Well, that was more like it. 


Great comeback from the Mavs over the defending champs. Looked nothing like the squad that limped through the Knicks game. 


Absences.  The Raptors were without Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. Mavs did not hesitate to take advantage. 


Players.  Several Mavs had standout nights. Comments in order of minutes played. 


    Maxi (38).  Maxi had 10 points and 8 rebounds, but his major contribution was on the defensive end. He drew chief guard duty on Raptors star Pascal Siakam, with a little help from Dodo and Tim. Siakam, who averages 27 ppg, was held to 15 points on 6-24 shooting. PS earned only 3 free throw attempts, featuring the Mavs' ability to defend him without fouling. Pascal turned the ball over 5 times, which is definitely in the mediocre range, at best. Superb defensive work by the man from Würzburg. 

    Kleber was part of the starting lineup, which a number of fans have been wanting. He justified the coach's trust in him, and Carlisle lauded his "great" game in the postgame presser. At around the 8:24 mark in the third quarter, he received a football handoff from Luka for a highlight reel layup. Great to see a fine player with a breakout game!


    KP (36).  Excellent response from KP after the Knicks match. He didn't shoot especially well, going 1-7 from beyond the arc and 35% overall, but had a good showing at the FT line (5-6). Even at that, he had 20 points and was the team's leading scorer besides Luka. He had a very strong rebounding game, tying a career high of 15 rebounds, including 5 offensive boards. He was credited with only 1 block, but he altered numerous shots, which changed the game despite not making it into the box score. 

    Among his highlights included a bank shot from the side halfway through the first quarter. He shut noted Mavs torturer Marc Gasol down mano a mano around 4:50 in the third. The subsequent play featured a KP dunk from an interior bounce pass from Dodo. (Wow!) Early in the fourth, KP dived on the floor to recover the ball, and somehow got the rock to Brunson, who sailed a downcourt pass to Wright for a stunning finish. Shortly thereafter, he blocked a layup from Terence Davis. Later in the frame, Nick Nurse drew a technical foul, and KP was called upon to shoot the T, despite Luka and Seth both being on the court! 

    Cedric Ceballos admired KP's tenacity on defense and rebounding. Carlisle commended the Latvian for moving and playing within the system on both ends of the court. Hopefully, we are witnessing the growth of a star. 


    Luka (36).  Luka is always phenomenal, and did not disappoint in this game. He didn't have a great shooting night (1-5 3PTA, 4-9 2PTA), but got to the FT line an incredible 19 times (hitting 15) for a team-high 26 points. Lest we think he only contributed by scoring, he also grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and dished 7 assists. He did turn the ball over 7 times, including an embarrassing stolen inbounds pass late in the game, but we don't need to dwell on that. 

    Doncic was double- and triple-teamed all night, and did a good job opening up shots for other players. Carlisle graded his night as "terrific." Toward the end of the fourth quarter, he split a double team with a behind the back dribble, eliciting a swoon from bedazzled fans. Always amazing!


    Seth (33) (season high).  What a night for Seth! He started the game and earned big minutes against the Raps. He was 3-5 from three and 2-2 on 2PTAs, and made both his free throws for a total of 15 points. It was great to see Curry hitting from long range again! He wasn't just a spot-up shooter, though. He played an all-around game, adding 6 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, and a block to the effort. Also took great care of the ball, with only 2 turnovers in long minutes. 

    Seth played some lovely basketball, with a beautiful stop-and-pop three late in the second. He also had a dramatic  offensive rebound and put back off a DFS miss about halfway through the fourth. After he was flattened by Aunoby in the last two minutes, he hit both of his free throws, bringing him to 88% from the line this season. 

    Jason Terry admired Seth's defense, as well as his shooting. Both Ceballos and Carlisle remarked on how much defensive attention Curry draws, and how much his simple presence on the floor opens up space for his teammates. Rick "loved" Seth's game, praised his defense, appreciated his "timely shotmaking on good looks," and noted his important layup in the stretch. Well done, Seth!


    Wright (19).  Delon had an excellent shooting night, hitting 6-8 from the field and both free throws to accumulate 15 points off the bench. He also contributed 4 boards and a game-high 3 steals. 

    Wright's highlight move was probably a nifty back door cut in the first quarter for a score. 

    Carlisle had high praise for Wright, saying he was "very aggressive," and did "a terrific job" against his former team. Jet was also an admirer, commenting that Wright is a defensive presence on the floor, doesn't try to do too much offensively, knows that he is most effective in the paint, is an elite finisher at the rim, is an offensive rebounder, gets out in transition, can initiate the offense, and likes to "snake around" on the attack. Excellent job from the former Raptor!


