10-28-2021, 11:17 PM
MAVS SURVIVE SLOW START IN VICTORY OVER SPURS
The Mavericks welcomed the San Antonio Spurs to the AAC tonight for Game 4 of the season. The Spurs are no longer the titans of old, but still have a collection of interesting young players, along with legendary coach Gregg Popovich.
After going down by 20 points in the first quarter, our boys in blue battled back in a weird and exciting contest with 11 lead changes. It wasn't what I would call a beautiful game, but all's well that ends well.
GAME NOTES
Dallas was missing KP (lower back tightness), Trey Burke (health and safety protocols), Boban (back), and Sterling Brown (ankle). (Burke is reportedly not sick, just missed some of his protocol and couldn’t play.) Excitement reigned before the game concerning who would appear in the minutes that the absences opened up.
FIRST QUARTER
Mavs insert Reggie Bullock in the starting lineup, confirming Kidd's terror of Nick Angstadt. (JK) It's Luka-THJ-Bullock-DFS-Powell.
Luka rolls his eyes at a travel call, but controls himself, lol. Spurs get off to a 7-0 lead, until Mavs get on the board with a Powell free throw. 1-11 8:27. SMH.
THJ knocked to the floor on a dunk attempt. Ouch! Powell and Walker both go down in a collision. Physical game here. 1-17 6:44. Kleber, WCS, and Brunson come in to try to get the Mavs on track. 3-23 at 4:49. Timeout. Mavs 1-11 from the field. Two turnovers, together with a Luka strip that was called a block. Spurs with 10 rebounds, Mavs with 4. What in the actual hay-o?
Mavs not offering much resistance at the rim. Spurs, on the other hand, stuffing Dallas at every turn. The French Prince comes in for a four-man bench unit, along with Reggie. 7-25 at 2:27.
15-25 after one. The Mavs cut their deficit in half. Frankie and Reg have the only threes, at one each. Mavs defense looks to be waking up from their snooze. Spurs had one basket in the last five minutes, so there's that.
SECOND QUARTER
Mavs on a 16-0 run. Poetl ends the drought. But this is way more like it. Maxi ties the game with a long three. Brunson retakes the lead with another three. Extremely weird sequences here, but it’s working out. So far. 33-29 at 6:21.
Kleber with another trey! Maxi and Brunson putting their stamp on this game. Kleber makes his third block. You go, Maxi! Starters back on the floor with about five minutes to go. The rare corner three from Luka! How about that! 42-37 3:43.
Oops! Luka’s corner three disallowed. Out-of-bounds, I think. Luka letting the ref know what he thinks of that. Very late call. Well, SA regains the lead at 1:41. Luka gets his first assist of the game on a lob to Powell. Mavs closing the half with a unit of the starters, but Brunson in place of Bullock. Luka regains the lead with a step-back from twenty-eight feet! Forbes with a WIDE open three at the buzzer. Mavs trail by two going into the locker room. Really? 47-49.
Mavs have raised their shooting to 40%. Brunson leads the charge with 13 points. Mavs 2-6 from the free-throw line — what is that? Luka with 7 points, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers. Maybe Brunson can help them clean up the vibes a little in the locker room. Rough start, but still think this looks like a win for the home team. You have to give them a lot of credit for the quick comeback. Stein gives JB props for “quarterbacking the rally.”
THIRD QUARTER
Starters begin the third. Powell grabbing his neck after a hit from Poetl. Spurs leave DFS out in the wilderness, and he completes the corner three. Pop is not looking favorably on the play. 53-55 8:00.
.
Timmy hits his first three of the game, off a Powell screen. Maxi and Brunson coming back in. I think that’s a good sign. Luka with a couple good baskets in the paint. Powell from Hardaway! And-one from Luka! Mavs getting serious now? Maxi with his fifth block. He has been outstanding tonight. Luka to WCS! Woo-hoo! Luka in a groove now. Dominating the paint. Brunson looking very sharp, hits a jump shot. Frankie ties the game with a three! The French connection! Frank steals the inbounds pass! 1:58 73-all.
Maxi takes the lead with a three. Unstoppable! Maxi called for a blocking foul. The crowd takes loud exception. Bates-Diop with an impressive block of a Maxi three. Brunson gives SA free throws with 8 seconds left. Thought it was a foul to give? Oops. The free throws tie the game. 76-76 after three. Anyone who thought this Spurs team was going to make it easy for us doesn’t know Gregg Popovich.
