Mavs Return to AAC, Lay Ostrich Egg
Yikes! The Suns delivered an old-fashioned butt-kicking to the Mavs in front of the home fans. Murphy's Law ruled the day for the boys in blue.
Game Story
The evening began with some Kobe-related ceremonials, including a video tribute, a retirement of #24, and the 8-second/24-second violations.
On the first real possession of the game, Porzee turned the ball over with a bad pass. Bridges missed the ensuing dunk, and the Mavs stood around watching Rubio collect the offensive board, which resulted in a Suns layup. DFS then lost the ball and Ayton went in for an alley oop. At the 10:40 mark, Rick called a timeout. It didn't help. Luka and Rick were called for technical fouls within the next 5 minutes for arguing non-calls. By the end of the first period, the Mavericks were behind 19-32. The home team were 1-11 on 3PTAs and had seven made field goals and 6 turnovers. Cauley-Stein made a 4-minute debut, which included a missed open dunk and a turnover. Indicative of the whole team's inauspicious start.
In the second quarter, Rick broke the emergency glass and busted out Barea, in hopes of a spark. The little guard helped to stanch the bleeding with 6 points and 4 assists in 7 minutes, but was not able to engineer much in the way of a recovery. Dallas closed the half with a 10-6 mini-run, and entered the locker room down 55-60. THJ got a technical for leaving the court without permission as the half was ending.
I thought things couldn't get worse, and boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. A total decimation in the third period. The Mavs were down by double digits within the first minute and ultimately allowed the Suns 48 points, a team record for points allowed in a quarter. The Suns led 108-77 going into the fourth.
Rick ran the starters out for 4 minutes before yelling calf-rope. In garbage time, Boban drew some cheers from the fans still in the arena. Mercifully, the buzzer finally sounded.
Analytics
The Suns blasted the Mavs in practically every aspect of the game. The Mavericks shot very poorly -- 21% from three. They gave up 19 points on turnovers, and surrendered 62 points in the paint. Defense was limp, and the team was out of sync, trailing the entire 48 minutes.
Players
With the arguable exceptions of Barea and Brunson, none of the Mavs looked good. Luka had 21 points, and hit six of his seven free throws, but had 2 assists and 4 turnovers. KP played for 20 minutes in this SEGABABA, but had only 9 points and 3 boards. THJ was 3-10 from the field. DFS and Curry combined for 7 points. Just a really bad night all around.
Remarks
Dana wondered why the Mavs looked so "sluggish and sloppy." Ced and Harp both attributed it at least partially to the ponderous mood brought on by Kobe's passing. Rick acknowledged that teams sometimes have bad nights due to extraneous circumstances, but he was not ready to write it off that easily. He plans to watch the game again, and then decide how to address it with his squad -- either to erase it from their slates, or use it as a teaching tool. Skin remarked that even the crowd seemed deflated. Whatever the cause, Carlisle termed the performance "very poor," "very disappointing," and "very ugly." He credited the Suns for coming out with so much force and conviction.
On a positive note, Coach said he likes the WCS pick-up. WCS is very enthusiastic about joining the Mavs, and he is "a veteran with experience who can help us in stretches." Listening to all this Rick-speak, I am not sure that Carlisle plans the major role for WCS that some fans are envisioning. Remains to be seen, I guess. He definitely provides some weapons that the Mavs need.
Luka said this game "wasn't us," they played terribly, and he thinks they should forget about it and move on.
One has to give the Suns their due. They were on fire, with Booker and Ayton combining for 63 points. Dallas had no answer for Ayton, who lit our guys up in the paint. Ced thought that Ayton might be extra motivated because Luka was voted an All-Star starter and he wasn't. A little extra incentive to try to prove his front office right in drafting him instead of Luka, lol. I wouldn't doubt it.
Anyway, I don't think there is much to be gained by parsing this match in detail. It was actually interesting before it got totally out of control, in a train-wreck sort of way. I know it was the second night of a back-to-back, and the first home game after a road trip, and guys were down about Kobe, but I can't think of any excuses that really justify this level of bad basketball. Whatever was wrong, I hope they have it out of their system, and are able to get their groove back soon.
Next. The Mavs face the Rockets on Friday night in Houston. Get back up on that horse and gallop, Mavs!
