For three quarters Friday night at American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks were racing up and down the court at a breakneck pace.
They had 94 points at that juncture, and proudly took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies following a long buzzer-beating bank shot three-pointer by Dante Exum.
Then came the fourth quarter, where coach Jason Kidd admitted his very shorthanded team simply didn’t have much left in the tank to survive the hard-charging Grizzlies.
As the Mavs’ offensive production ran low, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant shifted into overdrive, scoring the game’s final seven points as Memphis rallied for a 122-111 victory. With the loss, the Mavs dropped to 32-32 going into Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. contest at home against the Phoenix Suns, while the Grizzlies left town with a 39-24 record.
Down four starters and four key reserves, the Mavs showed a lot of grit and promptly battled the much taller Grizzlies as well as possible. But the Mavs got outscored, 33-17, in the fourth quarter, and that ultimately wound up being their undoing.
“We fought, we fought,” coach Jason Kidd said. “The team played great.
“Everybody in the uniform tonight played hard and gave ourselves a chance to win. We just ran out of gas.”
After Brandon Williams split a pair of free throws with 2:06 remaining in the game, the Mavs were only trailing, 115-111, at the time. But Morant went on a rampage as he zipped to the rim for a layup, followed that up with a short jumper, then buried a three-pointer for the game’s final points with 29 seconds left.
“He was Ja,” Kidd said. “He got to the paint and finished.
“He took 29 shots (and made 13). We tried to make it tough on him, but he made the ones that counted.”
Due to injuries, the Mavs only dressed nine players. The injured players who missed the game for Dallas include Kyrie Irving (torn left ACL), Anthony Davis (left adductor strain), Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain), PJ Washington (right ankle sprain), Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (right wrist sprain) and Kai Jones (left quad strain).
But despite those absences, the Mavs sped up the game and actually led for the majority of the contest. However, in the end, Morant took over and showed why he is
one of the best players in the world.
“He’s a great player and he shows it every year he plays,” Williams said. “He’s an all-NBA player for a reason.”
Williams also showed that he’s a pretty nifty player himself as he came off the bench to lead the Mavs with a career-high 31 points, five rebounds and six assists. Williams converted 10 baskets in 16 attempts, and also was 4-of-8 from three-point range.
“I’ve played a lot of basketball in my career, so it’s not a lot of stuff I haven’t seen,” said Williams, adding that he’s friends with Morant. “I’m just being aggressive every time I’m on the floor.
“I know each night is not going to look the same. So, it’s just me coming in no matter if it’s defense, or nights like this when it’s offense.”
Naji Marshall also put on a show for the Mavs – on both ends of the floor. Marshall ended up scoring a career-high 29 points to go with a career-high 17 rebounds and two steals.
“We’re down a lot of players, so I got to help my team crash the boards,” said Marshall, who had six of the Mavs’ 11 offensive rebounds. “They were leaving me open tonight so I was just making the right reads.”
During one trip up the floor in the third quarter, Marshall made the right read and darted right up the middle and, unfortunately, front-rimmed a dunk attempt. But shortly thereafter, Williams stole the ball near midcourt and passed it to Marshall – for a successful uncontested dunk.
“I just wanted him to see one go in,” Williams said. “He just missed one, so I’m not going to be selfish and take (a dunk) when I saw him running down and he was screaming my name.”
And why did Marshall miss the previous dunk? “I was just tired, bro,” he said, while smiling. “I was definitely tired.”
Thanks to eight points, five rebounds and two assists from William — and six points from Spencer Dinwiddie — the Mavs hustled their way to a 31-22 lead after the
first quarter. In the first quarter, the Mavs had eight of their 24 assists and were 13-of-24 from the field, including 4-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.
The Mavs were nursing a 49-38 lead late in the second quarter, only to see the Grizzlies end the quarter on a 12-4 run and trim Dallas’ lead to 53-50 at the half. The crowd got loud and the Mavs kept putting pressure on the Grizzlies’ defense in the third quarter when Dallas tallied a massive 41 points.
“I think we just played free, got stops, rebounded and played in transition a lot and created a lot of open shots for each other,” Marshall said in describing the team’s offensive explosion in the third quarter. “I think that’s when we’re at our best.”
The Mavs also are at their best when they’re able to rebound the ball, particularly when they attack the defensive boards. That became challenging, especially when the 6-6 Marshall was trying to defend the 7-4 Zach Edey or the 6-8 Brandon Clarke.
“Just toughness, to be honest,” Marshall said, explaining his game-high rebounding totals. “I don’t think I did anything to develop as a rebounder. It’s what the team needed at the time. We’re down some guys, man, so I had to come in there and rebound and battle Edey and Brandon Clarke and those big guys.
“(Edey) knows how to carve out space. That’s a big dude, man. Shout out to him. I was battling with him today. It was a great night and I just look forward to getting better and winning the next game.”
In addition to Williams and Marshall, the Mavs also got 15 points and three blocks from Klay Thompson, 13 points and two steals from Kessler Edwards, and 10 points from Dinwiddie. Although it just wasn’t enough, Kidd gave his team two thumbs up.
“This group is tough,” he said. “The character is extremely high. They understand the situation at a high level, and they’re taking full advantage of the situation. Again, as a Maverick, they’re out there trying to do the right thing to win and they’re given an opportunity and it just shows that they’re ready for this opportunity.
“The group, again, we played until the end. We gave ourselves a chance to win. We gave up (33) points in the fourth, and we couldn’t score and they did.”
Morant had 31 points for the Grizzlies, and ex-TCU standout Desmond Bane added 27 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. Meanwhile, Caleb Martin had two points, four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes in his first game – he was nursing a right hip strain — since the Mavs acquired him in a trade last month with Philadelphia which sent Quentin Grimes to the 76ers.
The Mavs were outrebounded, 60-45, but hope to put all of that behind them when they host the Suns on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a long season, and Phoenix don’t care that we lost or about my emotions,” Marshall said. “We just got to lock in and try our best to put that behind us and beat Phoenix.”
X: @DwainPrice
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