FOURTH QUARTER
Maxi with another three! A-mazing! Now, he’s limping after taking a hit under the rim. Casey looking at him. Powell has come in for him. Dang, hope he’s okay. JB takes the lead with a bank shot in the paint. SA answers. Luka-DP lob. Luka over a crowd! Brunson again. Making his mark! 90-86 6:55. Maxi gone to the locker room.
DP throws it down! Mavs force a shot clock violation. Luka off the window! Maxi back in! Luka with a step-back jack over Poetl! Beautiful! Luka with a trey over Jakob again! Gorgeous! Maxi with his sixth block. 2:51 100-92.
A shot delay while the cleaning crew scrubs blood off the floor. Looks like they’ve got it covered. Hardaway steps up with a jumper. Steal of Luka pass results in SA transition dunk. Wild and crazy possession ends with Luka free throws. Misses both. Spurs make it a one-possession game with a three. Spurs with another steal. They get in trouble by the sideline, call a timeout. 102-99
Murray misses a bunny. What a let-off for the Mavs! Reggie makes one of two free throws for a two-possession lead. Keldon Johnson misses two free throws, the second one an attempt at an intentional miss that doesn’t hit the rim. Ten seconds left. Poetl has to foul DFS. One of two. Final. 104-99. Whew! Pulled that one out!
ANALYSIS
The team really pulled one out of the fire tonight. Shooting started out abysmally, but ended up at a respectable 46% (40% from three). Our boys shot a dismal 4-13 from the line — what’s up with that? The Spurs were formidable defenders at the rim, racking up 11 blocks. The Mavs had 7, 6 of them executed by Maxi. SA was hurt by losing 20 points off turnovers.
A great performance from the bench tonight. Reggie was the only starter in positive figures, but all of the bench guys were in the black, with three of the four at +21 or better. Luka reckoned that the bench won them the game. The increased depth appears to be paying off.
PLAYER NOTES
DONCIC. All the guys played a reasonable number of minutes, led by Luka with 34. After getting off to a poor start, he managed to end the game with a team-high 25 points on 11-19 shooting. He did have 7 turnovers, and went 0-3 from the line, but who’s counting? After the game, Devin Harris commented that Luka is being asked to facilitate more in the first halves, and that the effort is still a work in progress. He gets more of a green light in the second halves, and he took advantage of that tonight in a display of scoring prowess.
DFS. Doe-Doe had a very competent game, registering 14 points (5-11) and 8 rebounds in his 32 minutes of action. He was instrumental in keeping the Spurs’ athletic youngsters at bay, and was only barely in negative figures by the end (-6). I like the way he is coming along.
HARDAWAY. It was a quiet evening for Timmy, who had only six points on the night (2-8) in 32 minutes. I’m sure he had hoped for much better. Shooters are going to have these off nights now and then. Fortunately, other guys were there to take up the slack.
BRUNSON. The Brunson-Maxi duo were PHENOMENAL in this one. Jalen was 19-7-5 (8-15) in 30 minutes. I think he might have taken Cuban’s remark before the season that we need another playmaker as a personal challenge. He ran the second unit like a boss, and was +21 on the night. Kidd says he has been talking to Jalen about his goals for the season, which are #1 to get paid (Kidd said ruefully), and raising his game and becoming a team leader as a close second. Kidd described him as a “born leader who could easily start in this league.” The talented young guard may be well on his way to achieving his objectives.
BULLOCK. Reggie got the nod for a starting spot with KP out, and I think we had probably hoped for a little more from him. He ended up with 7 points and 2 boards in 30 minutes, but it was his debut as a Mavs starter, and his best is yet to come.
KLEBER. Maxi was just outstanding, recording 22 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high-tying 6 blocks in 29 minutes. He was massive defensively, while also firing in a team-high 4 threes. He was awarded the post-game interview, and congratulated his bench unit for the comeback, lol. You tell ‘em, Maxi! Kidd said that Kleber was “everywhere,” scoring, rebounding and defending like a “German big.” Great game.
POWELL. Dwight contributed 11 points and 3 boards in 25 minutes. It was a bit of a struggle for him tonight, with the Spurs playing a massive center, but he and Luka got their groove going after a while.
