01-04-2021, 12:21 AM
STARLESS MAVERICKS EXHIBIT LUSTRE-LESS PERFORMANCE
BRUNSON BRILLIANCE WASTED IN LOSS
The Mavs and their fans spent a night in Yucksville, trying to cope without their two stars.
Shortly before game time, Luka was downgraded from doubtful to out with a left quad contusion suffered in the Miami game. KP continued on the injured list. The Bulls had virus problems, and counted Markannen, Satoransky, Hutchison, and Arcidiacono absent.
GAME STORY
Neither team played particularly well, and they mostly exchanged scores and stops for the first 34 minutes. By that time, I don’t know whether the Mavs began to tire, or what, but their offense was stuck in the mud, and the defense did not pick up. The Bulls went up 86-81 after three, and continued to stay ahead of the hapless Mavs for the rest of the game. Dallas whittled the deficit down to 2 at the 3:27 mark, but let the game slip away with a variety of late mistakes. The Mavs missed 14 threes and 6 free throws in the final period, and had a 6-rebound disadvantage.
NOTABLE ITEMS
1. How They Lost. The loss came down to terrible three-point shooting (26%), 8 missed free throws for a 70% performance at the line, giving up 18 second-chance points, going stagnant late, and allowing 62 points by the Bulls’ starting backcourt.
2. Bright spots. Jalen took Luka’s place in the starting lineup, and took over well, particularly in the first three quarters. He had a career second-best scoring night with 31 points, and did it on 11-17 shooting. He faded somewhat in the stretch, but let’s not take away from one of the Mavs’ only bright spots on the night. He also had 7 assists, and would have had more if his teammates had hit the open shots generated. Maxi also had a good night, with 16 points off the bench and 3-6 from three. J Rich contributed a solid performance, as well. The high scorers were Brunson 31, Richardson and Maxi with 16 each, and Hardaway 13.
3. Bulls. Zach Lavine put the hammer on the Mavs with 39 points, and his back-court mate Coby White added 23, coming alive in the second half. The Bulls as a whole made a lot of mistakes, and didn’t shoot very well either, but Dallas failed to capitalize on what was a middling Chicago performance, at best, overall.
OBSERVATIONS
Carlisle allowed that the Bulls won because they played better than his team did. While admitting that Chicago made some “hellacious” shots, he observed that his Mavs “shot themselves in the foot” by failing to rebound, failing to recover 50-50 balls, and not hitting their free throws. He did give Brunson a shout-out, complimenting his point guard for being “always ready.”
Willie gave a post-game interview, and said that it was easy to say that the Mavs should have recovered more 50-50 balls after a game, but that some of that is down to unlucky bounces and such during the contest. He did acknowledge that grabbing loose balls should be a matter of attention each and every game. He thought the loss was down to letting Zach Lavine get going early, and thought they should have given more focus to shutting him down. Brunson also answered a couple questions, and was hesitant to criticize his teammates, but admitted that the squad is capable of doing much better.
I hope that we don’t have many of these games without both Luka and KP. Even apart from the result, there just wasn’t much snap, crackle, or pop in this game, despite some outstanding individual performances. I think there was probably something to Willie’s comments about LaVine — the Bulls had the best player on the floor, and that’s always a significant advantage in basketball. But I don’t know that there is much of a defense for the team’s lackluster performance in so many aspects of the game.
Carlisle doesn’t think excuses should be made for the performance, so I won’t offer any. But if both Luka and KP are missing for any substantial period of the season at all, I will have to re-assess my evaluation of their likely success. Good health and a speedy return to both of them!
The Mavs now face Houston in a back-to-back. Yikes. Luka is day-to-day, so will be evaluated in the morning for availability in that match. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Okay, Mavs fans. Let’s hope for the best against the Rockets.
BRUNSON BRILLIANCE WASTED IN LOSS
The Mavs and their fans spent a night in Yucksville, trying to cope without their two stars.
Shortly before game time, Luka was downgraded from doubtful to out with a left quad contusion suffered in the Miami game. KP continued on the injured list. The Bulls had virus problems, and counted Markannen, Satoransky, Hutchison, and Arcidiacono absent.
GAME STORY
Neither team played particularly well, and they mostly exchanged scores and stops for the first 34 minutes. By that time, I don’t know whether the Mavs began to tire, or what, but their offense was stuck in the mud, and the defense did not pick up. The Bulls went up 86-81 after three, and continued to stay ahead of the hapless Mavs for the rest of the game. Dallas whittled the deficit down to 2 at the 3:27 mark, but let the game slip away with a variety of late mistakes. The Mavs missed 14 threes and 6 free throws in the final period, and had a 6-rebound disadvantage.
NOTABLE ITEMS
1. How They Lost. The loss came down to terrible three-point shooting (26%), 8 missed free throws for a 70% performance at the line, giving up 18 second-chance points, going stagnant late, and allowing 62 points by the Bulls’ starting backcourt.
2. Bright spots. Jalen took Luka’s place in the starting lineup, and took over well, particularly in the first three quarters. He had a career second-best scoring night with 31 points, and did it on 11-17 shooting. He faded somewhat in the stretch, but let’s not take away from one of the Mavs’ only bright spots on the night. He also had 7 assists, and would have had more if his teammates had hit the open shots generated. Maxi also had a good night, with 16 points off the bench and 3-6 from three. J Rich contributed a solid performance, as well. The high scorers were Brunson 31, Richardson and Maxi with 16 each, and Hardaway 13.
3. Bulls. Zach Lavine put the hammer on the Mavs with 39 points, and his back-court mate Coby White added 23, coming alive in the second half. The Bulls as a whole made a lot of mistakes, and didn’t shoot very well either, but Dallas failed to capitalize on what was a middling Chicago performance, at best, overall.
OBSERVATIONS
Carlisle allowed that the Bulls won because they played better than his team did. While admitting that Chicago made some “hellacious” shots, he observed that his Mavs “shot themselves in the foot” by failing to rebound, failing to recover 50-50 balls, and not hitting their free throws. He did give Brunson a shout-out, complimenting his point guard for being “always ready.”
Willie gave a post-game interview, and said that it was easy to say that the Mavs should have recovered more 50-50 balls after a game, but that some of that is down to unlucky bounces and such during the contest. He did acknowledge that grabbing loose balls should be a matter of attention each and every game. He thought the loss was down to letting Zach Lavine get going early, and thought they should have given more focus to shutting him down. Brunson also answered a couple questions, and was hesitant to criticize his teammates, but admitted that the squad is capable of doing much better.
I hope that we don’t have many of these games without both Luka and KP. Even apart from the result, there just wasn’t much snap, crackle, or pop in this game, despite some outstanding individual performances. I think there was probably something to Willie’s comments about LaVine — the Bulls had the best player on the floor, and that’s always a significant advantage in basketball. But I don’t know that there is much of a defense for the team’s lackluster performance in so many aspects of the game.
Carlisle doesn’t think excuses should be made for the performance, so I won’t offer any. But if both Luka and KP are missing for any substantial period of the season at all, I will have to re-assess my evaluation of their likely success. Good health and a speedy return to both of them!
The Mavs now face Houston in a back-to-back. Yikes. Luka is day-to-day, so will be evaluated in the morning for availability in that match. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Okay, Mavs fans. Let’s hope for the best against the Rockets.