night, woke up and soon after headed to AAC to get an afternoon crash course on the Mavericks’ offensive and defensive sets and terminology.

Kidd was honest when asked before the game why the Mavericks signed Kelley.

“He’s a big. There’s not a lot of them to choose from, so that’s why we chose him. We believe that he can help.”

Kelley grew up in Utah, then Oregon, where during high school he sprouted from 6-1 to 7 feet, but only weighed 185 pounds.

He attended two small colleges before playing his last two college seasons at Oregon State, where he made the Pac-12 All-Defensive team in both 2019 and 2020, but went undrafted.

His pro career began with the G League Austin Spurs, then detoured in 2021 to a season with the London Lions of the British Basketball League, then a season with the Bakken Bears in Denmark.

He’d been in the G League ever since, the only exception being the preseason game he played with the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 4 of this season, playing six minutes and scoring four points that evening in Palm Desert.

“It’s been a long, long four years — a long journey, for sure. But a couple of years overseas maybe helped mature my body. The past couple of years in the G League I’ve gotten better every year, which is a testament to that.”

Kelley scored his first NBA point with 5:03 left Monday when he made the second of two free-throws. He finished with one point, four rebounds and two steals in eight minutes.

“I thought his activity and his talk [were good],” Kidd said. “He was vocal for someone who just got here. His voice could be heard on the floor. That’s a great sign for a newcomer.”

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