Yikes! The Suns delivered an old-fashioned butt-kicking to the Mavs in front of the home fans. Murphy's Law ruled the day for the boys in blue.
Game Story
The evening began with some Kobe-related ceremonials, including a video tribute, a retirement of #24, and the 8-second/24-second violations.
On the first real possession of the game, Porzee turned the ball over with a bad pass. Bridges missed the ensuing dunk, and the Mavs stood around watching Rubio collect the offensive board, which resulted in a Suns layup. DFS then lost the ball and Ayton went in for an alley oop. At the 10:40 mark, Rick called a timeout. It didn't help. Luka and Rick were called for technical fouls within the next 5 minutes for arguing non-calls. By the end of the first period, the Mavericks were behind 19-32. The home team were 1-11 on 3PTAs and had seven made field goals and 6 turnovers. Cauley-Stein made a 4-minute debut, which included a missed open dunk and a turnover. Indicative of the whole team's inauspicious start.
In the second quarter, Rick broke the emergency glass and busted out Barea, in hopes of a spark. The little guard helped to stanch the bleeding with 6 points and 4 assists in 7 minutes, but was not able to engineer much in the way of a recovery. Dallas closed the half with a 10-6 mini-run, and entered the locker room down 55-60. THJ got a technical for leaving the court without permission as the half was ending.
I thought things couldn't get worse, and boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. A total decimation in the third period. The Mavs were down by double digits within the first minute and ultimately allowed the Suns 48 points, a team record for points allowed in a quarter. The Suns led 108-77 going into the fourth.
Rick ran the starters out for 4 minutes before yelling calf-rope. In garbage time, Boban drew some cheers from the fans still in the arena. Mercifully, the buzzer finally sounded.
Analytics
The Suns blasted the Mavs in practically every aspect of the game. The Mavericks shot very poorly -- 21% from three. They gave up 19 points on turnovers, and surrendered 62 points in the paint. Defense was limp, and the team was out of sync, trailing the entire 48 minutes.
Players
With the arguable exceptions of Barea and Brunson, none of the Mavs looked good. Luka had 21 points, and hit six of his seven free throws, but had 2 assists and 4 turnovers. KP played for 20 minutes in this SEGABABA, but had only 9 points and 3 boards. THJ was 3-10 from the field. DFS and Curry combined for 7 points. Just a really bad night all around.
Remarks
Dana wondered why the Mavs looked so "sluggish and sloppy." Ced and Harp both attributed it at least partially to the ponderous mood brought on by Kobe's passing. Rick acknowledged that teams sometimes have bad nights due to extraneous circumstances, but he was not ready to write it off that easily. He plans to watch the game again, and then decide how to address it with his squad -- either to erase it from their slates, or use it as a teaching tool. Skin remarked that even the crowd seemed deflated. Whatever the cause, Carlisle termed the performance "very poor," "very disappointing," and "very ugly." He credited the Suns for coming out with so much force and conviction.
On a positive note, Coach said he likes the WCS pick-up. WCS is very enthusiastic about joining the Mavs, and he is "a veteran with experience who can help us in stretches." Listening to all this Rick-speak, I am not sure that Carlisle plans the major role for WCS that some fans are envisioning. Remains to be seen, I guess. He definitely provides some weapons that the Mavs need.
Luka said this game "wasn't us," they played terribly, and he thinks they should forget about it and move on.
One has to give the Suns their due. They were on fire, with Booker and Ayton combining for 63 points. Dallas had no answer for Ayton, who lit our guys up in the paint. Ced thought that Ayton might be extra motivated because Luka was voted an All-Star starter and he wasn't. A little extra incentive to try to prove his front office right in drafting him instead of Luka, lol. I wouldn't doubt it.
Anyway, I don't think there is much to be gained by parsing this match in detail. It was actually interesting before it got totally out of control, in a train-wreck sort of way. I know it was the second night of a back-to-back, and the first home game after a road trip, and guys were down about Kobe, but I can't think of any excuses that really justify this level of bad basketball. Whatever was wrong, I hope they have it out of their system, and are able to get their groove back soon.
Next. The Mavs face the Rockets on Friday night in Houston. Get back up on that horse and gallop, Mavs!