BENCH. Willie and Frankie rounded out the 9-man rotation with 14 minutes of burn apiece, and combined for 10 points, 7 boards and 1 assist. Marc Stein revealed that the Mavs have “big plans” for Ntlikina, believing that he will add substantially to their guard depth. Moses Brown and Josh Green remained on the sideline for this one.
INACTIVES. The buzz is that KP is not seriously hurt, but more being "managed" in a back-to-back situation. He is planning to travel to Denver with the team tonight. Trey Burke was ineligible due to missing a required COVID protocol. I don't know the circumstances, and maybe this was entirely excusable, but I am starting to get an uneasy feeling about him. Hope I'm overreacting.
SPURS. Our brothers from the Lone Star State put up a fight to the very end. Dejounte Murray put 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists on the board. Jakob Poetl also impressed with 14 and 10. However, at the end of the game, SA started switching everything, and Kidd pointed out that Luka was able to take full advantage of Poetl being switched on to him. Bryn Forbes had 5 threes off the bench. Lonnie Walker and Keldon Johnson were also in double figures. Looks like Pop has himself a nice little team there.
OBSERVATIONS
Kidd credited the character of his bench. The team has been getting off to slow starts this season, although he didn’t think this start would be THAT slow. Was particularly proud of a six-minute stretch where the Spurs had no baskets. He acknowledged that his team is still undergoing some learning pains, but commended them for being out there trying.
If I were in a critiquing mode, I might say this narrow win over a rebuilding team should arguably have been a blowout, and the performance didn’t instill a lot of confidence in our ability to handle a quality team. Perhaps I would acknowledge a degree of trepidation regarding the upcoming match against Denver.
But since we’re in the celebrate-the-wins-when-we-get-them mode, we won’t mention any of that. Victories of 1 point or 50 points all count the same in the win column. Coming back from a 20-deficit isn’t the easiest thing, but they did it, and managed to hold on for the W without KP. For the second consecutive game, they were able to overcome a team they “should” beat with a burst from their superior talent at the end.
NEXT. The Mavs face the Nuggets on the second night of a B2B tomorrow night in Denver. That is likely to be a less forgiving opponent. Should be interesting!
The Mavericks welcomed the San Antonio Spurs to the AAC tonight for Game 4 of the season. The Spurs are no longer the titans of old, but still have a collection of interesting young players, along with legendary coach Gregg Popovich.
After going down by 20 points in the first quarter, our boys in blue battled back in a weird and exciting contest with 11 lead changes. It wasn't what I would call a beautiful game, but all's well that ends well.
GAME NOTES
Dallas was missing KP (lower back tightness), Trey Burke (health and safety protocols), Boban (back), and Sterling Brown (ankle). (Burke is reportedly not sick, just missed some of his protocol and couldn’t play.) Excitement reigned before the game concerning who would appear in the minutes that the absences opened up.
FIRST QUARTER
Mavs insert Reggie Bullock in the starting lineup, confirming Kidd's terror of Nick Angstadt. (JK) It's Luka-THJ-Bullock-DFS-Powell.
Luka rolls his eyes at a travel call, but controls himself, lol. Spurs get off to a 7-0 lead, until Mavs get on the board with a Powell free throw. 1-11 8:27. SMH.
THJ knocked to the floor on a dunk attempt. Ouch! Powell and Walker both go down in a collision. Physical game here. 1-17 6:44. Kleber, WCS, and Brunson come in to try to get the Mavs on track. 3-23 at 4:49. Timeout. Mavs 1-11 from the field. Two turnovers, together with a Luka strip that was called a block. Spurs with 10 rebounds, Mavs with 4. What in the actual hay-o?
Mavs not offering much resistance at the rim. Spurs, on the other hand, stuffing Dallas at every turn. The French Prince comes in for a four-man bench unit, along with Reggie. 7-25 at 2:27.
15-25 after one. The Mavs cut their deficit in half. Frankie and Reg have the only threes, at one each. Mavs defense looks to be waking up from their snooze. Spurs had one basket in the last five minutes, so there's that.
SECOND QUARTER
Mavs on a 16-0 run. Poetl ends the drought. But this is way more like it. Maxi ties the game with a long three. Brunson retakes the lead with another three. Extremely weird sequences here, but it’s working out. So far. 33-29 at 6:21.
