03-22-2021, 12:13 AM
MAVS INCINERATE BLAZERS AT MODA CENTER
The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by firing the Trailblazers from Rip City into the atmosphere, leaving nothing but ashes falling to earth in Portland.
NOTABLE ITEMS
GAME FLOW. The first quarter looked like it was going to be a normal game, with the Blazers maintaining a small advantage and wrapping up the period with a 30-27 lead. Toward the middle of the second, the Mavericks took off, closing with a 21-10 run and going into halftime with a 65-54 edge. Dallas began the second half with a sensational 19-0 run, reaching a 30-point lead in the first half of the quarter, and finishing the period at 103-69. Terry Stotts emptied the Portland bench to start the fourth, and Carlisle soon followed. The biggest lead was 45. Incredible.
STATS. By the end of the third quarter, the Mavs had racked up 17 threes, and the Blazers had only 6. That’s really all that needs to be said. Another positive was that the Mavericks buried Portland on the boards, with a 39-21 margin. After a heavy-minutes game for the rotation on Friday, all players recorded fewer than 30 minutes.
DONCIC. Luka had another phenomenal game, with 37 points on 13-19 shooting, with an amazing 8-9 performance from three, dropping 8-8 before missing the last attempt. If Luka’s three-point shooting becomes as otherworldly as the rest of his game, the NBA had better look out!
STARTERS. J Rich had an excellent game, putting up 21 points on outstanding 8-11 shooting. Brian Dameris alluded to Josh’s finally recovering from “lingering issues from COVID” as a partial explanation for his elevated play these days. Josh himself said he wanted to atone for playing “like ass” on Friday, and I do believe he accomplished that. Doe-Doe had a lovely evening, perhaps inspired by his new little one. He provided his usual steady defensive performance, won the DPOG belt for holding Dame to 19 points, and also had 13 points of his own, going 4-8 from the field. Maxi had 8 points and 7 boards, and KP had 12 and 8, along with a couple of exciting blocks.
BENCH. The bench had 17 points through three quarters, but the team didn’t really need their scoring punch on a night like this. THJ and Powell led the reserves with 11 points each. The What-a-burger Play of the Day was a Luka-Powell alley-oop.
TRAILBLAZERS. The Blazers didn’t look like an NBA team. I think Portland must have exhausted their supply of juice with the win on Friday. Their legendary back court combined for 32 points, and Carmelo added 13 off the bench. The three sharpshooters combined to go an unlikely 0-16 from deep.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick credited Mavs assistant coach Jamahl Mosley for making the proper defensive adjustments and selling the players on them, asserting that the visitors had something to do with the hosts’ poor night. He thought Luka was phenomenal, but what else is new? Devin Harris credited Luka’s having gotten into shape for his “fluency” on the court in the last few weeks.
Richardson attributed part of the offensive success to the team's getting the ball out quicker and getting shots up faster. Asked to comment on Luka’s performance, he could only shake his head admiringly, having no words.
There just isn’t much to analyze about this contest, and other than the joy of watching the Mavs’ dominant performance, it wasn’t much of a match. I don’t know what accounted for the Blazers’ flat outing, but the game was a statement win for Dallas, especially after an insipid night on Friday.
Your boys get a rare couple of days off before facing the Timberwolves on Wednesday. The schedule lightens up a bit from here on out, so hopefully the Mavs can sustain, and will have a chance to climb out of the play-in bracket.
Until Wednesday, pals!
The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by firing the Trailblazers from Rip City into the atmosphere, leaving nothing but ashes falling to earth in Portland.
NOTABLE ITEMS
GAME FLOW. The first quarter looked like it was going to be a normal game, with the Blazers maintaining a small advantage and wrapping up the period with a 30-27 lead. Toward the middle of the second, the Mavericks took off, closing with a 21-10 run and going into halftime with a 65-54 edge. Dallas began the second half with a sensational 19-0 run, reaching a 30-point lead in the first half of the quarter, and finishing the period at 103-69. Terry Stotts emptied the Portland bench to start the fourth, and Carlisle soon followed. The biggest lead was 45. Incredible.
STATS. By the end of the third quarter, the Mavs had racked up 17 threes, and the Blazers had only 6. That’s really all that needs to be said. Another positive was that the Mavericks buried Portland on the boards, with a 39-21 margin. After a heavy-minutes game for the rotation on Friday, all players recorded fewer than 30 minutes.
DONCIC. Luka had another phenomenal game, with 37 points on 13-19 shooting, with an amazing 8-9 performance from three, dropping 8-8 before missing the last attempt. If Luka’s three-point shooting becomes as otherworldly as the rest of his game, the NBA had better look out!
STARTERS. J Rich had an excellent game, putting up 21 points on outstanding 8-11 shooting. Brian Dameris alluded to Josh’s finally recovering from “lingering issues from COVID” as a partial explanation for his elevated play these days. Josh himself said he wanted to atone for playing “like ass” on Friday, and I do believe he accomplished that. Doe-Doe had a lovely evening, perhaps inspired by his new little one. He provided his usual steady defensive performance, won the DPOG belt for holding Dame to 19 points, and also had 13 points of his own, going 4-8 from the field. Maxi had 8 points and 7 boards, and KP had 12 and 8, along with a couple of exciting blocks.
BENCH. The bench had 17 points through three quarters, but the team didn’t really need their scoring punch on a night like this. THJ and Powell led the reserves with 11 points each. The What-a-burger Play of the Day was a Luka-Powell alley-oop.
TRAILBLAZERS. The Blazers didn’t look like an NBA team. I think Portland must have exhausted their supply of juice with the win on Friday. Their legendary back court combined for 32 points, and Carmelo added 13 off the bench. The three sharpshooters combined to go an unlikely 0-16 from deep.
OBSERVATIONS
Rick credited Mavs assistant coach Jamahl Mosley for making the proper defensive adjustments and selling the players on them, asserting that the visitors had something to do with the hosts’ poor night. He thought Luka was phenomenal, but what else is new? Devin Harris credited Luka’s having gotten into shape for his “fluency” on the court in the last few weeks.
Richardson attributed part of the offensive success to the team's getting the ball out quicker and getting shots up faster. Asked to comment on Luka’s performance, he could only shake his head admiringly, having no words.
There just isn’t much to analyze about this contest, and other than the joy of watching the Mavs’ dominant performance, it wasn’t much of a match. I don’t know what accounted for the Blazers’ flat outing, but the game was a statement win for Dallas, especially after an insipid night on Friday.
Your boys get a rare couple of days off before facing the Timberwolves on Wednesday. The schedule lightens up a bit from here on out, so hopefully the Mavs can sustain, and will have a chance to climb out of the play-in bracket.
Until Wednesday, pals!