Mavs Eclipse Suns in Chippy Contest
The Mavericks took another step, showing that they can respond to a physical team. The young Suns got off to a scorching start this season, but have cooled off a bit lately. Their 2018 draftee DeAndre Ayton, taken before Luka, was on the bench serving a 25-game drug suspension. His teammates made a dogged attempt to ugly up the game, but the Mavericks eventually put the Suns efforts in the shade.
Game Story
This match was, as they say, a game of runs.
First half. The two teams sparred in the first quarter, before the Mavs went on a 12-4 tear to end the frame at 31-25. Dallas had 20 points in the paint in the period, thanks largely to Luka slicing through the lane, and scoring or assisting on each of the Mavericks' 12 field goals. The visiting Mavs built a 12-point lead in the second, before surrendering a 5-14 barrage to go into the locker room at 53-50. The rowdy period produced double technicals on Porzingis and Baynes for mixing it up during a timeout.
Third quarter. The home team returned the late-run favor, amassing a game-high ten-point advantage at 5:08 in the third, only to see Dallas bounce back to tie the game at 89-89 at the buzzer. The Mavs were 1-10 on their first ten attempts, and 9-10 on the following tries. Carlisle won a coaching challenge early on, resulting in a Maverick possession after an erroneous decision that the ball went out off Dallas was overruled. Toward the middle of the period, the usually calm DFS became annoyed at the pesky Kelly Oubre, and shoved him out of bounds, resulting in a foul that was upgraded to a flagrant on review. In a bizarre play late-ish in the period, the shot clock was improperly reset, and the referees stopped play for a timing adjustment that allowed Dallas only one second on the shot clock, taking away the time they would have had to work for a good look if the clock had been operated properly. They managed to get one up in any case, but to no avail.
Fourth quarter. The Mavs began the fourth quarter with two fouls in the first minute. Powell and Rubio got into it around the 9:00 mark, with Ricky being assessed his fourth foul and Dwight being T'd up. By 8:16, the chippy Suns were in the penalty. Luka returned at 8:16, followed by KP at 7:58. Doncic suffered a hit to the face, requiring him to retreat to the sideline for attention to his nose. The Suns' Devin Booker made an effort to draw a foul on Luka three minutes later, but only succeeded in sailing an airball out of bounds. The aforementioned Booker committed a technical at 4:04, and Seth took the free throw with Luka on the court. By the 2:21 mark, the blue and silver had completed a 21-4 run that had them up a comfortable 16 points. Oubre and Rubio both fouled out in the closing minutes, and Monty Williams emptied his bench at 1:22.
Analytics. The Mavs had more 3PTAs (47) than 2PTAs (38), and got to the line for 38 FTAs, compared to the Suns' 25. The game produced a whopping 53 personal fouls, as both sides took somewhat of a no-holds-barred approach. In terms of point differential, the Mavericks were -20 in points from twos, +12 in points from threes, and +15 in made free throws. The game came down to Dallas' edge in threes and 15-FT advantage. The Suns had a 44-32 lead in PIP, and scored 20 second-chance points, with the Mavs' allowing three offensive rebounds after missed free throws, resulting in 9 Phoenix points.
Players
Luka played a team-high 38 minutes, and put up a career-high-tying 42 points, along with 11 assists, 9 rebounds, and a steal, turning the ball over only twice. Another phenomenal performance that should have left the Suns' front office blushing after taking a pass on Doncic in favor of Ayton. He chastised himself postgame for a 3-11 three-point record, but he found a way to contribute nonetheless, hitting 9 of his 13 two-pointers, and getting to the line for 18 FTAs, completing 15. Without his spectacular drives to the basket and foul-drawing, the Mavericks don't get this win. Jet observed that Luka had 13 consecutive missed three-point attempts from the last game into the third quarter, partially due to the fact that the Slovenian doesn't get many catch-and-shoot opportunities and has to fire up some difficult shots. Aron Baynes, who flopped his way through the game, was totally unable to stay in front of the European wunderkind.
