MAVS 116, JAZZ 120

[mavsluvr]

RANDOM MAVS LINEUPS STAY IN THE GAME AGAINST UTAH

The Mavericks have traveled to Salt Lake City, hoping to upset one of the West’s best teams with a makeshift crew. The Mavs count Luka, THJ, Bullock, Maxi, McLaughlin, and Burke out with COVID, DFS with non-COVID-related illness, and Willie for personal reasons. Eugene Omoruyi has been declared likely out for the season after foot surgery. Josh Green has exited COVID protocols, but is not with the team. KP returns from his sore toe absence. Ten-day hardship contracts include Marquese Chriss, Theo Pinson, Carlik Jones, Charlie Brown, George King, and Brandon Knight. 

With only 7 of the “regular” Mavs available on this beautiful Christmas night, we’ll probably just hit the highlights here, unless something unexpected develops. 

The Mavs held the lead for substantial stretches of the game, and were in it until the last few minutes. Ultimately, we saw a familiar fourth-quarter story, where the opponent secured a win with better closing skills. 

GAME NOTES

Starting Lineup    Brunson, Ntlikina, Sterling, KP, Powell 

FIRST QUARTER

35-24 after one

Mavs get off to a hot start, leading by as many as 16 points.  KP and Conley each leads his team with 9. Mavs are 9-9 from the line, and have earned 9 points off 7 Jazz turnovers. 

SECOND QUARTER

Utah quickly gets back into the game, but the Mavs hang in. The second quarter scoring line is 29-40, with Mitchell stunning Dallas with a 16-point frame. 

63-65  HT

Mavs still very much in it at this point. Brunson, KP, and Frankie combine for 34 points. Sterling, Brunson, and Bogdanovic each has 3 fouls. JB and KP have drawn 11 FTA combined. Mavs have put 11 players on the court. 

THIRD QUARTER

90-90 after three

Mavs held a lead for much of the period, but Utah ended the quarter with a 15-6 rally. KP had a 12-point frame. It’s all square heading into the fourth. 

FOURTH QUARTER

94-99 8:57

Both teams take turns going to the free throw line, Jazz hit a three, and the Mavs are bit by the turnover bug. Chriss called for his fifth. 

94-102 6:56

Neither team looking great, but Jazz manage another three points. 

CLUTCH

102-107 4:55

FN makes 3 free throws on clear path foul call. A Dallas three follows. Gobert then hits a couple at the line. Brunson to the cup! Mavs have quickly closed a ten-point deficit. 

107-109 4:13

Conley hits a runner off the glass. Brunson misses a three, then fouls Mike Conley, who hits one of two free throws. 

KP falls down and loses the ball, Mavs get it back, Brunson misses a shot, a dust-up ensues. Foul on O’Neal, Mavs have it back but can’t capitalize. On the other end, Bogdanovic hits from range. 

Kris fouled, hits both free throws for his first points of the quarter. Mitchell gets a second-chance and-one. 

Knight responds with a three. Jazz turn the ball over, as Gobert is called for an offensive foul. 

112-118  1:00

KP over Gobert. Bodanovich misse a long one. 

JB misses a transition three, fouls Bogdanovich on the rebound, Bogdanovich hits both freebies. 

Frankie hits a two, but the play (which included several miss/OR sequences) took most of the rest of the time available.  

116-120  FT


OBSERVATIONS

Closer than I expected from the makeshift Mavs against a Jazz team that was close to full strength, although I suspect that the Jazz were never in as much danger as the final score might suggest. Porzingis co-led Dallas with 27 points and 9 boards, drew 13 FTAs and hit 11. Brunson also put up 27 points and added 6 assists. Frankie was the third starter in double digits with 17, and Knight contributed 10 points off the bench. All the available Mavs played except Boban and Carlik. 

Even disregarding the unfortunate absence of much of the Mavs’ regular roster, this was not exactly a beautiful game. It was a ref-happy affair, with both teams combining for 55 personal fouls and a crazy 72 FTAs, which made for a very chopped up, laborious contest. The second quarter stretched from 12 game minutes to 40 actual minutes. 

