GAME 39: PHI (25-15) @ DAL (24-15) | 109-91 win

[mtrot]

My theory on the Mavs' sudden increase in intensity tonight -- Rick's getting pissed and thrown out of the Lakers game lit a fire under this bunch.  It seemed like all the rest of the team, in addition to Luka, were balls to the walls tonight.

[philjuan1]

Nice win. But it's time for KP to be back like now.

[Kammrath]

I am hoping the Mavs can build off this and exorcise the demons that were clearly deep in their heads (especially the late game shenanigans).

[donzingis38]

My theory on the Mavs' sudden increase in intensity tonight -- Rick's getting pissed and thrown out of the Lakers game lit a fire under this bunch.  It seemed like all the rest of the team, in addition to Luka, were balls to the walls tonight.

Not sure about that because they sucked in the first half. They still came out with very low energy to start the game.

Carlisle did say one of his assistants gave a motivational speech (after the first half) about energy/intensity that woke up the players.

It was very concerning, though. It's like they don't want to be out there. But it's better to have these issues now than in the spring.

[j0Shi]

Bullets:

• Mavs needed this win. It's great to beat a good team at home convincingly. Maybe they can regroup against a more manageable schedule in the next days.. It's now two days off before @GSW, @SAC and vs. POR.
  
• I'm still a little worried about the lack of effort at home to start games. Yes it was a back-2-back, but the third quarter showed what this team can do when they play with energy. Why not do that from the start?
  
• Gotta give it to Powell. We criticize him a lot, but he had one of his better games this season. Two things though: Gotta do it consistently plus I still think he's a system player. He was bad when the Mavs were bad (1st half) and an absolute beast once the team got rolling (2nd half).
  
• Luka is brilliant. He had trouble scoring last night, but his passing and control was just wow. I'd like to highlight a particular play that occurred with the Mavs down 31-41 in the second quarter. Powell set a high screen for Luka and both defenders followed Doncic into the paint, leaving Dwight open at the three point line. Luka saw it and would have passed to any passable shooter, but instead looked him off and instead hit a cutting DFS for an easy layup. The recognition within milliseconds that the better shot is getting the ball to DFS vs. a Powell three is just something you can't teach.
  
• Powell is the obvious choice for performance of the evening, but I think Kleber had as much to do with the momentum swing in the 3rd. He just rendered Ben Simmons completely useless with his defense and generally delivered some rim protection that Mavs miss with KP out.
  
• Talking about Simmons: He really bothered Luka early on, but in the second half returned to what he is: A basketball player that hardly contributes to winning. He couldn't beat Kleber off the dribble and if the 76ers can't get in transition he's fairly useless.
  
• BOBAN three!
  
• Brunson fouled out in ten minutes. He's having that kind of a season unfortunately. Philadelphia is a particularly bad matchup for him because he can't do his usual stuff against their length, but he just looks slow and outmatched out there.
  
• The second half was a good reminder how fun this team can be when everything is clicking. They have to get back to performing for a full 48 though because I'd say Dallas is 'back'. Hopefully we'll have KP back before too long and then are able to make a strong push in January.
  
• Should be noted that the Mavs handled double teams on Luka better tonight. They attacked the paint or took (and made) the ensuing open shots. In most of these brutal crunch time games lately they were just trying to force it back to Luka and reset the offense with the shot clock in single digits.