Kleber with another trey! Maxi and Brunson putting their stamp on this game. Kleber makes his third block. You go, Maxi! Starters back on the floor with about five minutes to go. The rare corner three from Luka! How about that! 42-37 3:43.
Oops! Luka’s corner three disallowed. Out-of-bounds, I think. Luka letting the ref know what he thinks of that. Very late call. Well, SA regains the lead at 1:41. Luka gets his first assist of the game on a lob to Powell. Mavs closing the half with a unit of the starters, but Brunson in place of Bullock. Luka regains the lead with a step-back from twenty-eight feet! Forbes with a WIDE open three at the buzzer. Mavs trail by two going into the locker room. Really? 47-49.
Mavs have raised their shooting to 40%. Brunson leads the charge with 13 points. Mavs 2-6 from the free-throw line — what is that? Luka with 7 points, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers. Maybe Brunson can help them clean up the vibes a little in the locker room. Rough start, but still think this looks like a win for the home team. You have to give them a lot of credit for the quick comeback. Stein gives JB props for “quarterbacking the rally.”
THIRD QUARTER
Starters begin the third. Powell grabbing his neck after a hit from Poetl. Spurs leave DFS out in the wilderness, and he completes the corner three. Pop is not looking favorably on the play. 53-55 8:00.
.
Timmy hits his first three of the game, off a Powell screen. Maxi and Brunson coming back in. I think that’s a good sign. Luka with a couple good baskets in the paint. Powell from Hardaway! And-one from Luka! Mavs getting serious now? Maxi with his fifth block. He has been outstanding tonight. Luka to WCS! Woo-hoo! Luka in a groove now. Dominating the paint. Brunson looking very sharp, hits a jump shot. Frankie ties the game with a three! The French connection! Frank steals the inbounds pass! 1:58 73-all.
Maxi takes the lead with a three. Unstoppable! Maxi called for a blocking foul. The crowd takes loud exception. Bates-Diop with an impressive block of a Maxi three. Brunson gives SA free throws with 8 seconds left. Thought it was a foul to give? Oops. The free throws tie the game. 76-76 after three. Anyone who thought this Spurs team was going to make it easy for us doesn’t know Gregg Popovich.
FOURTH QUARTER
Maxi with another three! A-mazing! Now, he’s limping after taking a hit under the rim. Casey looking at him. Powell has come in for him. Dang, hope he’s okay. JB takes the lead with a bank shot in the paint. SA answers. Luka-DP lob. Luka over a crowd! Brunson again. Making his mark! 90-86 6:55. Maxi gone to the locker room.
DP throws it down! Mavs force a shot clock violation. Luka off the window! Maxi back in! Luka with a step-back jack over Poetl! Beautiful! Luka with a trey over Jakob again! Gorgeous! Maxi with his sixth block. 2:51 100-92.
A shot delay while the cleaning crew scrubs blood off the floor. Looks like they’ve got it covered. Hardaway steps up with a jumper. Steal of Luka pass results in SA transition dunk. Wild and crazy possession ends with Luka free throws. Misses both. Spurs make it a one-possession game with a three. Spurs with another steal. They get in trouble by the sideline, call a timeout. 102-99
Murray misses a bunny. What a let-off for the Mavs! Reggie makes one of two free throws for a two-possession lead. Keldon Johnson misses two free throws, the second one an attempt at an intentional miss that doesn’t hit the rim. Ten seconds left. Poetl has to foul DFS. One of two. Final. 104-99. Whew! Pulled that one out!
ANALYSIS
The team really pulled one out of the fire tonight. Shooting started out abysmally, but ended up at a respectable 46% (40% from three). Our boys shot a dismal 4-13 from the line — what’s up with that? The Spurs were formidable defenders at the rim, racking up 11 blocks. The Mavs had 7, 6 of them executed by Maxi. SA was hurt by losing 20 points off turnovers.
A great performance from the bench tonight. Reggie was the only starter in positive figures, but all of the bench guys were in the black, with three of the four at +21 or better. Luka reckoned that the bench won them the game. The increased depth appears to be paying off.
