The Dallas Mavericks attempted a franchise-low tying five free throws in Monday’s 109-99 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at American Airlines Center.
But they know that had nothing to do with the loss.
“The whistle wasn’t blown much,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “There were only five attempted the entire first half and I think one was from us. I think it might depend on who you ask.
“If you ask certain guys that were playing in the game, they’ll give you a pretty strong opinion on it. But that’s not what this is about. To win at this level of basketball, you got to have great spacing, you got to be moving the ball, you got to do all the things right from an X and O standpoint, but you got to have amazing poise and aggression.”
Carlisle said after the Mavs allowed the Clippers to score 31 points in the first quarter, he thought they had some poise and aggression in the second quarter when they limited the visitors to just 24 points. Then came the third quarter when the Clippers poured in 30 points.
Overall, the Mavs converted four of their five free throw attempts with Luka Doncic going 3-of-4 from the stripe and Kristaps Porzingis making his lone attempt. The Clippers didn’t shoot many more free throws, going 9-of-11.
There were two other times in the Mavs’ history when they attempted five free throws in a game. During a Nov. 9, 1995, home game against the Milwaukee Bucks they went 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, and during a Nov. 4, 2008, game in San Antonio the Mavs were 5-of-5.
“The whistle isn’t going to be exact every night,” Carlisle said. “We just got to have a consistent approach and understand that there’s going to be some decisions that you are going to disagree with as a player, as a coach, and try to just move on to the next play. And we just constantly got to give each other energy.”
Great offensive rating: When the Mavs field a lineup consisting of Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber, they have an offensive rating of 132.
That’s a solid rating under any set of circumstances.
“I think the spacing is something that is good for us,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “It opens up opportunities for cuts and drives. That’s also a pretty good defensive group, and if you defend well it’s always going to help your offense.”
Carlisle then put out the caution flag, saying: “We’re not going to get too smitten with ourselves about anything right now. We need to really keep our eye on the ball in terms of our compete level every game and really work at going whistle-to-whistle.
“There’s a lot of games in a short period of time — not a lot of practice time. We just got to keep plowing ahead. It’s a very challenging schedule for everyone.”
NBA Top Shot: Coach Rick Carlisle said he’s heard about NBA Top Shot, but he’s not that familiar with it.
Basically, it’s a blockchain-based platform which permits fans to buy, sell and trade some show-stopping versions of specific officially-licensed video highlights of NBA games.
“It’s fascinating and compelling,” Carlisle said. “It’s one-of-a-kind stuff from what I understand. Some really smart people are coming up with some really interesting ideas. I’m curious to see where it goes from here, but I don’t have enough of an education on it to give you any kind of detailed answer.
“The digital world is fascinating on every level. Everything from trading cards to crypto currency. You name it. If you’re a student of things going on in the world that are cutting edge, all this stuff is right there.”
Hardaway all charged up: Forward Tim Hardaway Jr. is amongst the NBA leader in charges taken, and that goes a long way towards affecting the outcome a game.
“They’re game-changing plays, they’re big momentum plays,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He took one or two (Saturday) in the Denver game. These are winning type plays that there’s no statistical love, really, for them. Certainly not on the stat sheet.
“I don’t imagine you’ll see social media blowing up a lot about charges taken, although they really are game-changing plays.”
Briefly: Center/forward Dwight Powell wasn’t at American Airlines Center for Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “He’s just feeling a little bit under the weather,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s not COVID-related. It’s not considered serious and we’ll see where he is on Wednesday.” Powell scored six points and gobbled up a game- and season-high 11 rebounds during Saturday’s 116-103 victory at Denver. The Mavs will host the Clippers again on Wednesday . . . Before Monday’s Mavs-Clippers game, Carlisle said his players were aware of where they are in the Western Conference standings. “There’s some talk of it,” Carlisle said. “But we’re focusing on getting better each and every day, preparing for each game, working at things that will help us become a better team for this particular game in particular.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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