TORONTO – The Mavericks’ three-game losing streak has been built primarily on their inability to make the long ball.
In their past 14 games, they’ve shot below 30 percent from the three-point line five times.
And they’ve only sprinkled in two games in which they’ve hit 40 percent or better during those 14 contests.
The Mavericks are better shooters than this. They know it. Their opponents know it.
But until they start making more of them consistently, teams are going to continue to run two or even three defenders at Luka Dončić and make the other Mavericks beat them.
That recipe worked for the Raptors, who took a 105-100 win Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena. Dončić had 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He could squeeze the trigger on just 15 shots from the field, well below his average of 23 shots per game.
“I thought Luka did a great job of playing four on three,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He had two on him. He didn’t force anything. He made all the right plays. Unfortunately we just didn’t capitalize. I thought he played an incredible game of being unselfish. We just didn’t make threes at the right time.”
There’s a reason why they call it basketball. It helps when you can put the ball in the basket. The Mavericks simply haven’t been doing that.
Here’s our other takeaways from Saturday’s loss.
LOSSES TO SHORTHANDED TEAMS CONTINUE: The Mavericks now have lost four times on the road to teams missing their best player. Or on Saturday, a lot of their best players. The Raptors were without Pascal Siakam (an all-star), Scottie Barnes (reigning rookie of the year), Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter. The last two both are solid rotation players. And the Mavericks had a 15-point lead in the first quarter. Yet they couldn’t keep their foot on the Raptors’ neck. “Teams can play basketball, even if their best player is out,” Maxi Kleber said. “A lot of credit to Toronto. They have really good players. But it’s definitely on us. We got to play the right way, especially when teams have one of their stars out. A lot of times, they play a lot more physical and harder and you have to match their energy. And for some parts we did that, but when it comes to rebounding, we have to do a better job there.”
SPEAKING OF REBOUNDING: The Raptors are the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the NBA at nearly 14 per game. They also had 18 offensive boards in Dallas earlier this month. The Mavericks apparently didn’t get the memo. They surrendered 17 offensive rebounds to Toronto on Saturday that they turned into 25 points. That’s ridiculous. The Mavericks have to figure out how to be more physical around the basket, preferably before they see Milwaukee Sunday night.
WELCOMED RETURN FOR MAXI: The four games the Mavericks played without Kleber, who missed them with lower back soreness, did not go well. And while they lost the first one after his return, it was a bonus to have him back on the floor. Kleber finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. And he was on the floor to close the game out. “Maxi’s first game back was great,” Kidd said. “We got a lot of bigs that can play and this wasn’t a bigs game. You can only play one.” Kleber said that after he got his wind early in the game, he felt good. But he blamed himself and the reserves for squandering an early 15-point lead the starters built. “The first unit did a great job coming out with the right energy,” Kleber said. “As the second unit, we got to pick the same pace up. The biggest thing is the rebounding. They had too many second-chance points, too many second chances overall, which puts us in a bad spot.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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