MAVS CRUISE AGAINST DECIMATED CAVS
The Mavericks showed no mercy against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the game was effectively put away by halftime. Woo-hoo!
GAME STORY
KP, Maxi, and Redick were on the injury report at game time. Seven players were absent for the Cavaliers, and I barely recognized most of the players they trotted out. Rick went with a starting lineup of Luka-Richardson-Hardaway-DFS-WCS for the Mavs.
The Mavs got off to a strong start. They took the lead within two minutes and never surrendered it again. They reached a double-digit edge with three minutes left. Trey Burke excited the crowd with a half-court buzzer-beater three to end the quarter at 33-19. THJ led the scoring with 11 points.
The second quarter took on a festive, Globetrotter-style atmosphere as the lead climbed ever higher. Long threes and longer passes flew around the court as the heat checks erupted, although the Maverick defenders were still battling in the paint with gusto. At halftime, your Dallas Mavericks led 62-37, their third-highest halftime advantage of the season. The hapless Cavs were 2-18 from deep and committed 9 turnovers in the half.
Dallas went on to lose the third quarter 24-28, as their shooting went cold. However, they still ended the period with an 86-65 advantage. They also lost the fourth quarter, but that was mostly the youngsters partying down. The only starter who played in the final frame was Willie, who appeared for five minutes.
NOTABLE ITEMS
STATS. The Mavs dominated the game in the first half, and didn’t need to do much more than hang in for the second.
RICHARDSON. Josh had an excellent night, with 8 points, 8-13 shooting, 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and some high-intensity play. Maybe having Green take a few of his minutes was the, er, nudge in the elbow he needed. Really, a fine showing. I don’t deny that he has been disappointing overall compared to the hype, but this match would be good viewing for fans who think he has nothing left to bring to the table. He said after the game that he sees his role going into the playoffs as bringing max effort and “making things nasty.” OK, then -- bring it on, homie!
HARDAWAY. Tim duly chipped in 20 points, and probably would have had a higher 3PT% if he and the guys hadn’t been scampering around letting them fly from anywhere and everywhere. With KP out lately, the second scoring option baton has been passed to THJ, and he has not disappointed.
DONCIC. Luka was only 8-17, but led the team with 24 points, was a perfect 7-7 after recently struggling from the line, and grabbed 8 rebounds. Perhaps most importantly, he only had to play 23 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, and his joyful disposition was back on display. He scored his 5000th NBA point (regular season only), becoming the fastest active player in the league to do so.
GREEN. JG had some fun minutes to watch, with his high energy and athleticism in full bloom. My favorite play was probably when he led a fast break, running the court and passing to a cutting Tim Hardaway for a dunk. In the fourth quarter, he thrilled the crowd with a corner three, and generally put in a fine performance.
OTHER MAVS. The whole team looked like they were having a good old time, strutting their stuff in front of their admiring home crowd. Rookie-watchers will have enjoyed seeing Nate Hinton and Tyler Bey get a little run.
CAVALIERS. The Cavs have been mathematically eliminated for a while now, and they pretty much Summer-Leagued it up with their C lineup. At first glance, I thought they had resurrected the ghost of Anderson Varejao, but it turned out to be Jarrett Allen. Then, when the actual, real-life Anderson Varejao showed up in the fourth, I thought we had entered the basketball twilight zone. He has evidently been signed on a 10-day, so that he can say he retired from the NBA as a Cav. Whatevs. Anyway, a crazy night from the footloose and fancy-free Cavs.
OBSERVATIONS
I don’t honestly think there is much to take away from this game — just a fun romp agains the JV. A good time was had by all. Even the normally highly professional TV crew yucked it up, in the spirit of the occasion.
With this victory, the Mavericks secured first place in the Southwest Division and thus the tiebreaker in case of a three-team draw in the standings, and also laid claim to finishing no lower than the seventh seed. The Mavs face these very same Cavaliers on Sunday. Should be a PAR-TAY!
