02-02-2021, 04:16 AM
MAVERICKS FALL TO SUNS IN CLIFFHANGER
LATE-GAME WOES STRIKE AGAIN
Oof. So close, and yet so far.
GAME STORY
The Mavs had ALL of their guys available, finally! Hurray! Maxi was the last player to re-enter the fray. KP was back from his rest game, and Devin Booker returned for the Suns. Rick went with a starting lineup that many fans have been longing to see — Luka, Richardson, DFS, Maxi, and KP.
That lineup managed a tie game by the time Tim came in for Maxi at 7:11. THJ injected a bit of drama with the team’s only two threes of the period, and followed up with a dive for a loose ball that ended in his flying over the scorer’s table, having to be rescued from hanging upside down over the table, and leaving the review monitor much the worse for the experience. Tim and Josh had 14 of Dallas’ total points, and after one, the score was knotted at 22-all.
The score differential was less than 5 points for most of the second, until the Mavs went on an 8-0 run to enter halftime leading 53-47. The game got physical at some points. Chris Paul smashed into Trey Burke, pushing him into Frank Kaminsky, and leaving Burke looking a little shaken. The whole Suns quarter was the Chris Paul show, as the Point God blitzed the Mavs with 16 points in the frame. Luka and JRich combined for 17 for Dallas.
The Mavs looked pretty good to begin the third quarter, and built double-digit leads several times. Up 11 at the 4:48 mark, they did not hold on, and were perhaps lucky to still lead 82-77 at the end of the period.
A Luka-less lineup early in the fourth gave up a 15-7 run by the Suns. The Mavs followed with a run of their own, and the score was tied when Carlisle put his finishing lineup on the floor at 4:08 — the starting five, but with THJ in for Maxi.
From that point —
TIE. KP fadeaway.
+2. Suns get three shots on one possession, but miss them all.
+2. Doncic missed stepback three.
+2 KP blocks Ayton’s layup attempt, but Booker hits a three on the offensive rebound.
-1 KP missed shot, Booker loose ball foul on rebound. Hardaway three.
+2. Chris Paul pull up.
TIE. Ayton fouls Luka, who hits his free throws.
+2. Booker shot off offensive rebound.
TIE. Richardson fouled. Hits his free throws. 55 seconds left.
+2. Booker missed shot. 49 seconds.
+2. DFS missed three on lovely open shot produced with ball movement. 27 seconds.
+2. Suns get three shots on the possession. KP blocks the last one, but the rebound isn’t secured, and a jump ball is called. KP tips it to Maxi, but it sails over Maxi’s outstretched hand and goes out of bounds off KP. 12 seconds. Suns timeout. Mavs have a timeout and a foul to give. Mavs do not take the foul to give. Booker hits a three over Josh. 1.5 seconds. Mavs take their remaining timeout.
-1. Luka missed three. Game over.
What can we make of this? Suns pulled down six offensive rebounds in the last four minutes. Mavs hit two shots in that stretch — a KP midrange and a THJ three. Luka and JRich hit their clutch free throws. Luka and DFS combined for three missed three-point attempts. The team did not take their foul to give before Booker’s three. Rick said they were supposed to take it, and labelled the failure a “very bad mistake.” Josh confirmed that taking the foul to give was all they talked about in the timeout huddle, so I don't know what went wrong. Rick maintained that there would be no fingerpointing, or if any one had to point a finger, point it at him.
Stretch issues. Gross failure to secure the glass. Inability to hit clutch shots. Lack of attention to detail. A better game manager on the floor in Chris Paul. A disappointing way to lose a game, but at least some of this is fixable, although maybe not in the ultra-short term.
One could also take the view that the game was lost when the Mavs squandered an 11-point lead, and that they should never have been in a clutch situation. That would also be a reasonable point of view. Basically, Paul and Booker outplayed them in the last quarter, combining for 25 points, and the Mavs still lost by only a point. So that might be a ray of light. Also, KP came alive, scoring 10 points in the period.
STATS
Poor three-point shooting (10-32, 31%). A 25-12 advantage in free-throw attempts, and a 24-25 performance from the line! Kept them in the game. Gave up 18 points off turnovers. Gave up 11 offensive rebounds, 6 in the last four minutes. Had 50 points in the paint. High scorers were Luka with 25 points, Josh with 24, KP 19, THJ 18, Brunson 11.
