04-12-2021, 10:53 PM
MAVS WIPE OUT IN SIXERS TIDAL WAVE
The KP-less Mavericks crumbled on the second night of a back-to-back under the force of Philadelphia’s potent offense and suffocating defense. A real beatdown.
GAME FLOW
Maxi returned to action, as did WCS, and Redick made his Mavericks debut. Terry remained out for personal reasons, and KP was rested on the second night of the back-to-back. Brunson took KP’s place in the starting lineup.
Unfortunately for the Mavs, Maxi was called for his second foul inside the first two minutes. Melli was subbed in for him. The Mavericks were resorting to the defend-by-fouling strategy, and Embiid had 8 free-throw attempts in the quarter. Redick made his long-awaited debut to a warm welcome by the fans. It was all the Mavs could do just to hang in, and they ended the quarter trailing 26-30. Luka led the Mavs with 10 in the period.
Redick had his first made basket as a Maverick early in the second, and followed that with a pass to Timmy for a three of his own. Maxi was called for his third foul for a push off three minutes in. Boban went out with his third at 3:29, prompting Willie’s return to the court. Former Mav Seth Curry hit the rare wedgie on a 3PTA. Embiid split a double-team and scored for an and-one. Dallas had no further answer for the Sixers big man other than two fouls by Willie. The Mavericks had only one made basket in the last 6:28 (!), and the Sixers opened up a 60-48 lead at halftime. It was a choppy game, with the action being interrupted by 38 FTAs in the first twenty-four. Luka had a 20-point half, second only to Embiid with 23.
Three minutes into the third, the Mavs were down 17, prompting a timeout. Embiid continued to be a scoring machine, and the Mavs were having trouble putting points on the board. When THJ and Redick went in, things opened up a bit for the Dallas offense, but the Sixers were still scoring at will and ultimately ran away with the game. The Mavs closed the quarter down 69-88. Your boys were 1-14 from three, and put up only 21 points in the period.
The Sixers did not play any of their starters in the fourth quarter. Even so, they rained baskets, and Luka could be seen shaking his head in frustration and disbelief. Philly’s lead was 23 at 7:09. Both teams started subbing in their deep reserves, and Dallas finished with a scoreline that looked closer than it likely would have, had the Sixers kept their foot on the gas. Yikes!
STATISTICS
The Mavs shot very poorly from the three-point line, completing only 9 of 36 attempts, while the Sixers were hitting 39% from deep. Philly also had a 33-20 advantage in FTAs. Mavs point differentials were -2 on points from twos, -9 on points from threes, and -7 in made free throws. Another important contributing factor in the Mavs loss was their 15 turnovers for a loss of 22 points.
PLAYERS
DFS. Finney-Smith put up 12 points and 11 boards in a team-high 35 minutes, and played purposeful defense without fouling, but it was hardly a drop in the bucket against the Sixers’ massive attack. Good on him for the effort.
DONCIC. Luka stepped up scoring-wise, as he usually does against the better teams, and recorded 32 points on 10-20 shooting. However, he was 2-7 from deep, had only 4 boards and 4 assists, and turned the ball over 4 times, some on “catastrophic” live-ball giveaways. He did get to the free-throw line for 11 attempts, and was 10-11 on those tries. The Sixers made him a defensive focus, sometimes picking him up at half court. After the game, he said he had no concerns about the team, and allowed that you can’t win ‘em all.
BRUNSON. Jalen had a pretty decent line at 15/6/2, but 6 of those points and 3 of the rebounds came when the game was already out of reach. By and large, he was not particularly effective against the Sixers’ big lineups.
REDICK. JJ was on a minutes restriction, and was 1-7 in 14 minutes in his first game as a Maverick. He had not played in an NBA game since March 3, and his shooting will of course have to get back up to snuff. However, I liked what I saw and think he can help the team. He is clearly not just a spot-up shooter, but rather is a professional scorer, in a position to cause damage in a variety of ways. He played energetic defense, was moving off the ball, setting screens, making good passes, and moving the ball quickly. Rick said afterward that he liked Redick’s movement on the court, defensive fight, and underrated screening.
