Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - Printable Version

Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - Printable Version

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Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - mavsluvr - 02-26-2021

MAVERICKS BLOWN OUT IN PHILADELPHIA

Sometimes you run into a better team. This was one of those times.

GAME STORY

Porzingis was out again with lingering back stiffness. Rick broke out a new starting lineup with Luka, Josh, DFS, Maxi and Boban. I regret to report that they did not impress. In a harbinger of things to come, the Mavs had two shot clock violations in the first two minutes, and four turnovers in the first five minutes. Rick subbed three guys out before the quarter was half over. Somehow, both teams slogged through the rest of the period. An offensive exhibition it was not. Dallas trailed 22-23 after one.

The second quarter began with three Mavs turnovers, and four in the first five possessions. Still, our boys managed to hang in for a while, and were down only one point at 6:23, at which time the Sixers went on a 19-3 run. The Maverick possessions in this stretch were a microcosm of the problems in this game —

Doncic bad pass turnover
Bobi layup and-one
Richardson missed pull-up
DFS bad pass turnover
Bobi blocked shot
Luka lost ball turnover
Bobi blocked shot
Bobi lost ball turnover
WCS lost ball turnover

Just painful to watch. The score was 43-59 at halftime.

Rick put Johnson in rather than Bobi to start the third, in an effort to get more aggressive. The Mavs made a little headway, and cut the deficit to seven about halfway through the period. But then the game got away from them for good, and the quarter ended with — what else? — two Mavs turnovers. 68-86.

Luka, Maxi, and THJ never went back in, and the fourth quarter constituted extended garbage time.

NOTABLE ITEMS

STATISTICS. The story of the game was turnovers, as the Mavs butter-fingered their way through the contest. Normally a low-turnover team, they had a season-high 22 on the night, and gave up 22 points on that account. The Sixers were aggressive defensively, registering 11 steals, but the Dallas squad also looked sloppy and unfocused most of the night. There were several instances of blown layups and dunks and various unforced errors. We gave up 24 fast-break points, and were beaten in PIP 50-26. Our mighty offense went missing, but on the brighter side, I thought they played about as well as one might expect defensively, holding the Sixers to 111 points.

PLAYING STYLE. If post-ups are no longer a thing in the NBA, the Sixers didn’t get the memo. Over and over, they created mismatches, and took advantage of the Mavs’ smaller players. They particularly targeted Brunson in this way, but other players suffered the effects as well. Philly also plays with more of a defensive style than most teams this season, and their long, rangy, athletic players were able to discombobulate the Mavs. The Dallas offense wasn’t flowing, and the opponent deserves credit for imposing their will on the hapless Mavericks.

DONCIC. Luka had an off night by his standards, recording a 19/3/4 line, and committing 7 turnovers. I thought the Sixers were very effective at limiting him, particularly Ben Simmons. Rick said after the game that he thinks the Mavs are too dependent on Luka, and that they are trying to work on getting others to share the load. KP’s offense was missed, and no one else stepped up.

I have to say I agree with Rick about the over-dependence on Luka. This is what the top teams will do to a one-man show on offense in the playoffs, or in this case, even in the regular season. Ideally, the Mavs should be able to count on KP for 20, THJ for 15-20, and a couple other guys to step up with 10-15 points each on any given night. In this particular match, after Luka’s 19, you had Josh with 13, THJ 12, Brunson 11, and no one else in double digits. Not good enough.

GUARDS. The guards had 64 of the team’s 97 points. They all shot decent to good percentages, although Josh was 0-4 from deep. Timmy played for only 21 minutes and took only 8 shots. The Sixers were giving him extra attention, but without KP on the floor, the team’s only other elite scorer has to get more of an opportunity/be more aggressive, as the case may be. Josh had 13 points and 6 boards, but had a couple of turnovers and did not seem very decisive. Brunson had 11 points in 23 minutes off the bench, but had only five shot attempts and was getting overpowered defensively. The guards weren’t great, but they at least did their thing to a limited extent.

BIGS. The big-man rotation was really exposed in this match. To start with, no KP. Maxi played 22 minutes, and had 6 points and 4 rebounds to show for it. He had some good defensive plays, which I guess is the main reason he’s out there, but he missed a few open threes and was pretty much a non-factor offensively. WCS played 17 minutes off the bench, and recorded 2 points and 5 boards. He took 4 shots, but was able to finish only one. He went to the bench in the first quarter after giving up an offensive rebound and score after a Sixers missed free throw. Just didn’t seem focused.