PLAYERS
Luka was 25/5/8, despite having only 2 points in the first quarter. I think he must have playing hurt. He kept grabbing his leg, and had some kind of pack on it when he was on the bench. At one point, he crashed into the stanchion, and his leg buckled. I thought he might not be good to continue, but he finished the game playing 38 minutes. A lob from him to Josh in the fourth quarter won the Whataburger Play of the Game. He seemed quite frustrated at the end of the game, pounding the table, brushing off an overture by Chris Paul of a goodbye, and stalking off the court barking.
There was a reporter's clunker in his post-game interview that might be a sort of metaphor for the Mavs’ season thus far, with a lot of shooting themselves in the foot taking place. One of the reporters asked him to assess what the team needs to work on, now that the season is more than half over. He sat there and looked blank for a few seconds, then said he didn’t think the season was half over. Really? That was a planned question. Sometimes, it’s just, like — wut?
DFS. Although Doe-Doe scored only 5 points, he had a quietly impactful game on the other end. If only he hadn’t bricked that last three, he could have been a game-winning hero.
RICHARDSON. Josh had a surprising game on both ends, with 24 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists. Most of his production came inside the arc, but he did hit a couple of threes, and was 4-4 from the line, including the high-pressure attempts in the last minute. In the third quarter, he executed a very nifty reverse layup, followed by an outstanding put back. He also made a few mistakes out there, but let’s look at the bright side for this one. I don’t really expect him to have 24 points on too many nights, but this one was fun, and he put in the most energetic performance I have seen from him this season.
PORZINGIS. KP’s box score looks good — 19 and 10, although the performance was mixed. He had only 3 rebounds in the second half, but came through with 10 points in the fourth quarter. He was only 3-8 on two-point shots, but tied THJ at 3-7 for the team’s best three-point performances. The only good three-point performances, tbh. The rest of the team was 4-18. He had 4 pretty brutal turnovers, but that is unusual for him.
After the game, he said he thinks that playing for longer stretches helped him out, as he admitted that when he thinks he has only a short time to perform, he tends to rush things instead of playing in rhythm. He at least put a little lipstick on his coach-shaming missive, acknowledging that he might not have done a good enough job communicating his situation to the coaching staff.
HARDAWAY. A good showing from Tim off the bench, with 18 points on 6-12 shooting, including three triples. He had a couple of impactful steals, including a rare “wraparound steal” on Ayton which earned DeAndre a talking-to from his floor general, Chris Paul.
KLEBER. It was great to see Maxi back, and he showed a lot of hustle and high effort in 18 minutes on the court, especially considering that he does not yet have his conditioning back. He was 1-5 from the floor, scoring only 2 points, but had 6 boards and made his presence felt on the defensive end. He also had some mistakes that contributed to the loss, but it was his first game back. Rick said that he knew it was going to be a difficult night for Maxi, but believes he will be better as soon as he gets his legs back under him.
RESERVES. Brunson had a workmanlike outing, as usual, and contributed 11 points, but was on the floor for some of those Suns runs. WCS served as the reserve big, and had 4 points and a rebound in 14 minutes. Johnson and Burke had brief cameos, and Powell did not play. Not sure whether we should read anything into any of that, but maybe. I’m not jumping to conclusions at this point.
SUNS. Too much Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Still. We came so close to putting these guys away. Dang it.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick was extremely disappointed with the loss, and was still ruing that untaken foul to give in his interview. Said that the team is not back on track chemistry-wise, still making mistakes and failing to attend to details. However, he pointed out that, unlike wins and losses, progress is not binary, and felt the game exhibited that the players are getting it together. He thinks it is very important to stay positive and together while they are fighting their way out of this ditch.
I was gutted to see the team let the game slip away with some poor execution down the stretch, but feel that we can at least start identifying items that need work, rather than throwing up our hands because anything and everything seems to be wrong. I imagine it will be another week or two before the virus guys get fully re-acclimated, but hopefully they can get some wins before then. I liked the energy and hustle tonight, and thought they looked like a different team in that respect from the one who showed in the Jazz games.
The record is 8-13, and the team is clinging to the 13th spot in the West. A far cry from where we thought we would be at this point in the season. Not an ideal start, but I still think the playoffs are a realistic possibility. Once they get over the hump once, I feel like they might even put together a winning streak or two. Trying to stay upbeat, per Coach’s instructions.
We face the Hawks in Atlanta on Wednesday. Maybe that will be the game when the spring breaks through.
