GAME 53: PHI (37-17) @ DAL (29-24) | 95-113 loss

[dirkfansince1998]

Luka with less than 10 assists in his last 13 games. Longest strech since the end of his rookie season.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Mavs need to get their stuff together.  I really hate to leave the playoffs to a play in crap shoot.

Here come the Suns
Do do do do
Here come the Suns
And I say.....

[ItsGoTime]

Here come the Suns
Do do do do
Here come the Suns
And I say.....

With the way we’re playing against lesser competition, lemme see those Jazz hands!

[Kammrath]

Trade Kp for Collins. Get Holmes from Sacramento.

[SwisherPrice]

It doesn't really matter 7th or 10th seed at this point so we can afford to lose a lot more. I want to see more load management...let's get the entire roster meaningful minutes in this last quarter of the season

[Kammrath]

Luka with less than 10 assists in his last 13 games. Longest strech since the end of his rookie season.

I do NOT like this experiment of not letting Luka facilitate. I think the team is worse for it.

[BolsDamols]

6th seed
Fly away, skyline pigeon fly..

[Scott41theMavs]

I do NOT like this experiment of not letting Luka facilitate. I think the team is worse for it.

His A/TO ratio has been terrible the past several games.

[Kammrath]

His A/TO ratio has been terrible the past several games.

Don't get me wrong....Luka is NOT playing well and I think that is...

1) He is worn down.

2) He is not adjusting well to playing off ball a lot more and letting others run the O.

[ThisIStheYear]

Here come the Suns
Do do do do
Here come the Suns
And I say.....

Here come the Grizz, one game back in the loss column, getting healthy, and rounding in to form.  And then, if that goes south, it will be here comes a matchup nightmare Warriors team.  And after that, it’s here come the fishing poles.  The Mavs need to make their move now. The play in tournament doesn’t have any good news for them.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Bey got in his two points before Carlisle realizes he snuck onto the court.

He played Hinton and Green too. Guess he had no choice in a blowout.

[Jason Terry]

I do NOT like this experiment of not letting Luka facilitate. I think the team is worse for it.

Same. He’s not a good off ball player. And his 3 pointer is just okay it’s not like he’s Dame/Steph. Luka should be trying to create for others much more than he does. He has the vision and passing ability. He does so well driving and kicking out. He just needs more tools in his bag to get things going. No more early shot clock 3’s

[cow]

Spurs are going to send us home in a play-in game.  We are closer to rebuild than we are a contender, especially if KP can't play back-to-backs.

[BolsDamols]

If I am to be glad about one thing, its that Simmons is in the East. Luka always has a hard time against him - long, quick and very strong, he is the ideal Luka defender

[omahen]

If Mavs want to be competitive, the role players will have to hit those wide open three pointers. Not that they can do much more than shoot wide open shots offensively. Utah and Clippers role players are shooting close to 45% on those. Mavs barely go over 35 %. There is the difference. Since they are not such danger the teams can afford to pack paint a bit more.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

If Mavs want to be competitive, the role players will have to hit those wide open three pointers. Not that they can do much more than shoot wide open shots offensively. Utah and Clippers role players are shooting close to 45% on those. Mavs barely go over 35 %. There is the difference. Since they are not such danger the teams can afford to pack paint a bit more.

Becoming a better defensive team wouldn't hurt either. Philly let Luka get his, and put everyone else in jail. Scoring is fine, but you have to play the other end as well.

[chaparral]

Here come the Suns
Do do do do
Here come the Suns
And I say.....

Mavs Fans, its been a long cold covid winter.
Suns Suns Suns here we come.
And It's all right.

[omahen]

Becoming a better defensive team wouldn't hurt either. Philly let Luka get his, and put everyone else in jail. Scoring is fine, but you have to play the other end as well.

I don't think Mavs defense was the reason for this loss. At all. They scored only 95 points shooting 25 % from three, with bunch of those shots wide open. Same as in the first game it was Embiid and bench that killed us. Sixers bench outscored Mavs one 45-26 and held their ground even against our starting unit.

DFS was 2-7, JRich 0-3, Brunson 0-3, Melli 0-2, Burke 0-2 and Redick 1-4 from three. Only THJ and Kleber were respectable. I wonder how Mavs would look against Philly with KP. It would sure take some of the pressure from Luka.

[omahen]

His A/TO ratio has been terrible the past several games.

I think the reason is very simple. Mavs are in a shooting slump again. April games, 3pt % and number of Luka assists

1. NY, 32 %, 7
2. Was, 33 %, 6
3. Uta, 46 %, 8
4. Hou, 25 %, 5
5. Mil, 37 %, 9
6. SA, 31 %, 7
7. Phi, 25 %, 4

Luka is still getting same open looks for his teammates, they are just not hitting them. Also worth noting, the Milwaukee game was the only one where Mavs had a full starting line-up in this stretch. Mavs are obviously good only when all best players are available. Depth is extremely limited.

[hakeemfaan]

I disagree about Luka playing off the ball for stretches, as being bad. That is the correct move for his long term growth.  He has to learn to adjust.