When you have a lousy game like Friday’s 117-109 loss to Charlotte, sometimes you forget to give the other team some credit for making you look so bad.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford said one of his staff members did some research and it showed that understaffed teams like Charlotte was Friday have an unusually high rate of success.

“It happens a lot in our league,” Clifford said. “These guys are good, so even when it doesn’t appear like you have a great chance, guys play well. We had a bunch of guys play really well.”

And the Mavericks did not.

Coach Jason Kidd went so far as to call the effort in the first quarter something that rhymes with hog spit. And he was right.

So while the Hornets deserve kudos for playing hard and playing well, the Mavericks certainly made it easy on them with a lack of urgency on their behalf that was clearly evident to anybody who was watching.

With that, here’s a few more takeaways from the debacle.

GANG THAT COULDN’T SHOOT STRAIGHT: The Mavericks hit just 9-of-36 three-pointers. That number was dragged down by Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić. “When you look at our two (stars), they were 3-for-17 from three,” Kidd said. “Great looks, just didn’t go down. And that’s kind of been the season for us in the sense that we’re getting great looks and they’re just not going down. Our opponents are getting good looks and they’re making them.” The Hornets hit 11-of-28 three-pointers and that advantage in efficiency from beyond the arc was a major part of the equation.

AWFUL START: The Mavericks fell behind by 19 points in the second quarter. They played from behind virtually the entire night. Blame their starting lineup. Reserves like Frank Ntilikina, Jaden Hardy and Christian Wood tried to prop them up. But the starters were not good enough. Just look at Charlotte’s makeshift starting five – all five of them were at least plus-10 when they were on the floor. None of the Mavericks’ starters had a positive plus-minus.

CHANGES NEEDED? You can look at just about any spot on the court and question whether some alterations are needed. The starting lineup? Yep, outside of Kyrie and Luka all the other spots should be open to review. The combinations of players on the court together? Sure, take a long, hard look at that, too. When you are 36-38 and in 11th spot in the Western Conference with eight games to go, everything needs to be on the table. But perhaps most important is the attitude adjustment this team needs. Dončić addressed his frustration, on and off the court, and Irving mentioned just how thin the line is between “winning basketball games and every one being on the same page and losing games and things splintering and pointing fingers.” The Mavericks don’t have much time left. Their next five games are on the road. Their final three are at home. Lately, they’ve been better away from American Airlines Center than they have been in it.

Twitter: @ESefko

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