Boban had 17 minutes, grabbed 12 rebounds, and made an impact defensively with his big body clogging the paint. However, he was surprisingly ineffective offensively, going 3-11 from the court and scoring only 7 points. James Johnson filled in for 15 minutes, and had 3 points on 1-5 shooting. Powell played 10 minutes and had 6 points (all at the line), 1 rebound, and 2 turnovers. He was just unable to stand up to Embiid and Howard — not nearly strong enough, and besides, he inexplicably blew a couple of dunks.

All this leads me to admit that I have grown seriously concerned about the Mavs front court rotation. They looked particularly bad in this game, but this pattern isn’t all that unusual. All 5 guys combined for 24 points, and that included a substantial amount of garbage time. They had 27 rebounds, 12 of which were secured by Bobi — so, 15 for the rest of the group put together. They just aren’t making much of an impact offensively, or in the rebounding department, and we’ve been over the defensive issues ad nauseam. Next to Philadelphia’s talented bigs, they don’t appear to be on the same level. The Mavericks will need to address this issue, imho.

SIXERS. The Sixers have the best record in the East for a reason. They’re really good. I thought the Mavs actually did a pretty good job of limiting Embiid, who had “only” 23 points, but was 5-20 from the floor. He was 11-12 from the line, and grabbed 9 rebounds. The Mavs do not really have an answer for the beasting behemoth type of player that he is. Former Mav Seth Curry had 15 points on 6-9 shooting. He said he bears the Mavericks no ill will for trading him, but thinks they made a bad business decision, lol.

Ben Simmons had 15 points and did a job on Luka. I had practically forgotten that Dwight Howard was still in the league, but he torched us with 14 points and 8 boards off the bench. Shake Milton also had 10 points.

OBSERVATIONS

Rick found the game disappointing. He thought the guys battled pretty well in the first quarter, but the second was their undoing. The third quarter started well but ended badly, and he was proud of the guys in the fourth for fighting hard. He called attention to the turnover problem, and said the team generally did not execute well and suffered from poor spacing and lack of ball movement.

The FSSW crew were puzzled at the squad’s disposition. Devin Harris commented on the players being loose with the ball, looking mentally off, missing rim shots, not moving to the right place, just not ready to go. They weren’t moving the ball and had only 17 assists in the game. The pundits pointed to a few individual examples, like Willie being caught not paying attention a couple of times, Luka throwing a pass behind Boban, and guys being careless with the ball. Not sure what to make of all this.

I feel like I'm being somewhat on the grumpy side, even though I'm trying to put a decent face on it. I wasn't really expecting us to win this game, but I was hoping they would give a little better account of themselves. If I'm just out of sorts, feel free to reply and cheer me up.

Another tough one is coming up, as the Mavs visit the Nets next. Fasten your seat belts, Mavs fans — it could be a bumpy night.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - MFFL - 02-26-2021

Some days you are the dog and some days you are the fire hydrant

This was a fire hydrant kinda day

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - cow - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 12:53 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: MAVERICKS BLOW, KP OUT, IN PHILADELPHIA

Fixed.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - mavsluvr - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 01:01 AM)MFFL Wrote: Some days you are the dog and some days you are the fire hydrant

This was a fire hydrant kinda day

LOL

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - ThisIStheYear - 02-26-2021

The Sixers are beasts on both ends of the court. This game was a pretty accurate reflection of where the teams stand. The Mavs have a long ways to go. It was a wake up call after beating up on mostly mediocre teams on their home floor. A positive loss if ever there was one.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - burekemde - 02-26-2021

Great writeup ML. I wish the Mavs could have that standard and consistency, as your recaps.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - mavsluvr - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 02:20 AM)burekemde Wrote: Great writeup ML. I wish the Mavs could have that standard and consistency, as your recaps.

Aww. Thanks, burekemde!

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - Hypermav - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 01:01 AM)MFFL Wrote: Some days you are the dog and some days you are the fire hydrant

This was a fire hydrant kinda day

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - Kammrath - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 12:53 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: the players being loose with the ball, looking mentally off, missing rim shots, not moving to the right place, just not ready to go.

All too common this season.

Still think this all points to something (though we can only speculate) going on with this team off the court or in the locker room. Even after the recent success they still managed to just look like a team without a direction, focus, purpose, or leader.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - Hypermav - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 12:53 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: I feel like I'm being somewhat on the grumpy side, even though I'm trying to put a decent face on it. I wasn't really expecting us to win this game, but I was hoping they would give a little better account of themselves. If I'm just out of sorts, feel free to reply and cheer me up.