'Til then!
LATE-GAME WOES STRIKE AGAIN
Oof. So close, and yet so far.
GAME STORY
The Mavs had ALL of their guys available, finally! Hurray! Maxi was the last player to re-enter the fray. KP was back from his rest game, and Devin Booker returned for the Suns. Rick went with a starting lineup that many fans have been longing to see — Luka, Richardson, DFS, Maxi, and KP.
That lineup managed a tie game by the time Tim came in for Maxi at 7:11. THJ injected a bit of drama with the team’s only two threes of the period, and followed up with a dive for a loose ball that ended in his flying over the scorer’s table, having to be rescued from hanging upside down over the table, and leaving the review monitor much the worse for the experience. Tim and Josh had 14 of Dallas’ total points, and after one, the score was knotted at 22-all.
The score differential was less than 5 points for most of the second, until the Mavs went on an 8-0 run to enter halftime leading 53-47. The game got physical at some points. Chris Paul smashed into Trey Burke, pushing him into Frank Kaminsky, and leaving Burke looking a little shaken. The whole Suns quarter was the Chris Paul show, as the Point God blitzed the Mavs with 16 points in the frame. Luka and JRich combined for 17 for Dallas.
The Mavs looked pretty good to begin the third quarter, and built double-digit leads several times. Up 11 at the 4:48 mark, they did not hold on, and were perhaps lucky to still lead 82-77 at the end of the period.
A Luka-less lineup early in the fourth gave up a 15-7 run by the Suns. The Mavs followed with a run of their own, and the score was tied when Carlisle put his finishing lineup on the floor at 4:08 — the starting five, but with THJ in for Maxi.
From that point —
TIE. KP fadeaway.
+2. Suns get three shots on one possession, but miss them all.
+2. Doncic missed stepback three.
+2 KP blocks Ayton’s layup attempt, but Booker hits a three on the offensive rebound.
-1 KP missed shot, Booker loose ball foul on rebound. Hardaway three.
+2. Chris Paul pull up.
TIE. Ayton fouls Luka, who hits his free throws.
+2. Booker shot off offensive rebound.
TIE. Richardson fouled. Hits his free throws. 55 seconds left.
+2. Booker missed shot. 49 seconds.
+2. DFS missed three on lovely open shot produced with ball movement. 27 seconds.
+2. Suns get three shots on the possession. KP blocks the last one, but the rebound isn’t secured, and a jump ball is called. KP tips it to Maxi, but it sails over Maxi’s outstretched hand and goes out of bounds off KP. 12 seconds. Suns timeout. Mavs have a timeout and a foul to give. Mavs do not take the foul to give. Booker hits a three over Josh. 1.5 seconds. Mavs take their remaining timeout.
-1. Luka missed three. Game over.
What can we make of this? Suns pulled down six offensive rebounds in the last four minutes. Mavs hit two shots in that stretch — a KP midrange and a THJ three. Luka and JRich hit their clutch free throws. Luka and DFS combined for three missed three-point attempts. The team did not take their foul to give before Booker’s three. Rick said they were supposed to take it, and labelled the failure a “very bad mistake.” Josh confirmed that taking the foul to give was all they talked about in the timeout huddle, so I don't know what went wrong. Rick maintained that there would be no fingerpointing, or if any one had to point a finger, point it at him.
Stretch issues. Gross failure to secure the glass. Inability to hit clutch shots. Lack of attention to detail. A better game manager on the floor in Chris Paul. A disappointing way to lose a game, but at least some of this is fixable, although maybe not in the ultra-short term.
One could also take the view that the game was lost when the Mavs squandered an 11-point lead, and that they should never have been in a clutch situation. That would also be a reasonable point of view. Basically, Paul and Booker outplayed them in the last quarter, combining for 25 points, and the Mavs still lost by only a point. So that might be a ray of light. Also, KP came alive, scoring 10 points in the period.
STATS
Poor three-point shooting (10-32, 31%). A 25-12 advantage in free-throw attempts, and a 24-25 performance from the line! Kept them in the game. Gave up 18 points off turnovers. Gave up 11 offensive rebounds, 6 in the last four minutes. Had 50 points in the paint. High scorers were Luka with 25 points, Josh with 24, KP 19, THJ 18, Brunson 11.
