GAME 34: DAL (16-18) @ SAC (15-21) | 94-95 loss

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Damn, tough loss

[Chicagojk]

Dwight left his man.  Ouch.  Maybe right play, but I don't give up a three there.   also didn't like DFS taking the foul and taking him out of the game.

Really tough loss.   Mavs played hard.  Didn't close though.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Kings have our number it seems.

[KillerLeft]

The offense is officially holding this team back. There will always be defensive possessions that don’t work out, but the defense is improved from last season. 13 point quarters and final offensive possessions like that won’t get the team where they need to go.

[BolsDamols]

Dwight Powell...the gift that keeps on giving. I am so ready for the Dwight Powell era to end, but alas,  Cuban is still trying to win the Rondo trade

[Kammrath]

Dwight left his man.  Ouch.  Maybe right play, but I don't give up a three there.   also didn't like DFS taking the foul and taking him out of the game.

Really tough loss.   Mavs played hard.  Didn't close though.

FN got caught up too tight on Fox.....DP leaving the three point shooter is tough....but JB needed to rotate down to close on the corner three. Poor play by all three of them.

[Kammrath]

The offense is officially holding this team back. They will always be defensive possessions that don’t work out, but the defense is improved from last season. 13 point quarters and final offensive possessions like that won’t get the team where they need to go.

Agreed.

[RedFlag41]

I would have given up a two point shot instead of leaving a wide open three-point shot.

[Branduil]

The offense is officially holding this team back. There will always be defensive possessions that don’t work out, but the defense is improved from last season. 13 point quarters and final offensive possessions like that won’t get the team where they need to go.

This is what happens when you try to build an offense around placating an inconsistent tweener big who is semi-all-star at best instead of building an offense around a generational talent... we already know what it looks like when they do the latter, but that makes KP sad so...

[SwisherPrice]

The last offensive possession was a joke...especially considering they used their timeout for it. Very winnable game, the Kings have too much talent to be this mediocre though. A team with Fox, Hield, Haliburton, Barnes, and Holmes should not rely on Metu shooting 3/5 from three and making the game-winning shot to beat this Mavs roster

[KillerLeft]

I would have given up a two point shot instead of leaving a wide open three-point shot.

To be fair, @"Kammrath" is right. Brunson should have rotated to the corner. In fact, of the three Mavericks involved in that play, I’d say Powell was the only one who played it well.

[Scott41theMavs]

Where the hell was Chriss? Is he already in JK's doghouse?

[Chicagojk]

The last offensive possession was a joke...especially considering they used their timeout for it. Very winnable game, the Kings have too much talent to be this mediocre though. A team with Fox, Hield, Haliburton, Barnes, and Holmes should not rely on Metu shooting 3/5 from three and making the game-winning shot to beat this Mavs roster

Yeah, my bigger problem was the last offensive possession and also DFS taking a foul that didn't really change the Kings plans.

On the last offensive play, I don't think there is much difference with the Kings getting the ball back with 4 seconds vs 9 seconds.  I would have been more aggressive.  Spread the floor and maybe you get a easier basket as the team thinks you are holding the ball and draining clock.  If the Mavs expected the Kings not to foul and the play was indeed to get KP the ball in the post, the play started way too late imo.

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Yeah, my bigger problem was the last offensive possession and also DFS taking a foul that didn't really change the Kings plans.

On the last offensive play, I don't think there is much difference with the Kings getting the ball back with 4 seconds vs 9 seconds.  I would have been more aggressive.  Spread the floor and maybe you get a easier basket as the team thinks you are holding the ball and draining clock.  If the Mavs expected the Kings not to foul and the play was indeed to get KP the ball in the post, the play started way too late imo.

https://twitter.com/jga41agher/status/14...6679980035

[ReunionMav]

How much pain do we have to take. 

Honestly I am enjoying these games and a lot of what I’m seeing out there. But I am so tired of these painful losses. I hope Luka is learning how he can maximize the good things he and Kidd are seeing out there. I also truly hope he is not sick. I’m becoming afraid this goes on longer because some of the guys can’t pass the COVID tests and may not be healthy at all. Medical privacy kind of sucks for fans.

[SwisherPrice]

I don't even blame Powell for leaving Metu open...the entire defense there was a shitshow. Not sure why they wanted Green following Haliburton 3/4 up the court and taking himself out of the play. That's exactly what the Kings wanted.

I am not of a fan of guarding the inbound pass unless it's someone like Boban making it difficult. The shorter Brunson is not going to make it a tough pass for Barnes. Better off having Brunson help out on defense.

And then I think Ntilikina forgot that Fox is left-handed. Force him right

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/...9860060164

[omahen]

Mavs poor roster construction shows again. They can basically choose between good defense/bad offense lineups or the other way around. It will be interesting to see what happens when Luka comes back, who loses the starting spot. If it is Ntilikina, defense will be bad with Luka/KP/Brunson on perimeter. On the other hand, Brunson kind of doesn't deserve to be coming off the bench.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Never understood the point of taking a foul just because you have one.  I always feel like it should be used as an excuse to play overly aggressive defense (which can be dangerous to draw a shooting foul, I understand).  Just weight to take our best defender off the floor so that we can simply make the Kings life one second tougher there at the end.

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Mavs poor roster construction shows again

Feels like all roster construction arguments should kind of be off the table for the time being....

[Mavs2021]

Mavs poor roster construction shows again. They can basically choose between good defense/bad offense lineups or the other way around. It will be interesting to see what happens when Luka comes back, who loses the starting spot. If it is Ntilikina, defense will be bad with Luka/KP/Brunson on perimeter. On the other hand, Brunson kind of doesn't deserve to be coming off the bench.

Seems pretty straight forward that Powell would go to the bench at some point, even if he played better recently.

I get the whole PF Porzingis Injury Protection Act, but at some point you also have to test what the best configuration for the play-offs and for future roster construction is. I´d roll with this starting five, when everybody is back healthy....

OFFENSE /  DEFENSE
Doncic / Ntilikina
Brunson / Brunson
Ntilikina / DFS
DFS / Doncic
Porzingis /Porzingis

Other options would be Green, Brown or Bullock for Ntilikina.

More play-making, more defense, more quickness.