The Mavericks showed no mercy against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the game was effectively put away by halftime. Woo-hoo!
GAME STORY
KP, Maxi, and Redick were on the injury report at game time. Seven players were absent for the Cavaliers, and I barely recognized most of the players they trotted out. Rick went with a starting lineup of Luka-Richardson-Hardaway-DFS-WCS for the Mavs.
The Mavs got off to a strong start. They took the lead within two minutes and never surrendered it again. They reached a double-digit edge with three minutes left. Trey Burke excited the crowd with a half-court buzzer-beater three to end the quarter at 33-19. THJ led the scoring with 11 points.
The second quarter took on a festive, Globetrotter-style atmosphere as the lead climbed ever higher. Long threes and longer passes flew around the court as the heat checks erupted, although the Maverick defenders were still battling in the paint with gusto. At halftime, your Dallas Mavericks led 62-37, their third-highest halftime advantage of the season. The hapless Cavs were 2-18 from deep and committed 9 turnovers in the half.
Dallas went on to lose the third quarter 24-28, as their shooting went cold. However, they still ended the period with an 86-65 advantage. They also lost the fourth quarter, but that was mostly the youngsters partying down. The only starter who played in the final frame was Willie, who appeared for five minutes.
NOTABLE ITEMS
STATS. The Mavs dominated the game in the first half, and didn’t need to do much more than hang in for the second.
RICHARDSON. Josh had an excellent night, with 8 points, 8-13 shooting, 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and some high-intensity play. Maybe having Green take a few of his minutes was the, er, nudge in the elbow he needed. Really, a fine showing. I don’t deny that he has been disappointing overall compared to the hype, but this match would be good viewing for fans who think he has nothing left to bring to the table. He said after the game that he sees his role going into the playoffs as bringing max effort and “making things nasty.” OK, then -- bring it on, homie!
HARDAWAY. Tim duly chipped in 20 points, and probably would have had a higher 3PT% if he and the guys hadn’t been scampering around letting them fly from anywhere and everywhere. With KP out lately, the second scoring option baton has been passed to THJ, and he has not disappointed.
DONCIC. Luka was only 8-17, but led the team with 24 points, was a perfect 7-7 after recently struggling from the line, and grabbed 8 rebounds. Perhaps most importantly, he only had to play 23 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, and his joyful disposition was back on display. He scored his 5000th NBA point (regular season only), becoming the fastest active player in the league to do so.
GREEN. JG had some fun minutes to watch, with his high energy and athleticism in full bloom. My favorite play was probably when he led a fast break, running the court and passing to a cutting Tim Hardaway for a dunk. In the fourth quarter, he thrilled the crowd with a corner three, and generally put in a fine performance.
OTHER MAVS. The whole team looked like they were having a good old time, strutting their stuff in front of their admiring home crowd. Rookie-watchers will have enjoyed seeing Nate Hinton and Tyler Bey get a little run.
CAVALIERS. The Cavs have been mathematically eliminated for a while now, and they pretty much Summer-Leagued it up with their C lineup. At first glance, I thought they had resurrected the ghost of Anderson Varejao, but it turned out to be Jarrett Allen. Then, when the actual, real-life Anderson Varejao showed up in the fourth, I thought we had entered the basketball twilight zone. He has evidently been signed on a 10-day, so that he can say he retired from the NBA as a Cav. Whatevs. Anyway, a crazy night from the footloose and fancy-free Cavs.
OBSERVATIONS
I don’t honestly think there is much to take away from this game — just a fun romp agains the JV. A good time was had by all. Even the normally highly professional TV crew yucked it up, in the spirit of the occasion.
With this victory, the Mavericks secured first place in the Southwest Division and thus the tiebreaker in case of a three-team draw in the standings, and also laid claim to finishing no lower than the seventh seed. The Mavs face these very same Cavaliers on Sunday. Should be a PAR-TAY!