PLAYER NOTES
DONCIC. All the guys played a reasonable number of minutes, led by Luka with 34. After getting off to a poor start, he managed to end the game with a team-high 25 points on 11-19 shooting. He did have 7 turnovers, and went 0-3 from the line, but who’s counting? After the game, Devin Harris commented that Luka is being asked to facilitate more in the first halves, and that the effort is still a work in progress. He gets more of a green light in the second halves, and he took advantage of that tonight in a display of scoring prowess.
DFS. Doe-Doe had a very competent game, registering 14 points (5-11) and 8 rebounds in his 32 minutes of action. He was instrumental in keeping the Spurs’ athletic youngsters at bay, and was only barely in negative figures by the end (-6). I like the way he is coming along.
HARDAWAY. It was a quiet evening for Timmy, who had only six points on the night (2-8) in 32 minutes. I’m sure he had hoped for much better. Shooters are going to have these off nights now and then. Fortunately, other guys were there to take up the slack.
BRUNSON. The Brunson-Maxi duo were PHENOMENAL in this one. Jalen was 19-7-5 (8-15) in 30 minutes. I think he might have taken Cuban’s remark before the season that we need another playmaker as a personal challenge. He ran the second unit like a boss, and was +21 on the night. Kidd says he has been talking to Jalen about his goals for the season, which are #1 to get paid (Kidd said ruefully), and raising his game and becoming a team leader as a close second. Kidd described him as a “born leader who could easily start in this league.” The talented young guard may be well on his way to achieving his objectives.
BULLOCK. Reggie got the nod for a starting spot with KP out, and I think we had probably hoped for a little more from him. He ended up with 7 points and 2 boards in 30 minutes, but it was his debut as a Mavs starter, and his best is yet to come.
KLEBER. Maxi was just outstanding, recording 22 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high-tying 6 blocks in 29 minutes. He was massive defensively, while also firing in a team-high 4 threes. He was awarded the post-game interview, and congratulated his bench unit for the comeback, lol. You tell ‘em, Maxi! Kidd said that Kleber was “everywhere,” scoring, rebounding and defending like a “German big.” Great game.
POWELL. Dwight contributed 11 points and 3 boards in 25 minutes. It was a bit of a struggle for him tonight, with the Spurs playing a massive center, but he and Luka got their groove going after a while.
BENCH. Willie and Frankie rounded out the 9-man rotation with 14 minutes of burn apiece, and combined for 10 points, 7 boards and 1 assist. Marc Stein revealed that the Mavs have “big plans” for Ntlikina, believing that he will add substantially to their guard depth. Moses Brown and Josh Green remained on the sideline for this one.
INACTIVES. The buzz is that KP is not seriously hurt, but more being "managed" in a back-to-back situation. He is planning to travel to Denver with the team tonight. Trey Burke was ineligible due to missing a required COVID protocol. I don't know the circumstances, and maybe this was entirely excusable, but I am starting to get an uneasy feeling about him. Hope I'm overreacting.
SPURS. Our brothers from the Lone Star State put up a fight to the very end. Dejounte Murray put 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists on the board. Jakob Poetl also impressed with 14 and 10. However, at the end of the game, SA started switching everything, and Kidd pointed out that Luka was able to take full advantage of Poetl being switched on to him. Bryn Forbes had 5 threes off the bench. Lonnie Walker and Keldon Johnson were also in double figures. Looks like Pop has himself a nice little team there.
OBSERVATIONS
Kidd credited the character of his bench. The team has been getting off to slow starts this season, although he didn’t think this start would be THAT slow. Was particularly proud of a six-minute stretch where the Spurs had no baskets. He acknowledged that his team is still undergoing some learning pains, but commended them for being out there trying.
If I were in a critiquing mode, I might say this narrow win over a rebuilding team should arguably have been a blowout, and the performance didn’t instill a lot of confidence in our ability to handle a quality team. Perhaps I would acknowledge a degree of trepidation regarding the upcoming match against Denver.
But since we’re in the celebrate-the-wins-when-we-get-them mode, we won’t mention any of that. Victories of 1 point or 50 points all count the same in the win column. Coming back from a 20-deficit isn’t the easiest thing, but they did it, and managed to hold on for the W without KP. For the second consecutive game, they were able to overcome a team they “should” beat with a burst from their superior talent at the end.
NEXT. The Mavs face the Nuggets on the second night of a B2B tomorrow night in Denver. That is likely to be a less forgiving opponent. Should be interesting!