MAVS BLOW OUT COVID-STRICKEN HORNETS
The Mavericks returned home to the AAC on the back of a decisive victory over the Thunder Sunday evening. They hoped to build on that with a win over a decimated Hornets roster. They rollicked their way to a W, with the outcome never in doubt.
GAME NOTES
Willie, Sterling, and Luka remained out. For Charlotte, LaMelo Ball and Ish Smith were out due to COVID protocols. Plumlee and McDaniels were fresh out of the protocols and not with the team. Terry Rozier, who had been out, returned to the lineup.
Starting lineup Brunson-Bullock-DFS-KP-Powell
FIRST QUARTER
Both offenses looking discombobulated. KP with the first score on a transition bucket. Then he hits from the corner. Charlotte first gets on the board at 7:59. Yikes. Brunson and KP have all the points for the Mavs. 14-5 6:40
Oubre looks like he might be trying to develop a Dolly Parton hairdo. 14-10 5:33
KP flush from a Dorian dime gets the crowd involved. Trey Burke comes in and knocks down a three. 24-13 3:21
Bullock calls bank from beyond the arc. Burke over Oubre! Woot! Timmy with a rainbow! Burke with a steal, then another long one. Lighting it up all over the court! Trey beats the buzzer! It’s happening!!
37-20 after one
Mavs 6-8 from distance. Porzingis (14) and Burke (10) lead the scoring. This Hornets team is sucking eggs.
SECOND QUARTER
Burke off the window! Another Hardaway three brings on an early timeout. 42-22 10:43
Moses bucket brings on an ovation. Already a fan fave! Mo with a dramatic block, rendered moot by a prior KP foul. Still drew a lot of cheers. It’s raining threes! Josh Green soars into the air for an oop from a THJ inbounds! OMG! More threes! Charlotte’s fourth timeout. Fifty-five points in 18 minutes! 55-27 6:28
Luka on the sideline cheering his teammates on.
70-43 HT
This one is looking pretty done and dusted. Mavs 12-19 from three. KP looking fiery, with 22 and 12. Hardaway and Burke lighting it up off the bench, combine for 24. The Hornets are terrible.
THIRD QUARTER
After about five minutes, Mavs go small, with Maxi as the lone big. 74-57 6:39
Mavs have missed a bunch of threes, Burke goes to the basket. Dorian follows suit. Burke miss is put back with a Doe-Doe jam! 83-60 3:45
91-69 after three
This is a romp.
FOURTH QUARTER
Charlotte assessed a tech for six players on the floor. Cool, cool. The whole arena is chanting, “We want Boban.” Will JKidd give the people WHAT they want? He will! At 3:14, Bobi goes in to rousing cheers and a lengthy standing ovation! The deep bench checks in, right after he does.
Bobi scores and the arena erupts, lol. A second basket, and the roof comes off! Bo-bee! Bo-bee! Bobi misses a three — the crowd moans like it was a losing shot in the finals, haha.
120-96 FT
ANALYSIS
Mavs shoot 52% overall, 19-41 (46%) from three. Hornets are supposed to be the bottom-feeders of the league defensively, and I believe it. But I thought they were supposed to be pretty good offensively, and they most definitely were not.
PLAYER NOTES
KP (25 min) didn’t do much in the second half, (2 points and 1 board in 9 minutes), but who’s counting? He still led the team with 24 points, 13 boards and 5 blocks, and looked very good out there in the first. BURKE (23) was the backup point guard, and lit the place up with 22 points and 6 assists on 9-14 shooting off the bench. Riveting performance! HARDAWAY (27) looked like his old self, with 19 points, including five threes. DORIAN (33) was his usual steady presence, putting up 15 points on 6-11 shooting (3-5 from three). Thirteen of those points were in the third quarter, the highest-scoring quarter of his career. BRUNSON (25) was the fifth Mav in double figures, with 13 points and 8 assists as the starting PG.
GREEN had his offensive game going with 7 points in 21 minutes, and was even scolded (in a good way) by Burke for passing instead of shooting. BOBI and MOSES were the most popular Mavs on the court, both drawing swoons from the crowd. The arena going crazy for Bobi in the last few minutes was hysterical. What a beloved player!
HORNETS. A humiliating performance by the Hornets Horribilus. Maybe that’s what happens when COVID is taking your guys out. However that may be, if they don’t do any better than this, they may be a strong candidate for a lottery winner.
OBSERVATIONS
Kidd thought the communication on defense was good, and liked the way his squad attacked the paint. He commended KP for his performance on both ends of the court. Kidd also thought the bench (which scored 59 points) was excellent. Powell (8) and Moses (9) didn’t play a lot of minutes in this one, because the team went with small ball as a matchup matter.
No one would mistake this bare-bones Hornets team for a worthy opponent, but a fun time was had by all, and at least we know the Mavs can score without Luka against a team that offers no resistance.
NEXT. The Lakers are coming to town on Wednesday. I imagine Luka will badly want to play against LeBron and the boys, but we’ll see if his ankle is deemed up to it.