Luka became the third player in NBA history to average a 30+ point triple double for a calendar month, after Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook. When Carlisle was asked about it, he shrugged it off, saying, "I don't pay attention to stats." Rii-iight. He did acknowledge that his young star had been "spectacular."
Hardaway sparkled in a 36-point outing, accumulating 26 points, including 6-9 threes and 4-4 free throws, with a couple of steals to boot. He started the game, and was also in the closing lineup of Doncic-Seth-Hardaway-Porzingis-Kleber. Jet showed highlights of one after another catch-and shoot threes from THJ, and opined that Luka creates multiple opportunities for great shooters in the first unit, whereas Tim has to create for himself off the bench, which isn't his strength. With THJ also being engaged on defense, it was a fabulous performance by the former Knick. Luka emphasized his belief that Tim has been playing very well not just lately, but from the beginning of the season.
KP went 0-8 from the field in 34 minutes, but made up for it with 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and effective defense. Congratulations to the Latvian for staying with it, despite a disappointing offensive effort. Carlisle commented that he appreciated Porzee's attention to defense, rebounding, and rim protection. Jet allowed that the team could get KP better shots, as he mostly served as a bailout option late in the clock, and needs more mid-range to low-post iso opportunities. An encouraging outing for Kristaps, notwithstanding the ball not going down.
DFS drew compliments from the broadcasting team. Although his box score line was not eye-popping (8 points and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes), the pundits noted that he is third in minutes on the team for a reason, helping defensively, staying out of Luka's way, and exhibiting excellent positioning on KP's post-ups.
Impressions. This was an entertaining post-Thanksgiving match between two fun young teams. The Mavs showed their resilience in bouncing back from a humbling Clippers loss to deliver a decisive victory in a physical competition. Not the prettiest of wins, but a satisfying one, nonetheless.
Next stop, Los Angeles, to take on LeBron, AD, and the Lakers. The purple-and-gold stole one in the last face-off, so this should be an intriguing revenge match. Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday!
The Mavericks took another step, showing that they can respond to a physical team. The young Suns got off to a scorching start this season, but have cooled off a bit lately. Their 2018 draftee DeAndre Ayton, taken before Luka, was on the bench serving a 25-game drug suspension. His teammates made a dogged attempt to ugly up the game, but the Mavericks eventually put the Suns efforts in the shade.
Game Story
This match was, as they say, a game of runs.
First half. The two teams sparred in the first quarter, before the Mavs went on a 12-4 tear to end the frame at 31-25. Dallas had 20 points in the paint in the period, thanks largely to Luka slicing through the lane, and scoring or assisting on each of the Mavericks' 12 field goals. The visiting Mavs built a 12-point lead in the second, before surrendering a 5-14 barrage to go into the locker room at 53-50. The rowdy period produced double technicals on Porzingis and Baynes for mixing it up during a timeout.
Third quarter. The home team returned the late-run favor, amassing a game-high ten-point advantage at 5:08 in the third, only to see Dallas bounce back to tie the game at 89-89 at the buzzer. The Mavs were 1-10 on their first ten attempts, and 9-10 on the following tries. Carlisle won a coaching challenge early on, resulting in a Maverick possession after an erroneous decision that the ball went out off Dallas was overruled. Toward the middle of the period, the usually calm DFS became annoyed at the pesky Kelly Oubre, and shoved him out of bounds, resulting in a foul that was upgraded to a flagrant on review. In a bizarre play late-ish in the period, the shot clock was improperly reset, and the referees stopped play for a timing adjustment that allowed Dallas only one second on the shot clock, taking away the time they would have had to work for a good look if the clock had been operated properly. They managed to get one up in any case, but to no avail.
