On the first day of 2021, the Mavericks and Miami Heat played like it was 1999.
Back then, when only one team (Sacramento) averaged more than 100 points per game, hard-nosed defense and rules that allowed it were standard in the NBA.
The Mavericks returned to those days on Friday and found it very much to their liking.
They snuffed out the Miami Heat through the first three quarters, then coasted in the fourth for a 93-83 victory at American Airlines Center.
Not a bad way to start a new year full of new hopes and great optimism.
The Mavericks improved to 2-3 with the victory heading into a three-game trip that begins Sunday at Chicago. Miami fell to 2-3.
The Mavericks extended a trend that is as baffling as it is confounding. Their last four games have been: a loss by 23 points, a win by 51 points, a loss by 19 points and a win by 10 in a game in which they led by 24 in the second half.
Coach Rick Carlisle made it clear that this is what he expected out of his team after the blowout loss to Charlotte on Wednesday.
“When you’re 1-3 and coming off an embarrassing beat-down by Charlotte, we got a group that’s going to respond,” he said. “They’re going to play harder. They’re going to make an effort.
“We just got to establish some consistency. The notion that we have to be a better defensive team has only resonated in two out of five games. The players are starting to realize this is going to be a different kind of year if we’re going to have success. We’re not going to set a bunch of offensive records like we did last year. This is going to be about doing the little things hard, sacrificing yourself physically to try to get one or two extra stops a game and believing that this is our key to getting further and eventually becoming a championship-contending team.”
They clearly have a few intermediate steps to take before getting to that level. Carlisle did not want his team getting carried away with their relatively easy win over Miami.
“At 2-3, we’re probably in 12th or 13th place in the West. So we haven’t done (anything),” he said. “We really haven’t. We’ve showed up strong two out of five games and now we got to continue to do that.”
Luka Dončić had perhaps his best overall game of the young season with 27 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. He even made 3-of-10 3-pointers — not great, but certainly an improvement after making just 2-of-21 in the first four games.
Tim Hardaway Jr. tacked on 18 points. It stopped a six-game losing streak against the Heat.
But scoring was not the story of this game. It was the Mavericks’ defense that pinned down the Heat, limiting them to 25 percent shooting in the first half and barely 30 percent until they caught a hot streak late.
Those fourth-quarter buckets helped the Heat close to within 83-73 on a bucket by Kelly Olynyk. But Josh Richardson answered with a pull-up in the paint to push it back to a 12-point lead with 3:06 to go. They would get it back to 15 points with two minutes left and were able to hang on from there.
It was a nice remedy for any hangover the Mavericks may have had from the Charlotte game – or New Year’s Eve.
Carlisle said offense wasn’t mentioned during the two days since the Charlotte game. It was nothing but defense.
“There was nothing for us to talk about,” said James Johnson, who had a couple of 3-pointers and steals in the second quarter when the Mavericks pulled away. “Collectively, we knew what was going on. We knew what happened the game previous. We know we have a lot more levels to get to. We came out more physical.”
It’s not just the Mavericks that have trouble playing consistent defense. NBA players are talented and some nights, their offense is going to be better than your defense.
But getting a consistent effort is something that can be controlled and the Mavericks are working toward that goal.
“The mixture of guys we have, we got some new guys and everybody’s just trying to get their feet wet,” Hardaway said. “It’s going to take some time. But whoever figures it out quicker is going to find themselves in a great spot at the end of the year. We’re just trying to do the best we can to be one of those teams.”
Going against Miami usually brings out the tough side of the Mavericks. Their defense played superbly in a first half when the Heat shot just 25 percent and missed all 14 of their 3-point shots.
The Mavericks had a 46-31 lead by the end of the half and that lead grew to 20 after three quarters.
Twitter: @ESefko
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