Lineups.  Carlisle called upon Luka, Seth, Dodo, KP, and Maxi to start. He went back to that group in the meat of the fourth quarter, putting THJ and Wright in for KP and Seth in the last 1:37.


Three-point shooting. In the "needs improvement" category, the Mavs' poor three-point shooting continued unabated. They registered a putrid 9-39 from long range (23%), including Maxi 2-8, KP 1-7, DFS and Luka 1-5, and THJ 0-4. Part of this was attributable to poor shot selection, particularly in the first half. I don't know whether they are being instructed to take shots early, or whether they don't have the patience or confidence to work for a better look. Jet advised the team to take threes from the corners as much as possible, and to cut back on off-the-dribble contested looks. 


The Paint. The Mavs played well in the paint, earning 50 points there, and limiting the Raps to 38. Their interior passing was a thing of beauty, and they made life difficult for the Raptors' offense. The Raps tried a zone defense early, and Wright sliced right through it. Other Mavs followed, making forays to the basket whenever they had a chance. 


Impressions. The offense looked to be clicking in this contest, giving hope that more time playing together will result in better chemistry. Perhaps even more importantly, the team appeared attentive to defense, and made the Raps work for their points. The Mavs did a good job of defending without fouling, recording only 15 fouls for the entire game. They also took reasonably good care of the ball, with only 12 turnovers, with 7 of those coming from Luka, who is a very high-usage player. Although the Raptors were not at their best, the Mavs can be proud of this win in a very entertaining event.
 

Next. Pop and the Spurs are coming to Big D on Monday. These are not the titanic Spurs of old, but then neither are the Mavs. Should be a good rivalry match!

In the fine print of the contract of the trade with the Knicks for Porzingis, we promised them 2 wins this year if they struck out in FA, since the picks we gave them would be "meh" and we absolutely gorilla-raped them in this trade in every other conceivable way.

I'm looking at life this way, and I feel a lot better about it.  You are welcome to join me...now life makes sense.

Who was the "player of the game" who elevated their play above normal to help the team get the win?

Today we are officially only up and running for two months. 

...and has always been, fake tough.

My friends that I watched Mavs games with back in the day called Kendrick Perkins "Mean Face". He wasn't any good, and he wasn't even much of an enforcer. He just built a bit of a reputation as a tough guy by making faces on the court. Fake tough. 

KG did this too but he was actually good at basketball.

Anyway, it just struck me that Perkins is at it again. He's attempting to build a media career in the same way that he built his NBA career. He's just verbally, or in print, making faces at Porzingis. He's doing his fake tough thing again.

He's taking a page out of Skip "The Fraud" Bayless' book. Make your way in the media world by pitting yourself against someone who people actually care about. It's coattail riding.

Always was, and still is, fake tough.

https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/1195502195682238465

Mavs currently in 8th place and in danger of dropping out of the playoff hunt. Spurs are in 9th and are a real threat as always. Blazers are in a weird way and desperate but I think they will get it together at some point. Nobody else really scares you. And that assumes the Suns and T-Wolves are going to keep it together and not drop off.

If the Mavs at least hang in there in 8-10 range through the TDL they will have a good chance to make playoffs, especially if we can pull off a trade.

The Dallas Mavericks have the 4th EASIEST schedule in the league thus far yet boast a 6-5 record. It could be a lot worse, sure. But shouldn't it be a little better with a top 5 NBA player, all-star caliber talent, and a "top 2 head coach?" 

Contrast that with the Phoenix Suns who hold the 4th HARDEST schedule yet are 7-4 without DeAndre Ayton. 

After 11 games, we still haven't figured it out but seems like some are okay with that? Now we are facing more legit playoff caliber teams in the upcoming weeks and have no idea who we are. Why exactly should we be encouraged?

The trial and error approach is what training camp and preseason is for but the Mavs believe they have the luxury to lollygag through 11 games (and counting) in an unforgiving Western Conference.

We rank 2nd in offensive rating but are a bottom 10 defensive rated team. Remember, that is with the 4th EASIEST schedule in the league; it's only going to get harder. 

Last year's locker room had issues they couldn't overcome. If/when the losses start to pile up, is this a team built for adversity? Brad Townsend's tweet from last night: https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/1195190622048657408

The wheels are in motion but in what direction? Is this our come to Dirk moment or is it a powder keg ready to explode?

Is it possible to retroactively give the MBT a grade lower than F- for the offseason? Two great starters we could have added to the team instead of adding more bench guys to a team that's 90% bench players. Two great starters who were available and could have been had instead of chasing dudes who were never going to sign with us anyway. It's just incredible how bad they were at accessing who actually wanted to be here and who was playing us.