Here are my 5 takeaways from the Dallas Mavericks’ 119-113 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center:
1. DEVIN WENT OLD SCHOOL: Did you see Devin Harris go old school on the Nets? If was as if the 35-year old from Milwaukee had Mavs DJ, Poizon Ivy, play that old O’Jays song – Give The People What They Want – because he certainly gave Mavs fans what they wanted. And Harris did most of his damage against the Nets during a 69-second span of the fourth quarter. That’s when he personally went on an 8-0 run that snapped an 87-all tie and put the Mavs ahead for good at 95-87. During that span Harris made a 3-pointer, three free throws and a regular field goal, and also manufactured two of his season-high four steals. Overall, Harris was 4-of-7 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point land and tallied a season-high 18 points in only 18 minutes. In other words, he gave the people what they wanted.
2. WITH SMITH HURT, BAREA SAVES THE DAY: A sore right wrist limited starting point guard Dennis Smith to just 18 minutes. But that’s why J. J. Barea is so valuable to the Mavs. Barea can step in and operate the offense at a moment’s notice and the Mavs won’t miss a beat. Granted, Barea isn’t as fast as Smith, but no one can argue with his efficiency. Barea played a season-high 29 minutes, converted a season-high tying eight field goals in a season-high tying 14 field goal attempts while scoring 18 points. The wily veteran also produced seven assists while showing that if the Mavs need him to run the offense for an extended period of time, he certainly can do that with no problem. What makes Barea’s performance even more meaningful is the fact that he missed the previous game against Memphis with a strained left groin.
3. MEJRI DID HIS THING: In his first time playing in a game this season while the game was still in question, Salah Mejri didn’t do too bad. The fourth-year backup center had some early difficulties getting his feet wet. But when he finally woke up, his impact was very noticeable. Mejri finished with two points, five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot while re-directing a few other shot attempts by the Nets. And he did all of this in a season-high 17 workmanlike minutes. The analytics will show that Merji finished with a team-high tying plus/minus of plus-nine. The only other Mavs player with a plus/minus of plus-nine was J. J. Barea. Before Wednesday, Mejrii had played in just three games for a total of 12 minutes. But with the knee injury to Dwight Powell, he was pressed into action against the Nets.
4. BARNES BOUNCED BACK: That Harrison Barnes you saw against the Nets was the one the Mavs are very accustomed to seeing. He was running the floor, draining 3-pointers, and posting up and scoring on scripted plays that helped make Dirk Nowitzki famous. Barnes was getting buckets after buckets after buckets to the tune of scoring a season-high 28 points. More importantly, he finally got a bit selfish and started looking for his shot. Barnes attempted a season-high 20 field goals and made a season-high 10 of them. He also attempted a season-high eight 3-pointers and made a season-high five of those. It was the game the Mavs needed from their quiet leader after Barnes produced just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting at Memphis on Monday. The Mavs starters made 22 field goals against the Nets. Barnes had 10 of them.
5. NETS GOT PHYSICAL WITH DONCIC: For one of the rare times this season, an opponent got very physical with Luka Doncic. The Nets bounced the rookie from Slovenia around so much that Doncic spent more than his fair share of time picking himself up off the floor. Maybe the Nets saw on film that they could perhaps rattle Doncic and get him off his game by being overly aggressive. But you know what? Doncic didn’t flinch. In fact, he appeared to thrive on the idea of someone having the nerve to think they could fluster him just because they constantly bumped him around the court a few times. In this game, Doncic shook off the physicality and made the Nets pay at the free throw line. Doncic went to the free throw line a season-high 11 times and converted a season-high nine of them while finishing the night with 21 points and nine rebounds.
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