A Few Thoughts on Mavs 95, Lakers 108

[mtrot]

Mavs Fall to Lakers in Lackluster Showing

A game that had been heavily hyped turned out to be a bit of a yawner. Mavs just didn't have it. 


Game Story and Analytics

The venue was Staples Center. The Lakers were missing DeMarcus Cousins on a long-term rehab. Mavs entered the game at full strength. Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back. 

The Lakers took the lead toward the end of the first quarter and never surrendered it. In fact, they took a double-digit lead in the second and never surrendered that. The Mavericks lost Tim Hardaway, Jr. to a hamstring injury in the first quarter. Luka fell awkwardly in connection with a Howard foul in the third. He got up, and eventually returned to the game, but didn't look fully himself.  KP was called for his fifth foul in the third quarter. With 4:39 left in the game, and the Mavs down 13, Rick put the starters back in. They missed six shots and fell further behind. Just a night where too many things went wrong. 

Statistically, Dallas lost the game with extremely poor shooting, combined with failure to guard the rim, and 25 points lost on 18 turnovers. The Mavericks actually got up 11 more shots than the Lakers, and took 20 more three-point shots, but couldn't capitalize. The Lakers had a massive 54 points in the paint -- fully half of their total points. The opponent got to the basket pretty much at will, and the Mavs were battling LA's size advantages all night. The Lakers defense had a lot to do with the Mavericks' failure to score, but the Mavs also missed good looks. The Mavs never even produced a run on either end of the court, and kept turning the ball over in barfworthy fashion. 


Remarks
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The refs were letting the Lakers play very rough, and I thought for a while that the Lakers were able to throw the Mavs off with physical (illegal?) moves. I'm sure that was a factor, but on further consideration, the Mavericks looked off from the jump. They appeared lethargic and lacking in intensity the whole game. Maybe the back-to-back caught up to them, although the starters didn't play the full game against GSW. 

I fear that this game might be a preview of what the young Mavs might look like in the playoffs, when they face teams with size and physicality, the refs let them play, and the opponents focus on locking down Luka. The squad doesn't always respond well to pressure., and we saw a number of mental mistakes in this game.
.....  

Keep the faith!

Yes, the Lakers played very rough, they roughed up the Mavericks and that approach won't be an outlier.  
These free flowing pass and shoot ball movement systems can be countered with physical muck up the movement defense and it-ain't-illegal-if-the-ref-don't-call-it defense. 

Let's not forget that Maverick loss to the Lakers earlier that would have been a win if Dwight Howard had not intentionally grabbed Seth Curry just long enough so the ref would miss the call.  Its dirty but intentional and so its part of the game.  This time we get the common foul that could have easily been totally disastrous even season ending or career altering the way that Luka Doncic fell totally unprotected to the floor.  His back and his head.  That's nothing to take lightly.  

I thought it was also a dirty way to rough up Luka while still not being called for a flagrant.   Luka is completely airborne focused on the shot (he needs to start keeping one eye on protecting himself) and Dwight Howard swipes across the top of torso.  At the same time 2 other Lakers are converging on him in the air.  Its dangerous when players are airborne.  Its rough and physical play and it continued all game long. 

On the flip side the Lakers big men absolutely feasted on inside scoring against the Dallas defense inside.  Dwight Howard, Javale McGee and Anthony Davis shot a high enough % that would have beaten the most 3 point shooting %'s even if the Mavs shot well, which they didn't of course because the Lakers didn't give them many good looks. 

Anthony Davis 8 of 12 for 66.7% and 7 of 9 FT. 
Dwight Howard 6 of 7 for 85.7% and  3 of 4 FT. 
Javale McGee 5 of 6 for 83.3%  and 1 of 1 FT. 

That kind of inside 2 point efficiently can beat a 3 point shooting team, even one shooting moderately well. 
I don't expect that to be an outlier game plan, that's a plan teams like the Lakers and Clippers will bring to this high scoring Dallas team.  
Rick Carlisle needs a counter which I'm not sure he's demonstrated he has in his system.

Boban is the only real inside force player I see on this roster and he's not likely to get a chance to do much in a Carlisle offensive system. 
He played all of 3 minutes and plays are not run for his inside scoring talent.  We've already heard that there is no intention to play Porzingis inside.  
So yes, this was back to back trap and they did seem to lack bounce from the start, but there is also a pattern for concern here for Mavs fan hoping this team can really compete for a championship as is rather than competing for a playoff spot. 

All true, but my question is, will the Mavs learn anything from this?  Next time we play the Lakers, will Rick persist in starting Powell, who was completely undersized and ineffective against their bigs?  I would go instead with Maxi, who is clearly stronger and the best interior defender on the team. 

Also, the Mavs should have been fouling them hard enough to make them miss some of those inside shots and make them earn the points on the line.  How can you let Dwight Howard and Javale McGee go 11-13 combined?  I would use up my whole allotment of big men to prevent that.