Fourth quarter. The Mavs began the fourth quarter with two fouls in the first minute. Powell and Rubio got into it around the 9:00 mark, with Ricky being assessed his fourth foul and Dwight being T'd up. By 8:16, the chippy Suns were in the penalty. Luka returned at 8:16, followed by KP at 7:58. Doncic suffered a hit to the face, requiring him to retreat to the sideline for attention to his nose. The Suns' Devin Booker made an effort to draw a foul on Luka three minutes later, but only succeeded in sailing an airball out of bounds. The aforementioned Booker committed a technical at 4:04, and Seth took the free throw with Luka on the court. By the 2:21 mark, the blue and silver had completed a 21-4 run that had them up a comfortable 16 points. Oubre and Rubio both fouled out in the closing minutes, and Monty Williams emptied his bench at 1:22.
Analytics. The Mavs had more 3PTAs (47) than 2PTAs (38), and got to the line for 38 FTAs, compared to the Suns' 25. The game produced a whopping 53 personal fouls, as both sides took somewhat of a no-holds-barred approach. In terms of point differential, the Mavericks were -20 in points from twos, +12 in points from threes, and +15 in made free throws. The game came down to Dallas' edge in threes and 15-FT advantage. The Suns had a 44-32 lead in PIP, and scored 20 second-chance points, with the Mavs' allowing three offensive rebounds after missed free throws, resulting in 9 Phoenix points.
Players
Luka played a team-high 38 minutes, and put up a career-high-tying 42 points, along with 11 assists, 9 rebounds, and a steal, turning the ball over only twice. Another phenomenal performance that should have left the Suns' front office blushing after taking a pass on Doncic in favor of Ayton. He chastised himself postgame for a 3-11 three-point record, but he found a way to contribute nonetheless, hitting 9 of his 13 two-pointers, and getting to the line for 18 FTAs, completing 15. Without his spectacular drives to the basket and foul-drawing, the Mavericks don't get this win. Jet observed that Luka had 13 consecutive missed three-point attempts from the last game into the third quarter, partially due to the fact that the Slovenian doesn't get many catch-and-shoot opportunities and has to fire up some difficult shots. Aron Baynes, who flopped his way through the game, was totally unable to stay in front of the European wunderkind.
Luka became the third player in NBA history to average a 30+ point triple double for a calendar month, after Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook. When Carlisle was asked about it, he shrugged it off, saying, "I don't pay attention to stats." Rii-iight. He did acknowledge that his young star had been "spectacular."
Hardaway sparkled in a 36-point outing, accumulating 26 points, including 6-9 threes and 4-4 free throws, with a couple of steals to boot. He started the game, and was also in the closing lineup of Doncic-Seth-Hardaway-Porzingis-Kleber. Jet showed highlights of one after another catch-and shoot threes from THJ, and opined that Luka creates multiple opportunities for great shooters in the first unit, whereas Tim has to create for himself off the bench, which isn't his strength. With THJ also being engaged on defense, it was a fabulous performance by the former Knick. Luka emphasized his belief that Tim has been playing very well not just lately, but from the beginning of the season.
KP went 0-8 from the field in 34 minutes, but made up for it with 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and effective defense. Congratulations to the Latvian for staying with it, despite a disappointing offensive effort. Carlisle commented that he appreciated Porzee's attention to defense, rebounding, and rim protection. Jet allowed that the team could get KP better shots, as he mostly served as a bailout option late in the clock, and needs more mid-range to low-post iso opportunities. An encouraging outing for Kristaps, notwithstanding the ball not going down.
DFS drew compliments from the broadcasting team. Although his box score line was not eye-popping (8 points and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes), the pundits noted that he is third in minutes on the team for a reason, helping defensively, staying out of Luka's way, and exhibiting excellent positioning on KP's post-ups.
Impressions. This was an entertaining post-Thanksgiving match between two fun young teams. The Mavs showed their resilience in bouncing back from a humbling Clippers loss to deliver a decisive victory in a physical competition. Not the prettiest of wins, but a satisfying one, nonetheless.
Next stop, Los Angeles, to take on LeBron, AD, and the Lakers. The purple-and-gold stole one in the last face-off, so this should be an intriguing revenge match. Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday!