MAVS BLOWN OUT BY KINGS AT AAC
FIFTH LOSS IN SEVEN GAMES
Unbelievable. What in the hay-o is wrong with the Mavericks?
GAME STORY
The Kings came in as a desperate team, having lost 9 straight games and missing 4 players in Bagley, Guy, Holmes, and Woodard.
The Mavericks came out flat, and found themselves down 12 with 4:50 left in the first. They had a good run to close the quarter, and were behind only 2 after one, despite managing to score only 20 points.
After tying the game within the first three minutes of the second, the home team Mavs were soon trailing by double digits again. They drew within 5 with 4:14 left in the period, but surrendered a 20-8 run to Sac, and went into halftime with a 50-67 deficit. The Kings had 45 points in the quarter.
The disadvantage swelled to 21 five minutes into the third. A unit minus Luka and KP had a 15-2 run to bring the team within 8. But Dallas could not sustain, and ended the frame down 77-87.
The Mavs put up 30 points in the fourth, but could never get any defensive traction, and never drew closer than six. The Kings closed the game on a 12-4 run.
STATISTICS
The shooting stats tell much of the story. Sac was 51% from two, 46% from three, and 88% from the line. Mavs were 47% inside the arc, 33% outside, and 65% on free throw attempts. The Mavs had 24 more 3PTAs than the Kings, but their poor shooting resulted in an advantage of only five made threes. Point differentials were -20 from points on twos, +15 on points from threes, and -9 on made free throws. Barf.
Ball movement stalled, and only 15 of the Mavs’ 39 made baskets were assisted. Sac had a 56-42 advantage in points in the paint. The Mavs lost 16 points on 14 turnovers, and the Kings had an appalling 25-4 lead in fast break points. The defense was hardly worthy of the word, with the Kings blowing by the Mavericks right and left. A real beatdown by an unlikely opponent.
PLAYERS
DFS. The team wasted a wonderful offensive night by Doe-Doe, who had his second-highest scoring game of the season, with 22 points on 8-11 shooting. He was one of the only Mavs to display energy and intensity from the first to the last, but could do little to stop the Kings. After the game, he put all the blame on the players, saying that there is nothing Coach can do, and the guys on the court need to look at themselves in the mirror, and start playing with inspiration and gratitude.
BRUNSON. Jalen was the team’s other bright spot, with 20 points on 8-10 shooting in 31 minutes as sixth man. After a rough couple of games before this one, it was good to see the young point guard have an excellent bounce-back evening. Twelve of his points came in the second half, as he was one of the only Mavs who took advantage of the Kings’ poor interior defense.
PORZINGIS. It was a terrible night for KP, who was 3-14 from the field for 9 points, although he did grab 11 rebounds in a team-high 37 minutes. ALL of his nine points came in the first quarter, as he took only 6 shots in the last three periods, completing none of them. Dang! He had a technical foul for a “fake fight,” per Skin, with Moe Harkless, giving Moe a two-armed shove. Both players were assessed T’s. His "defense" was ineffectual, with the Kings blowing by him all night.
DONCIC. Luka’s line looked good at 37/8/4, with 3 blocks and a steal, but it was mostly a subpar night for the youngster, by his own stratospheric standards, of course. He had 22 points in the fourth quarter, as he went into full hero mode in an attempt to salvage the contest. Over the full game, he was 14-27 from the field, 4-13 from deep, and 5-10 from the stripe, and the team was -20 when he was on the court. He drew a technical foul in the fourth, and spent much of the contest jawing at the refs. After the game, he allowed that the team needs to play “way harder,” but did not know why their energy has fallen off nor how they can get it back, saying only that it will have to start with him.
STARTERS. It was a game to forget for J Rich and Maxi. Richardson was 3-9 from the floor, had a pathetic 7/2/1 line with 2 turnovers, and accomplished little on the defensive end. Rick played him 4 minutes in the final frame, and he recorded no stats in that time. Maxi did not score, had only 3 rebounds, and played only 21 minutes, as he was called for his fourth foul late in the third quarter and played only 2 minutes of the fourth.