We’re over .500 again, baby!
14-13
The Mavericks returned home to the AAC on the back of a decisive victory over the Thunder Sunday evening. They hoped to build on that with a win over a decimated Hornets roster. They rollicked their way to a W, with the outcome never in doubt.
GAME NOTES
Willie, Sterling, and Luka remained out. For Charlotte, LaMelo Ball and Ish Smith were out due to COVID protocols. Plumlee and McDaniels were fresh out of the protocols and not with the team. Terry Rozier, who had been out, returned to the lineup.
Starting lineup Brunson-Bullock-DFS-KP-Powell
FIRST QUARTER
Both offenses looking discombobulated. KP with the first score on a transition bucket. Then he hits from the corner. Charlotte first gets on the board at 7:59. Yikes. Brunson and KP have all the points for the Mavs. 14-5 6:40
Oubre looks like he might be trying to develop a Dolly Parton hairdo. 14-10 5:33
KP flush from a Dorian dime gets the crowd involved. Trey Burke comes in and knocks down a three. 24-13 3:21
Bullock calls bank from beyond the arc. Burke over Oubre! Woot! Timmy with a rainbow! Burke with a steal, then another long one. Lighting it up all over the court! Trey beats the buzzer! It’s happening!!
37-20 after one
Mavs 6-8 from distance. Porzingis (14) and Burke (10) lead the scoring. This Hornets team is sucking eggs.
SECOND QUARTER
Burke off the window! Another Hardaway three brings on an early timeout. 42-22 10:43
Moses bucket brings on an ovation. Already a fan fave! Mo with a dramatic block, rendered moot by a prior KP foul. Still drew a lot of cheers. It’s raining threes! Josh Green soars into the air for an oop from a THJ inbounds! OMG! More threes! Charlotte’s fourth timeout. Fifty-five points in 18 minutes! 55-27 6:28
Luka on the sideline cheering his teammates on.
70-43 HT
This one is looking pretty done and dusted. Mavs 12-19 from three. KP looking fiery, with 22 and 12. Hardaway and Burke lighting it up off the bench, combine for 24. The Hornets are terrible.
THIRD QUARTER
After about five minutes, Mavs go small, with Maxi as the lone big. 74-57 6:39
Mavs have missed a bunch of threes, Burke goes to the basket. Dorian follows suit. Burke miss is put back with a Doe-Doe jam! 83-60 3:45
91-69 after three
This is a romp.
FOURTH QUARTER
Charlotte assessed a tech for six players on the floor. Cool, cool. The whole arena is chanting, “We want Boban.” Will JKidd give the people WHAT they want? He will! At 3:14, Bobi goes in to rousing cheers and a lengthy standing ovation! The deep bench checks in, right after he does.
Bobi scores and the arena erupts, lol. A second basket, and the roof comes off! Bo-bee! Bo-bee! Bobi misses a three — the crowd moans like it was a losing shot in the finals, haha.
120-96 FT
ANALYSIS
Mavs shoot 52% overall, 19-41 (46%) from three. Hornets are supposed to be the bottom-feeders of the league defensively, and I believe it. But I thought they were supposed to be pretty good offensively, and they most definitely were not.
PLAYER NOTES
KP (25 min) didn’t do much in the second half, (2 points and 1 board in 9 minutes), but who’s counting? He still led the team with 24 points, 13 boards and 5 blocks, and looked very good out there in the first. BURKE (23) was the backup point guard, and lit the place up with 22 points and 6 assists on 9-14 shooting off the bench. Riveting performance! HARDAWAY (27) looked like his old self, with 19 points, including five threes. DORIAN (33) was his usual steady presence, putting up 15 points on 6-11 shooting (3-5 from three). Thirteen of those points were in the third quarter, the highest-scoring quarter of his career. BRUNSON (25) was the fifth Mav in double figures, with 13 points and 8 assists as the starting PG.
GREEN had his offensive game going with 7 points in 21 minutes, and was even scolded (in a good way) by Burke for passing instead of shooting. BOBI and MOSES were the most popular Mavs on the court, both drawing swoons from the crowd. The arena going crazy for Bobi in the last few minutes was hysterical. What a beloved player!
HORNETS. A humiliating performance by the Hornets Horribilus. Maybe that’s what happens when COVID is taking your guys out. However that may be, if they don’t do any better than this, they may be a strong candidate for a lottery winner.
OBSERVATIONS
Kidd thought the communication on defense was good, and liked the way his squad attacked the paint. He commended KP for his performance on both ends of the court. Kidd also thought the bench (which scored 59 points) was excellent. Powell (8) and Moses (9) didn’t play a lot of minutes in this one, because the team went with small ball as a matchup matter.
No one would mistake this bare-bones Hornets team for a worthy opponent, but a fun time was had by all, and at least we know the Mavs can score without Luka against a team that offers no resistance.
NEXT. The Lakers are coming to town on Wednesday. I imagine Luka will badly want to play against LeBron and the boys, but we’ll see if his ankle is deemed up to it.
We’re over .500 again, baby!
14-13
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