Yeah, this game left a bad taste after the Mavs fun thriller with Boston. Our guys just could not get into it for whatever reason.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - mavsluvr - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 08:27 AM)Hypermav Wrote:

Yeah, this game left a bad taste after the Mavs fun thriller with Boston. Our guys just could not get into it for whatever reason.

haha

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - meistermatze - 02-26-2021

Great recap, as usual.

I guess the good news is that we won't face the Sixers in the playoffs haha. They are just not a good matchup for us (for anybody I guess): Too big, too long, too athletic. They are really a good team and are well coached. Just like the Celtics under Stevens (whom I consider to be an excellent coach), the Sixers elected to double Luka many times. I think it's the right decision against the Mavs and good coaches realize this. Unless KP comes back and gets into his bubble-self, we are doomed because of this.

On the plus side... well, hard to say. To cheer you up a little: I think this team can only get better and we are still hovering around .500. My expectation fpr this season is to finish with a winning-record, get into toe playoffs and get torched by the Lakers or Clippers as the 6th or 7th seed. I guess things could be worse.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - HoosierDaddyKid - 02-26-2021

I guess we should expect a 140-135 type of game, Saturday night. Nets are the highest scoring team in the league at 123 ppg, although they've played better defensively, they are lacking size up front. They will be in the market for another big. I expect KP to be back for this one.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - ItsGoTime - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 08:19 AM)Hypermav Wrote:

My favorite quote from Cheers! I still use it to this day!

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - ClutchDirk - 02-26-2021

https://twitter.com/_JimmyMcCormick/status/1365286129163984902

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - omahen - 02-26-2021

Too bad Mavs didn't give you a gift, so let me wish you a very happy birthday. I hope you will continue to write this updates Smile

https://twitter.com/coopmavs/status/1365353025011933185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1365353025011933185%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fdallas-mavericks

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - mavsluvr - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 01:24 PM)omahen Wrote: Too bad Mavs didn't give you a gift, so let me wish you a very happy birthday. I hope you will continue to write this updates

https://twitter.com/coopmavs/status/1365353025011933185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1365353025011933185%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fdallas-mavericks

hahaha, oh dear

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - hakeemfan - 02-26-2021

When RC says the offense is too reliant on Luka, I hope he is referring to the usage and not just the scoring load. The offense with Luka on is basically Luka wanting the ball, dribbling a lot and then deciding what he wants to do.

I know I have been overly critical of Luka and he is a brilliant talent. My pet peeve is this type of player has always bothered me. Someone who doesn’t try hard on defense, but on offense demands the ball every time. You usually see that at youth levels with the coach’s son. Always ball greedy, talented but everyone else takes a backseat as he runs a one man show on offense.

Even MJ played off the ball a lot. Luka should be ok if he doesn’t get a score or an assist. At this current moment there is too much ball greediness with him. Play off the ball and move around on offense. No player is bigger than the team.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - cow - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 02:57 PM)hakeemfan Wrote: I know I have been overly critical of Luka and he is a brilliant talent. My pet peeve is this type of player has always bothered me. Someone who doesn’t try hard on defense, but on offense demands the ball every time. You usually see that at youth levels with the coach’s son. Always ball greedy, talented but everyone else takes a backseat as he runs a one man show on offense.

The problem becomes building a team around that and finding another star who wants to deal with that much usage from their counterpart. I guess the bright side is looking at what Harden is doing with the Nets.

RE: Mavericks 97, Sixers 111 - KillerLeft - 02-26-2021

(02-26-2021, 02:57 PM)hakeemfan Wrote: When RC says the offense is too reliant on Luka, I hope he is referring to the usage and not just the scoring load. The offense with Luka on is basically Luka wanting the ball, dribble a lot and then decide what he wants to do.

He absolutely does mean usage, don't worry. I mean, I haven't spoken to him about it, but it's so obvious that the issues you raise are valid, and frankly, Carlisle has never liked this type of team.

Further, they've tried Wright, Richardson, and now Brunson, all playing with Luka, all being given opportunities to move Luka off-ball. In fact, I feel like they've tried forcing this a lot more, recently, to varying degrees of success.

Part of the problem might (might) be that Luka is just more comfortable with the ball in his hands and not quite experienced enough yet to make a significant impact moving without the ball. Part of the problem might be that the combination of supporting players isn't adequate for the offense to be successful without a star-level threat handling.

Whatever it is, though, the Mavs have not found a secondary creator (though it might be Brunson, tbh). I can damn near promise you that it's not because Carlisle isn't trying. He's actually talked about it in the media fairly clearly on numerous occasions.