OTHERS. There wasn’t much to write home about in the performance of the role players. Foul trouble kept Maxi out of the game for much of the first three quarters, and he did not appear in the fourth. With KP resting and Maxi playing only 14 minutes, Dallas had little to offer in the way of resistance against Joel Embiid. He and Richardson combined for only 10 points. In terms of the bench, THJ had 9 points in 21 minutes, going 3-6 from deep, but 3-9 overall. No other reserve had more than 4, which was what Redick managed. The bench as a whole was 4-14 from the field, and combined for a total of 26 points, compared to the Sixers’ 45. The Mavs' six front-court players had only 20 points altogether, and 12 of those were from DFS.
SIXERS. This is a REALLY good team, definitely at the championship contender level. Embiid had 36 points in three quarters, and did pretty much whatever he wanted against the hapless Mavs. Furkan Korkmaz torched us with 20 points off the bench, and Tobias Harris and Shake Milton had 10 each. The Mavs were unable to even seriously compete.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick noted that the dominance of Embiid was very difficult to counter. Their plan was to start small, in order to get another ball handler on the court and space the floor, but the two quick fouls on Maxi effectively wrecked that strategy. Carlisle noted that it takes young players a while to really understand what it takes to win consistently, and he thinks that Embiid and Simmons have taken the leap. He lamented the facts that KP was out and the game was a SEGABABA, but said that’s the story of the season.
Sometimes, you just run into a better team, and I think the Mavs met that fate in this match. Without KP and effectively without Maxi, the team was essentially defenseless against Embiid, and even against Dwight Howard off the bench. There is no way to whitewash it — this was an old-fashioned butt-kickin.’
The Mavericks have now lost 3 of their last 4 games, and badly need to collect themselves before they face Memphis on Wednesday.
The KP-less Mavericks crumbled on the second night of a back-to-back under the force of Philadelphia’s potent offense and suffocating defense. A real beatdown.
GAME FLOW
Maxi returned to action, as did WCS, and Redick made his Mavericks debut. Terry remained out for personal reasons, and KP was rested on the second night of the back-to-back. Brunson took KP’s place in the starting lineup.
Unfortunately for the Mavs, Maxi was called for his second foul inside the first two minutes. Melli was subbed in for him. The Mavericks were resorting to the defend-by-fouling strategy, and Embiid had 8 free-throw attempts in the quarter. Redick made his long-awaited debut to a warm welcome by the fans. It was all the Mavs could do just to hang in, and they ended the quarter trailing 26-30. Luka led the Mavs with 10 in the period.
Redick had his first made basket as a Maverick early in the second, and followed that with a pass to Timmy for a three of his own. Maxi was called for his third foul for a push off three minutes in. Boban went out with his third at 3:29, prompting Willie’s return to the court. Former Mav Seth Curry hit the rare wedgie on a 3PTA. Embiid split a double-team and scored for an and-one. Dallas had no further answer for the Sixers big man other than two fouls by Willie. The Mavericks had only one made basket in the last 6:28 (!), and the Sixers opened up a 60-48 lead at halftime. It was a choppy game, with the action being interrupted by 38 FTAs in the first twenty-four. Luka had a 20-point half, second only to Embiid with 23.
Three minutes into the third, the Mavs were down 17, prompting a timeout. Embiid continued to be a scoring machine, and the Mavs were having trouble putting points on the board. When THJ and Redick went in, things opened up a bit for the Dallas offense, but the Sixers were still scoring at will and ultimately ran away with the game. The Mavs closed the quarter down 69-88. Your boys were 1-14 from three, and put up only 21 points in the period.