PLAYERS
Luka was 25/5/8, despite having only 2 points in the first quarter. I think he must have playing hurt. He kept grabbing his leg, and had some kind of pack on it when he was on the bench. At one point, he crashed into the stanchion, and his leg buckled. I thought he might not be good to continue, but he finished the game playing 38 minutes. A lob from him to Josh in the fourth quarter won the Whataburger Play of the Game. He seemed quite frustrated at the end of the game, pounding the table, brushing off an overture by Chris Paul of a goodbye, and stalking off the court barking.
There was a reporter's clunker in his post-game interview that might be a sort of metaphor for the Mavs’ season thus far, with a lot of shooting themselves in the foot taking place. One of the reporters asked him to assess what the team needs to work on, now that the season is more than half over. He sat there and looked blank for a few seconds, then said he didn’t think the season was half over. Really? That was a planned question. Sometimes, it’s just, like — wut?
DFS. Although Doe-Doe scored only 5 points, he had a quietly impactful game on the other end. If only he hadn’t bricked that last three, he could have been a game-winning hero.
RICHARDSON. Josh had a surprising game on both ends, with 24 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists. Most of his production came inside the arc, but he did hit a couple of threes, and was 4-4 from the line, including the high-pressure attempts in the last minute. In the third quarter, he executed a very nifty reverse layup, followed by an outstanding put back. He also made a few mistakes out there, but let’s look at the bright side for this one. I don’t really expect him to have 24 points on too many nights, but this one was fun, and he put in the most energetic performance I have seen from him this season.
PORZINGIS. KP’s box score looks good — 19 and 10, although the performance was mixed. He had only 3 rebounds in the second half, but came through with 10 points in the fourth quarter. He was only 3-8 on two-point shots, but tied THJ at 3-7 for the team’s best three-point performances. The only good three-point performances, tbh. The rest of the team was 4-18. He had 4 pretty brutal turnovers, but that is unusual for him.
After the game, he said he thinks that playing for longer stretches helped him out, as he admitted that when he thinks he has only a short time to perform, he tends to rush things instead of playing in rhythm. He at least put a little lipstick on his coach-shaming missive, acknowledging that he might not have done a good enough job communicating his situation to the coaching staff.
HARDAWAY. A good showing from Tim off the bench, with 18 points on 6-12 shooting, including three triples. He had a couple of impactful steals, including a rare “wraparound steal” on Ayton which earned DeAndre a talking-to from his floor general, Chris Paul.
KLEBER. It was great to see Maxi back, and he showed a lot of hustle and high effort in 18 minutes on the court, especially considering that he does not yet have his conditioning back. He was 1-5 from the floor, scoring only 2 points, but had 6 boards and made his presence felt on the defensive end. He also had some mistakes that contributed to the loss, but it was his first game back. Rick said that he knew it was going to be a difficult night for Maxi, but believes he will be better as soon as he gets his legs back under him.
RESERVES. Brunson had a workmanlike outing, as usual, and contributed 11 points, but was on the floor for some of those Suns runs. WCS served as the reserve big, and had 4 points and a rebound in 14 minutes. Johnson and Burke had brief cameos, and Powell did not play. Not sure whether we should read anything into any of that, but maybe. I’m not jumping to conclusions at this point.
SUNS. Too much Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Still. We came so close to putting these guys away. Dang it.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick was extremely disappointed with the loss, and was still ruing that untaken foul to give in his interview. Said that the team is not back on track chemistry-wise, still making mistakes and failing to attend to details. However, he pointed out that, unlike wins and losses, progress is not binary, and felt the game exhibited that the players are getting it together. He thinks it is very important to stay positive and together while they are fighting their way out of this ditch.
I was gutted to see the team let the game slip away with some poor execution down the stretch, but feel that we can at least start identifying items that need work, rather than throwing up our hands because anything and everything seems to be wrong. I imagine it will be another week or two before the virus guys get fully re-acclimated, but hopefully they can get some wins before then. I liked the energy and hustle tonight, and thought they looked like a different team in that respect from the one who showed in the Jazz games.
The record is 8-13, and the team is clinging to the 13th spot in the West. A far cry from where we thought we would be at this point in the season. Not an ideal start, but I still think the playoffs are a realistic possibility. Once they get over the hump once, I feel like they might even put together a winning streak or two. Trying to stay upbeat, per Coach’s instructions.
We face the Hawks in Atlanta on Wednesday. Maybe that will be the game when the spring breaks through.
'Til then!