I’m not going to level any criticisms on the players or coaches, as I’m not sure we could reasonably expect much from this motley crew, and they arguably exceeded expectations (which is sadly not saying much). I guess they’re just going to have to get through this absence-riddled stretch, one way or another. 


NEXT.  The Mavs are scheduled to face Portland on Monday in the second game of a five-day road trip. 

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. 

[hakeemfaan]

The talent level on this team is shockingly low even when at full strength . The players are giving their best. With the hardship players there is nothing to fault them but even there the team seems to have gone out their way to find offensively challenged players. Others than Knight who I honestly thought was retired.  

The Lakers a few games ago had Westbrook, Bron, Melo, Rondo and THT and the headline was talking about a depleted Lakers squad. It is just sad to see this roster, hardship or not.

[dirkfansince1998]

The talent level on this team is shockingly low even when at full strength . The players are giving their best. With the hardship players there is nothing to fault them but even there the team seems to have gone out their way to find offensively challenged players. Others than Knight who I honestly thought was retired.  

The Lakers a few games ago had Westbrook, Bron, Melo, Rondo and THT and the headline was talking about a depleted Lakers squad. It is just sad to see this roster, hardship or not.

To be fair. Having Westbrook on the roster has to be considered a hardship in itself.

[Mavs2021]

To be fair. Having Westbrook on the roster has to be considered a hardship in itself.

Don´t have to worry about that. Cuban would turn down THJ/Powell/Bullock for Westbrook.

[hakeemfaan]

To be fair. Having Westbrook on the roster has to be considered a hardship in itself.

Haha. He was great against us though when they won in OT.

[mavsluvr]

Tim Cato ponders why this game was oddly pleasant to watch -- 


Although the Mavs have lost four of their last five games, these contests have offered a strange sense of gratification. 

For much of this season, the Mavericks have felt stale. Luka has been critiqued more than admired. The roster is largely the same. The incremental changes have not been effective, so far. The new coaching staff feel like a new ship captain brought in when the vessel is already sinking. Instituting a  more positive outlook doesn't change the fact that they're still taking on water. 

However, with the COVID developments, the team has temporarily evolved from an underachieving squad with expectations to an overperforming one with scrappy performances. Will the accompanying losses be a problem in April? We can worry about that in April. Meanwhile, we have the joy of watching a lot of fresh new faces, and games where anything might happen. 

Most of the emergency players weren't in the league for good reasons. The brief excitement generated by their presence probably won't last as long as their ten-days. But after years of stewing with players who just aren't good enough, at least these players are new. 

Circumstances aren't ideal. Practices and shootarounds have been cancelled. The traveling party has been reduced to a bare minimum. Tests are surrounded with anxiety. The team is short-staffed and exhausted. Christmas was supposed to be the time the organization conducted a meaningful analysis of the squad. Kidd admitted that such an assessment is difficult with all the absences. In the meantime, it is easier to see new faces run up and down the court and miss shots than to keep watching the same old same old.

The best chance for the Mavs to put a better team around Doncic is to give the coaching staff meaningful options to do so, not just hope Kidd can fix things by being a nice guy. In fairness, the organization probably knows these issues exist. They really thought that Kyle Lowry was coming here in the summer. They really may not have had other meaningful options to improve in the offseason. Nico is literally still learning the job. 

By March, the roster/rotation will look different, if only at the edges. For now, watching these new players gives us a sense of hope that the process is truly underway. 

https://theathletic.com/3035403/2021/12/...ed-article

[Kammrath]

it is easier to see new faces run up and down the court and miss shots than to keep watching the same old same old.

[cow]

KP is empty calories.   I can't wait for him to be off this team.

[Scott41theMavs]

KP is empty calories.   I can't wait for him to be off this team.

I've said it before - keep Luka, DFS, Smokes, and Maxi. Get rid of all of the rest for a combo of two or three players who have an actual future in winning basketball here and expiring contracts, and very likely end up doing poorly enough (due to the no-future-with-the-Mavs expiring guys and all the turnover of the top half of the roster) that our draft pick is a high one. Try to get a decent FA or two sold on the idea of rebuilding a core with Luka, and try to have something to build off of in 2022-23.