MAVS 99, NETS 102

[mavsluvr]

MAVS CRATER IN FOURTH QUARTER
MISERABLE SHOOTING FROM DISTANCE

The Mavericks wanted to make an impression on the home crowd and the TNT audience, after losing four consecutive games at the AAC. They led by 17 at one point, and were ahead by 11 after three quarters, but managed only an embarrassing 13 points in the fourth. 


GAME NOTES

Willie (personal reasons) and Sterling (foot) were out for the evening. The Mavs were thrilled to welcome Luka and KP back to the active lineup. Tim Hardaway was also able to join the team, despite being initially listed as questionable due to a knee bruise. Kidd went with the “new” starting lineup — Luka, Bullock, DFS, KP, Powell. 

FIRST QUARTER

The Mavs get on the board first. Dorian makes it 5-0 with a corner three. Durant opens Brooklyn’s account. KP puts back a Reggie miss. Mavs missing a bunch of jump shots. Nets turn it over, Bullock for the transition basket. Luka off the window! Luka gripping his knee, doesn’t look comfortable. Reggie Miller yammering on, trashing Luka sixteen ways from Sunday. KD in transition, all by his lonesome. Luka posts up, scores. Harden off the glass. Both teams a combined 1-11 from three. 15-10 5:18

Brunson to the basket! Aldridge puts back a miss, and-one, foul on Maxi. Good ball movement, but Mavs missing the kick-outs. Maxi called for his second, on Harden. He stays on the floor. Mavs missing threes, Nets getting to the basket, Nets tie the game. If the Mavs could only make a shot, they would be in good shape. 1-10 from three. Wide-open looks. 17-17 2:35

KP from Brunson. Timmy misses an open corner three. Nets turn it over with a dribbling violation. KP on a roll, from Tim. Durant over Dorian. Doe-Doe corner three! Again! Woo-hoo! 

27-21 after one

Thanks to DFS, who has three triples, Mavs are 3-13 from distance. Nets 0-7. Dorian’s 9 points lead all scorers. Aldridge has 7 for Brooklyn. Can’t say this low-scoring affair is what I expected. 

SECOND QUARTER

Hardaway dunk from KP! Claxton responds from Harden. James Johnson puts up the Nets’ first three. Brunson-Hardaway on the run! Brunson from downtown! KP block, run, pass to Timmy for a gorgeous finish! 36-26 8:36

Josh Green has been on the floor for Dallas, along with Frank. Harden three, and Josh Green fouls him on the shot. Four points. Both Luka and KP off the floor. Nets to the rack. Powell draws free throws. Two of two. Harden gets by Bullock, Powell fouls. One of two. Luka is back. Luka-DP connection! Luka pull-up! Johnson at the rim over Maxi. Blood control time-out. 42-37 5:14

Luka-DP again! Luka draws free throws. Hits both. Mavs screw up a three-on-one transition basket. Powell puts back a Luka miss. Durant and Doncic collide near the sideline. Luka called for the foul. Johnson three, Bullock doesn’t close out well. Luka-Reggie — yes! Luka feed to KP! 52-44 2:10

Luka stripped but Brooklyn turns it over at the other end. Luka to the rack! Hardaway in the paint! Luka from way back! Luka!!!! Off the glass three over Aldridge!!! WOW!!!

62-50 HT

Mavs have 16 assists and one turnover. Both teams shooting 25% from three, right around 50% from the floor. Mavs have nine more shots, Nets have 8 turnovers. Luka leads all scorers with 18 points. Aldridge and Johnson combine for 25 for Brooklyn. KP at 8-7-5. Luka and Zinger looking good out there. TNT studio crew spending halftime bashing KP. Really?

All this trashing of Luka and KP sounds like remarks that were scripted before they even started the game. 

THIRD QUARTER

KP over Durant! Mavs have a good play going, but DFS called for an illegal screen. Luka overthrows one to Powell. Luka great no-look kick to Reggie, who bricks the corner three. KP draws a foul on Aldridge. Hits ‘em both. KP turns it over, Harden in transition. Luka draws a foul on Bembry, who has four now. Two of two. More blood control. 68-54 8:04

Bullock disrupts Durant, but ball goes out off Dallas. KP from three! KD and Harden with a quick 5 points. KP fouls Durant. Luka down on the floor behind the play, furious at the no-call. 71-59 6:19 

LMA jumper. Nets on a 7-0 run. Powell draws a foul on Harden. Hits both. Durant fouled by DFS, competes his freebies. Brunson dance to the paint, and-one! Mavs give up an OR and dunk. Brown reach-in on Luka. Makes it 12-12 from the line for Dallas. Nets draw within single digits. Luka called for a technical foul for shoving Claxton. He’s still arguing, after the free throw. Brunson to the rim! Luka still arguing. Harden draws a foul on Timmy. 80-70 2:27

James hits both free throws. Tim Hardaway with a jumper as he is knocked to the floor. Makes the and-one. DFS three! 86-75 1:12

Brunson-Kleber for the layup. Not counted! Maxi misses both free throws. 

86-75 after three

Mavs lose the quarter 24-25. Both teams abysmal from three. 

Luka still leads all scorers with 22 points, but only 4 in the period. He has 8 assists and 1 turnover. Harden high scorer in the quarter with 10.

