Top takeaway from loss to Charlotte: Hornets were raining threes

Jason Kidd said it best following the Dallas Mavericks’ 129-108 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.

“Luka (Doncic) was very good,” the Mavs’ coach said. “But we just couldn’t get anybody to join him.”

In less than three quarters, Doncic scored 37 points and was 13-of-20 from the field and 8-of-12 from three-point range. His teammates scored 71 points and were 26-of-69 from the floor and 6-of-26 from downtown.

Still, after wins in Houston, Boston and Brooklyn to start this five-game road trip, the Mavs (43-28) ended the trip with a 3-2 record and will now host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday at American Airlines Center.

“We ended this trip on a positive in a sense of going 3-2, so there’s a lot of good things to take away,” Kidd said. “We’re not just focused on one game. This is a journey of playing 82 (regular season games) to prepare for the playoffs.

“There’s some good things that we did do in this game and there’s a lot of things that we can do better. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, so now we’ve got to get home and protect home.”

Here are our five takeaways from the 21-point loss to the Hornets.

RAINING THREES: The Hornets were raining three-pointers early and often. Too often. Charlotte opened the game going 7-of-7 from the field, including 5-of-5 from three-point territory. Although the Mavs eventually passed the Hornets and led, 52-50, late in the second quarter, Charlotte was just getting started. In the third quarter, the Hornets scored 41 points and were 7-of-12 from downtown. Overall, Charlotte converted 20-of-42 baskets from beyond the three-point arc. That’s the most triples the Mavs have allowed in any game this season.

MISSING DINWIDDIE AND BULLOCK: This was a game where the Mavs needed some more offensive AND defensive firepower. A game where the absence of Spencer Dinwiddie and Reggie Bullock really hurt what the Mavs were trying to accomplish. Dinwiddie didn’t play due to injury recovery of his right knee. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in that knee three games into last season when he was playing for the Brooklyn Nets, and — since the surgery to repair that knee — he has rarely played both ends of a back-to-back. Bullock missed the game after returning from a three-game absence for personal reasons.

DONCIC KEPT MAVS AFLOAT: Luka Doncic kept the Mavs afloat. The three-time All-Star scored 37 points on 13-of-20 shooting. He also made a career-high tying eight three-pointers in 12 attempts. And he did all of this magnificent work in just three quarters. Doncic poured in 21 points in the third quarter alone. The way he was rolling, Doncic likely was on the verge of a 50-piece. But the game got out of hand quickly – the Mavs trailed, 114-82, less than three minutes into the fourth quarter – and Doncic didn’t play in the final period.

LONG ROAD TRIP: This was a tell-tale sign of how life in the NBA can work against you. And all teams experience it. Saturday’s game was the Mavs’ fifth on the road in nine days and in five different states. The Mavs were on the last leg of a back-to-back, and also playing against a well-rested Charlotte team that hadn’t played since last Wednesday’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks. All of that was a recipe for disaster from the Mavs’ perspective, because sooner or later fatigue was going to set in. And it did.

THAT WAS QUICK: What the Hornets did in a short period of time Saturday defies the laws of gravity. The Mavs were within 74-72 of Charlotte following a three-pointer by Maxi Kleber with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter. But by the time the game reached the 9:25 mark of the fourth quarter, the Hornets had built a massive 114-82 lead. That means they outscored the Mavs, 40-10, in a little over nine minutes. In that time frame, the Hornets were 16-of-23 from the field (6-of-10 from downtown), while the Mavs were 5-of-15 from the floor and 0-of-4 on triples.

Twitter: @DwainPrice