BENCH. Hardaway picked a bad night to go 2-10 from the floor and have 2 turnovers. Powell was energetic, but did not score in 17 minutes — indeed, took only one shot. WCS, Redick, and Melli had brief cameos, and combined for 4 points.
KINGS. The lowly visitors looked like world-beaters against the Mavs. D’AAron Fox embarrassed the Mavs with 30 points and 12 assists, and lived in the paint all night. Former Mav Harrison Barnes laid 24 points on the home team on 9-14 shooting. Terence Davis threw flames off the bench to the tune of 23 points, going 9-12 from the floor and 5-5 from three-point land. Even old friend Delon Wright had 13 as a reserve.The Kings won the bench battle 45-32.
OBSERVATIONS
Carlisle deemed his team’s effort a poor performance from the first. He believes that the Mavs must start games stronger, and thinks this contest brought the squad’s mentality issues into sharp focus. He agreed that lack of urgency is a problem, and warned that every NBA team must be taken seriously. Against a very physical, switching team like Sacramento, the Mavericks needed to get stops and get out in transition, and they failed to do so.
The Mavs' lackluster effort resulted in their digging themselves into a deep hole. They tried to climb out of it with a lot of one-on-one ball, which in turn had the effect of players like KP and THJ not getting many good looks. Harp criticized the boys for a lack of maturity, perhaps taking the Kings for granted, waiting too long to start bringing it, and then having to go into counterproductive desperation mode.
I was very disappointed and tbh, somewhat shell-shocked by this loss. After their turkey against the Knicks, I expected them to come back with intensity, and it was bewildering to see them drag-assing around for so much of the game. Many of their shots missed short, and maybe they are just exhausted, and perhaps playing with undisclosed knocks. A health person on Twitter has noted, for example, that Luka’s knee has been taped up in a pattern that would be expected for a player with a certain type of painful injury.
I just don’t know. Does anyone have an explanation for the unexpected deterioration during this seven-game stretch?
The Mavs face Detroit on Wednesday. On paper, it ought to be a win, but they’re going to have to be better than this to bring it home.
FIFTH LOSS IN SEVEN GAMES
Unbelievable. What in the hay-o is wrong with the Mavericks?
GAME STORY
The Kings came in as a desperate team, having lost 9 straight games and missing 4 players in Bagley, Guy, Holmes, and Woodard.
The Mavericks came out flat, and found themselves down 12 with 4:50 left in the first. They had a good run to close the quarter, and were behind only 2 after one, despite managing to score only 20 points.
After tying the game within the first three minutes of the second, the home team Mavs were soon trailing by double digits again. They drew within 5 with 4:14 left in the period, but surrendered a 20-8 run to Sac, and went into halftime with a 50-67 deficit. The Kings had 45 points in the quarter.
The disadvantage swelled to 21 five minutes into the third. A unit minus Luka and KP had a 15-2 run to bring the team within 8. But Dallas could not sustain, and ended the frame down 77-87.
The Mavs put up 30 points in the fourth, but could never get any defensive traction, and never drew closer than six. The Kings closed the game on a 12-4 run.
STATISTICS
The shooting stats tell much of the story. Sac was 51% from two, 46% from three, and 88% from the line. Mavs were 47% inside the arc, 33% outside, and 65% on free throw attempts. The Mavs had 24 more 3PTAs than the Kings, but their poor shooting resulted in an advantage of only five made threes. Point differentials were -20 from points on twos, +15 on points from threes, and -9 on made free throws. Barf.
Ball movement stalled, and only 15 of the Mavs’ 39 made baskets were assisted. Sac had a 56-42 advantage in points in the paint. The Mavs lost 16 points on 14 turnovers, and the Kings had an appalling 25-4 lead in fast break points. The defense was hardly worthy of the word, with the Kings blowing by the Mavericks right and left. A real beatdown by an unlikely opponent.
PLAYERS
DFS. The team wasted a wonderful offensive night by Doe-Doe, who had his second-highest scoring game of the season, with 22 points on 8-11 shooting. He was one of the only Mavs to display energy and intensity from the first to the last, but could do little to stop the Kings. After the game, he put all the blame on the players, saying that there is nothing Coach can do, and the guys on the court need to look at themselves in the mirror, and start playing with inspiration and gratitude.