FOURTH QUARTER

Durant hits. Harden to the rack. I despise this lineup — Brunson-Green-Reggie-Hardaway-KP. Green steal and finish in transition. Durant three. Frank misses wide open corner three. Mills hits. 10-2 run for the Nets. 88-85 9:32

Luka back on the floor. Luka feed to DFS — yeah, baby. Claxton steps out of bounds. Claxton over KP at the rim. Mavs get an OR but can’t make it count. Mavs 8-39 from three (21%). 90-87 7:16

Durant brings the Nets within one. Reggie’s shot blocked by KD. Harden fouled by Luka (his fourth). He gives the Nets their first lead with his free throws. Luka draws a reach-in from Johnson. One of two. Tie game. Mills jumper. Luka three — his first basket of the half! Dorian intercepts a Harden pass, then draws a foul. One of two. Durant ties. Powell draws Claxton’s fourth foul. Luka posts up Mills, two points. Luka draws a foul from Harden. 97-95 3:15

Brunson-THJ-Luka-DFS-KP on the floor. Mills gives Nets back the lead with a three. Tim misses a jumper. Harden misses. DFS misses kick-out three from JB. Harden to the rack. 97-100 1:22

KP draws a foul, but should have made the basket. One-point game. Brunson off, Bullock on. Durant fadeaway over Doe-Doe. Luka draws a foul on Harden. Nets challenge. 99-102 50 seconds

Challenge successful. Jump ball at center court. Doncic fouls Claxton at the rim. Claxton misses the first. Then misses the second. Timeout Dallas. 99-102 20 seconds

Maxi inbounds. Luka misses a three. KP OR. Back to Luka. THJ has an open three, but misses at the buzzer. 

99-102 FT


ANALYSIS

It would be really nice if the Mavs could make an open three, because just a couple more going in would have won the game. 9-46 from distance (less than 20%) just doesn’t cut it. The individual stats on 3PTAs are embarrassing:  THJ 0-7, Bullock 0-6, Frank 0-3, Maxi 0-2, KP 1-5, Luka 3-11. Woof. The really sad thing is that the Nets were only 31% themselves. The Mavs shot 20 more threes than the Nets (!), and had only one extra three to show for it. 

The Mavs stayed in the game via 9 more FTA and scoring 14 points off 12 Nets turnovers.

Dallas actually looked pretty good for three quarters. But a dismal 13-point fourth period (oof!) did them in. The Mavs had 4 made baskets out of 21 shot attempts. They were still up 2 within the last four minutes, but couldn't execute down the stretch. Yikes. 


PLAYER NOTES

DFS (38 min). Dorian did pretty well in this one. He was the only decent three-point shooter (4-9), and had 6 rebounds and 3 steals. They took him out for the last possession and put Maxi in for reasons that presumably made sense to them. 

DONCIC (37). Luka was the game’s top scorer with 28 points, but was 9-21 from the field and 3-11 from three. He did draw a game-high 8 free throws, completing 7. He also had 9 assists and only 1 turnover. I thought Luka played well (aside from getting distracted arguing with the refs), and made a lot of really good passes. Unfortunately, no one he got those great looks for could stick a landing. 

PORZINGIS (31). KP had a 17-12-5 line, but was 6-17 from the floor (1-5 from three). He and Luka had a good game going for a while, but it faded as the contest went on. Porzee did not make a basket in the fourth, scoring two points from free throws. Defensively, I thought he was mostly pretty good. 

BULLOCK (28). Reggie had six points on three two-point baskets, going 3-10 (0-6 from three). I am so tired of seeing this guy brick every open shot that is created for him. He did have a nice block of a KD jumper. 

THJ (28). Tim had 11 points, and shot 5-14 (0-7 from three). He had the last chance to tie the game, but recorded the seventh of his 0-fer. 

BRUNSON (24). Jalen put up 10 points, and his shooting wasn’t bad (4-8, 1-3 from three), but he had only 3 assists and pretty much faded from view.

POWELL (23). Dwight had ten points and six rebounds, shooting 3-3 FGAs and 4-4 from the line. He and Luka had their PNR game cooking for a while. 

MENTIONS. MAXI (14) played only a few minutes — not sure what the issue was. He had no points and 1 rebound. FRANK (11) filled in at guard for a little bit. He did not score, and had 1 assist. GREEN (7) got a little burn. He had one made shot, and fouled James Harden shooting a three. 

BROWN, BURKE, BOBAN, and OMORUYI were DNP-CDs. No timetable on a return for STERLING and WILLIE. 

NETS. Kevin Durant had 24 points and was his usual assassin self, scoring 11 of his points in the final frame. James Harden had a 24-9-12 line, with 16 points in the second half. LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 points and 5 boards on 7-12 shooting. James Johnson surprised the Mavs with 12 points off the bench. Patty Mills did not shoot well (4-11), but still accumulated 10 points. 


OBSERVATIONS

One might look at the score line and think that this must have been a moral victory over the mighty Nets. The defense could hold up its head, holding the Nets to 102 points, although in some respects they got lucky that Brooklyn were having an off night of their own. The truly terrible three-point shooting and the supreme collapse in the fourth quarter keep this from being a match that they can be proud of, for me. On the brighter side, Luka and KP did have some good moments. 

The Mavericks dip below .500 with this one. Hope they can regroup in time to face the Grizz in Memphis tomorrow night.