As beautiful as the Dallas Mavericks’ 51-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers was three days ago, what happened Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets was the complete opposite.
In two words, coach Rick Carlisle described the 118-99 loss to the Hornets at American Airlines Center as an “ugly night.” An ugly night that dropped the Mavs to 1-3 on the season in what was their final game of the calendar year 2020.
The Hornets played with more energy and more force and kept attacking until they built a 31-point lead in the third quarter. Indeed, it was not the Mavs’ finest hour in a game that was their home opener for the 2020-21 season.
“We really were dominated for three quarters,” Carlisle said. “I love the way we fought in the fourth quarter (when the Mavs outscored Charlotte, 30-20), but obviously it was too late. Disappointing loss.
“Overall, they carried the day in terms of their aggressiveness really at both ends of the floor. Defensively, they were up into us and disrupting, and offensively they were attacking downhill. We just didn’t do a good job.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Mavs with 18 points, Jalen Brunson tallied 16 points and Maxi Kleber finished with 12 points. However, Luka Doncic was just 4-of-10 from the field and finished with 12 points – 15 off his season average — and five assists.
Doncic was so disenchanted with his performance that he was back on the court 20 minutes after the game shooting for about 30 minutes.
“I’ve got to do way better,” he said. “I’m 21 in my third season and I can improve so much.
“So I’ve got to work on my shots every day, and if you keep working at it they’re going to fall in.”
Carlisle knows this was more than just a subpar game from Doncic. Especially since the Mavs only shot 39.1 percent from the field, missed 30 of their 42 attempts from behind the 3-point line and were outrebounded, 50-39.
“Look, it’s clear Luka doesn’t have his rhythm yet and everybody’s working through something at this point and time,” Carlisle said. “The thing that we can’t work through is the idea, or the fact that in this league this year you’ve got to step on the floor playing with full force all the time or you’re going to get your (rear end) beat.
“(Doncic) only played 24 minutes tonight because of the score. I wouldn’t get too carried away with a low-scoring night for Luka. We can’t make this loss about that. This is a team thing tonight. Luka’s moving in the right direction. I don’t have any doubt about that, and he’s going to be fine. We just got to play better together as a unit. That’s the bottom line.”
Hardaway, who was 7-of-10 from the field, chalked up what happened to Doncic as just an off-night.
“He’s out there getting shots up right now as we speak,’ Hardaway said. “He knows what he has to do. He’s been a pro before he even came into the MBA.
“All we can do is encourage him and make sure he keeps that confidence, which he will. So we have no problems with him on that. But importantly, he knows that we have his back and his best interest.”
The Mavs fell behind, 36-29, after the first quarter and 68-57 at the half. And when the Hornets came out of the halftime dressing room and scored the first 14 points to assume an 82-57 lead, the Mavs never could recover.
“They were simply more physical,” Kleber said. “I think the best example is all the rebounds they had. It was another struggle today.
“We’ve got to do a better job of boxing everybody out and get those rebounds. But overall, just effort and defense I think is something that was not really good, because it wasn’t about a scheme or a play that we didn’t defend well. It was just about energy and effort today.”
LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Miles Bridges had 20 points and 16 boards, Terry Rozier picked up 18 points and five rebounds, and Gordon Hayward had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Midway through the first half, Charlotte’s bench was 11-of-11 from the field with 35 points as the Hornets ran out to a 52-45 lead. Ball came off to bench to lead the Hornets in the first half with 15 points and Bridges added 13 points as Charlotte took a 68-57 lead at the half.
“He’s energetic,” Carlisle said of Ball, who was the No. 3 overall pick in last month’s NBA Draft. “He’s extremely unselfish, he shoots the ball well.
“Anybody that is as active as he is defensively, he gets deflections, and is always looking to throw the ball ahead to your teammate. I think the guy is going to help your team.”
With 2020 behind them, the Mavs will open 2021 with a 6 p.m. home game on Friday against the Miami Heat.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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