The Mavericks have lost eight of 10, including a 102-99 gut-wrencher Tuesday to the Brooklyn Nets.
That actually was probably their best overall game in weeks. They just happened to run into a good team that won a game with superior play, not superior effort.
The Mavericks need to remember how they played against the Nets and trot that style out night after night.
That said, they have stumbled below .500 and are hitting the road for three games, starting Wednesday at Memphis, which beat them Saturday in Dallas.
So at times like these, we have to ask tough questions, which is the theme of our second-chance points on the morning after the loss to Brooklyn.
IS THIS WHO THE MAVERICKS REALLY ARE? The Mavericks are a game below .500. They are 6-6 at home and 5-6 on the road. So this is not an aberration where they’ve played an overload of road games. Right now, this is who they are. They are the sort of team that a really good team like Brooklyn only needs to play one sharp quarter against to win. The Nets dominated the fourth quarter and that made up for three quarters when Brooklyn was working to stay in striking range. But again, “right now” is the key phrase. The Mavericks feel like they are going to get better. But we’re into the second quarter of the season. Christmas will be past us before you know it. The longer you hang around .500, the more likely you are to find yourself having to win a play-in game (or games) to get into the playoffs.
ABOUT THAT SHOOTING: Dorian Finney-Smith hit 4-of-9 3-pointers against the Nets. The rest of the Mavericks were 5-of-37. That’s 13.5 percent. The technical term for that is gawd-awful. The Mavericks shot a franchise-record 68.7 percent at New Orleans last week. In three games since, they’ve shot 37.9 percent. Is it in their heads? “Sooner or later, we’ll get out of this shooting slump,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “Obviously, the film sessions and conversations we’re having are not the most fun. But it’s part of our job. We want to get better, we want our coaches to look good. Right now, we’re not doing a good job. They’re giving us everything, working extra hours, staying late to give us the most correct information they can. And we’re just not doing our job right now. We as players realize it and we want to fix that as soon as possible.” Jason Kidd and the staff are trying to pull every string to jump-start their team.
SO IS ATTACKING THE RIM AN OPTION? The Mavericks had 36 points in the paint against the Nets in the first half. That’s an astronomical number. Brooklyn had 22. In the second half, the points in the paint were 18-10 in the Nets’ favor. Ten points in the paint is a miniscule number. The Mavericks simply could not get the ball inside for point-blank looks at the bucket. Either that, or they stopped trying to. Settling for jump shots is lazy basketball. And usually leads to a disappointing outcome.
REBOUNDING REMAINS A CURSE: The Mavericks are getting beaten by 3.6 rebounds per game. That’s seven more possessions for the opponent every two games. That adds up. Against the Nets, the Mavericks were OK in the rebounding game for three quarters. They were beat 14-6 on the glass in the fourth period. Little Patty Mills, the former Spur, had three rebounds, which was more than any Maverick had in the fourth quarter.
FORGET ABOUT IT: The Mavericks don’t have time to dwell on this. Memphis is waiting for them. Then Indiana and Oklahoma City. If the Mavericks can muster the energy and attention to detail they had for three quarters against Brooklyn, they’ll be fine. But the world needs to be convinced that they can do that consistently.
Twitter: @ESefko
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