The Sixers did not play any of their starters in the fourth quarter. Even so, they rained baskets, and Luka could be seen shaking his head in frustration and disbelief. Philly’s lead was 23 at 7:09. Both teams started subbing in their deep reserves, and Dallas finished with a scoreline that looked closer than it likely would have, had the Sixers kept their foot on the gas. Yikes!
STATISTICS
The Mavs shot very poorly from the three-point line, completing only 9 of 36 attempts, while the Sixers were hitting 39% from deep. Philly also had a 33-20 advantage in FTAs. Mavs point differentials were -2 on points from twos, -9 on points from threes, and -7 in made free throws. Another important contributing factor in the Mavs loss was their 15 turnovers for a loss of 22 points.
PLAYERS
DFS. Finney-Smith put up 12 points and 11 boards in a team-high 35 minutes, and played purposeful defense without fouling, but it was hardly a drop in the bucket against the Sixers’ massive attack. Good on him for the effort.
DONCIC. Luka stepped up scoring-wise, as he usually does against the better teams, and recorded 32 points on 10-20 shooting. However, he was 2-7 from deep, had only 4 boards and 4 assists, and turned the ball over 4 times, some on “catastrophic” live-ball giveaways. He did get to the free-throw line for 11 attempts, and was 10-11 on those tries. The Sixers made him a defensive focus, sometimes picking him up at half court. After the game, he said he had no concerns about the team, and allowed that you can’t win ‘em all.
BRUNSON. Jalen had a pretty decent line at 15/6/2, but 6 of those points and 3 of the rebounds came when the game was already out of reach. By and large, he was not particularly effective against the Sixers’ big lineups.
REDICK. JJ was on a minutes restriction, and was 1-7 in 14 minutes in his first game as a Maverick. He had not played in an NBA game since March 3, and his shooting will of course have to get back up to snuff. However, I liked what I saw and think he can help the team. He is clearly not just a spot-up shooter, but rather is a professional scorer, in a position to cause damage in a variety of ways. He played energetic defense, was moving off the ball, setting screens, making good passes, and moving the ball quickly. Rick said afterward that he liked Redick’s movement on the court, defensive fight, and underrated screening.
OTHERS. There wasn’t much to write home about in the performance of the role players. Foul trouble kept Maxi out of the game for much of the first three quarters, and he did not appear in the fourth. With KP resting and Maxi playing only 14 minutes, Dallas had little to offer in the way of resistance against Joel Embiid. He and Richardson combined for only 10 points. In terms of the bench, THJ had 9 points in 21 minutes, going 3-6 from deep, but 3-9 overall. No other reserve had more than 4, which was what Redick managed. The bench as a whole was 4-14 from the field, and combined for a total of 26 points, compared to the Sixers’ 45. The Mavs' six front-court players had only 20 points altogether, and 12 of those were from DFS.
SIXERS. This is a REALLY good team, definitely at the championship contender level. Embiid had 36 points in three quarters, and did pretty much whatever he wanted against the hapless Mavs. Furkan Korkmaz torched us with 20 points off the bench, and Tobias Harris and Shake Milton had 10 each. The Mavs were unable to even seriously compete.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick noted that the dominance of Embiid was very difficult to counter. Their plan was to start small, in order to get another ball handler on the court and space the floor, but the two quick fouls on Maxi effectively wrecked that strategy. Carlisle noted that it takes young players a while to really understand what it takes to win consistently, and he thinks that Embiid and Simmons have taken the leap. He lamented the facts that KP was out and the game was a SEGABABA, but said that’s the story of the season.
Sometimes, you just run into a better team, and I think the Mavs met that fate in this match. Without KP and effectively without Maxi, the team was essentially defenseless against Embiid, and even against Dwight Howard off the bench. There is no way to whitewash it — this was an old-fashioned butt-kickin.’
The Mavericks have now lost 3 of their last 4 games, and badly need to collect themselves before they face Memphis on Wednesday.