BRUNSON. Jalen was the team’s other bright spot, with 20 points on 8-10 shooting in 31 minutes as sixth man. After a rough couple of games before this one, it was good to see the young point guard have an excellent bounce-back evening. Twelve of his points came in the second half, as he was one of the only Mavs who took advantage of the Kings’ poor interior defense.
PORZINGIS. It was a terrible night for KP, who was 3-14 from the field for 9 points, although he did grab 11 rebounds in a team-high 37 minutes. ALL of his nine points came in the first quarter, as he took only 6 shots in the last three periods, completing none of them. Dang! He had a technical foul for a “fake fight,” per Skin, with Moe Harkless, giving Moe a two-armed shove. Both players were assessed T’s. His "defense" was ineffectual, with the Kings blowing by him all night.
DONCIC. Luka’s line looked good at 37/8/4, with 3 blocks and a steal, but it was mostly a subpar night for the youngster, by his own stratospheric standards, of course. He had 22 points in the fourth quarter, as he went into full hero mode in an attempt to salvage the contest. Over the full game, he was 14-27 from the field, 4-13 from deep, and 5-10 from the stripe, and the team was -20 when he was on the court. He drew a technical foul in the fourth, and spent much of the contest jawing at the refs. After the game, he allowed that the team needs to play “way harder,” but did not know why their energy has fallen off nor how they can get it back, saying only that it will have to start with him.
STARTERS. It was a game to forget for J Rich and Maxi. Richardson was 3-9 from the floor, had a pathetic 7/2/1 line with 2 turnovers, and accomplished little on the defensive end. Rick played him 4 minutes in the final frame, and he recorded no stats in that time. Maxi did not score, had only 3 rebounds, and played only 21 minutes, as he was called for his fourth foul late in the third quarter and played only 2 minutes of the fourth.
BENCH. Hardaway picked a bad night to go 2-10 from the floor and have 2 turnovers. Powell was energetic, but did not score in 17 minutes — indeed, took only one shot. WCS, Redick, and Melli had brief cameos, and combined for 4 points.
KINGS. The lowly visitors looked like world-beaters against the Mavs. D’AAron Fox embarrassed the Mavs with 30 points and 12 assists, and lived in the paint all night. Former Mav Harrison Barnes laid 24 points on the home team on 9-14 shooting. Terence Davis threw flames off the bench to the tune of 23 points, going 9-12 from the floor and 5-5 from three-point land. Even old friend Delon Wright had 13 as a reserve.The Kings won the bench battle 45-32.
OBSERVATIONS
Carlisle deemed his team’s effort a poor performance from the first. He believes that the Mavs must start games stronger, and thinks this contest brought the squad’s mentality issues into sharp focus. He agreed that lack of urgency is a problem, and warned that every NBA team must be taken seriously. Against a very physical, switching team like Sacramento, the Mavericks needed to get stops and get out in transition, and they failed to do so.
The Mavs' lackluster effort resulted in their digging themselves into a deep hole. They tried to climb out of it with a lot of one-on-one ball, which in turn had the effect of players like KP and THJ not getting many good looks. Harp criticized the boys for a lack of maturity, perhaps taking the Kings for granted, waiting too long to start bringing it, and then having to go into counterproductive desperation mode.
I was very disappointed and tbh, somewhat shell-shocked by this loss. After their turkey against the Knicks, I expected them to come back with intensity, and it was bewildering to see them drag-assing around for so much of the game. Many of their shots missed short, and maybe they are just exhausted, and perhaps playing with undisclosed knocks. A health person on Twitter has noted, for example, that Luka’s knee has been taped up in a pattern that would be expected for a player with a certain type of painful injury.
I just don’t know. Does anyone have an explanation for the unexpected deterioration during this seven-game stretch?
The Mavs face Detroit on Wednesday. On paper, it ought to be a win, but they’re going to have to be better than this to bring it home.