GAME 68: HOU (41-24) @ DAL (40-28) | 149-153 OT loss

[bartlettbear]

Another loss on the worse coach in the bubble man he is just bad, cant draw up a play with 3 seconds left, stayed with DFS way too long in the 4th he was plain awful, the Burke Curry situation was absurd,

down 4 in OT Luke post up and results in a dunk for KP , but he wont go back to it, Luka did it on his own in the first place but but it should be to the go to set to close out games, Luka in the block.

Games decided by 5 point are less are always on the coach, Mavs have the most loses in the league in that situation 16.

7th seed is now a lock, Luka and Kp should sit a few of the game down the stretch,

This team is just so poorly coached it is hard to watch.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

This was the 17th game this season, that Dallas has lost that was decided by 5 pts or less. That leads the NBA.  That has to change. They surely could have come up with a better possession than a 35 foot bank shot attempt by Luka.

[Mavs2019]

This was the 17th game this season, that Dallas has lost that was decided by 5 pts or less. That leads the NBA.  That has to change. They surely could have come up with a better possession than a 35 foot bank shot attempt by Luka.

Well somebody needs to make a FT.

We have four guys that shoot over 75% in the last five minutes of close games.
We have four guys that shoot over 50% in the last two minutes of close games.

Wright and Kleber haven´t missed in the last five minutes. Porzingis (78%/last 5) and Brunson (86%/last 5) haven´t missed in the last two minutes.

You certainly don´t want Luka or Seth taking FTs, since they can´t even make 65% between them.

[MrGoat]

This was the 17th game this season, that Dallas has lost that was decided by 5 pts or less. That leads the NBA.  That has to change. They surely could have come up with a better possession than a 35 foot bank shot attempt by Luka.

This is a team where the two best players by far have zero playoff experience and are still quite young. Expect them to suck in the clutch without getting too upset about it, it doesn't surprise me at all. At least they should both get their first taste of playoff experience now to get that monkey off their back

[Reunion Mav Old]

Good point Mr. Goat. I totally agree having been a big NBA fan for 54 years and a season ticket holder until 2014 for 34 years. We need a thread to analyze this dynamic, hopefully without complaint and excessive blaming. I know the game thread is cathartic and a bit over the top. I get it. I too am deeply upset we lost to the Rockets.....

Anyway, I am starting a thread called something like, mastering the end of game dynamics.

[Mavs2019]

This was the 17th game this season, that Dallas has lost that was decided by 5 pts or less. That leads the NBA.  That has to change. They surely could have come up with a better possession than a 35 foot bank shot attempt by Luka.

This is a team where the two best players by far have zero playoff experience and are still quite young. Expect them to suck in the clutch without getting too upset about it, it doesn't surprise me at all. At least they should both get their first taste of playoff experience now to get that monkey off their back

Luka has plenty of play-off experience.

[robillionaire]

when burke is having a hot game he's pretty much unstoppable, carlisle should have let him close out the 4th instead of seth

[omahen]

Luka has plenty of play-off experience.

Luka was never the leader. He was the stats leader, but he had veteran guys to steer the ship to right direction. Either with the national team or Real Madrid. Not "end of the bench happy to still be in the league guys" like Barea or Lee but vet starters and contributors. Mavs should add a couple of ring hungry focused veterans that play defense and everything can click together quickly. Or take a long term game waiting for Luka to mature on his own. Hoping, he doesn't become KAT level player - huge stats but loosing team.

[FunkBoreland]

It was the best of quarters, it was the worst of quarters...

A miracle that it is tied with how bad Luka looked at times and with how stupid Harden has been.

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Boban the Giant can't help it if he's the biggest and strongest!

LOVE that RC is trusting him against small ball.

+7 in 5 minutes.

Did he even get on the court in the 2nd half?

Boban was exposed pretty bad defensively when rockets shot the corner 3. Its easy to figure if the opposing big man is always close to the rim, leaving your teammate wide open in the corner, dish it out to him. I wish he could at least spread his arms out to at least make the ball handler second guess about passing.

[SwisherPrice]

Still can't believe they choked like that. No one should ever blow a 7-point lead with 45 seconds left, not even if it was a G-League team. We can talk about lack of experience and inability to run good offense all want but they couldn't even do the basic things that don't require experience: Free throws and boxing out. 

I can excuse the poor execution and bad shots on offense due to lack of experience but not the fundamentals.

[Kammrath]

No one should ever blow a 7-point lead with 45 seconds left

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNGmD6FcQdY

[Mavs2019]

Luka has plenty of play-off experience.

Luka was never the leader. He was the stats leader, but he had veteran guys to steer the ship to right direction. Either with the national team or Real Madrid. Not "end of the bench happy to still be in the league guys" like Barea or Lee but vet starters and contributors. Mavs should add a couple of ring hungry focused veterans that play defense and everything can click together quickly. Or take a long term game waiting for Luka to mature on his own. Hoping, he doesn't become KAT level player - huge stats but loosing team.

The comment was that he had no play-off experience. He also had the ball in his hands in big games, moreso for Madrid than Slovenia with Dragic.

How can he be a losing player like KAT? Luka had one losing season in his whole career (and we intentionally lost for half of that season).

[omahen]

He also had the ball in his hands in big games, moreso for Madrid than Slovenia with Dragic.

I didn't say he didn't. Point was, that it was not him that set the culture. It was the vets. When things didn't go well vets stood up. It was the vets that set the tone on defense and play a bit dirty if needed. If Luka went a little crazy, the vets established order. Plus European basketball is not star driven. If a guy makes two stupid things in a row, he will be sent to the bench to calm down, no matter who he is. Luka was great, but a lot of burden was carried by the vets.

Mavs simply don't have this. If Luka doesn't have his day or can't create, there are few options to turn things around. The whole offense is designed around Luka. I said it before and I will say it again - this team would be a contender with CP3. We need an enforcer or two type of player.

After calming down a bit, I am also starting to get concerned about coaching. Ok, Mavs exceeded expectations. But a lot of it was because Luka really took plenty steps forward from last season and because of decent role players. But, this end of games troubles are not a one or two game thing. They have become a system problem. And this goes against coach. Why would we need a coach, if we are just waiting for the guys to figure it out. While stupid mistakes like not grabbing a crucial rebound after a missed free throw (I think it happened 3 times this season already) or missed free throws are not coach fault, there are other system faults that are:

1. Offense falls apart once the opponent really commits on defense. Coach needs to find different schemes that would improve that. Diversify offense a bit, not just bet on one horse.
2. I don't remember any situation this season when we were able to create a great shot in last offense of the game with limited time available. I remember many more failed attempts like against Houston. Pass to Luka behind three point line with defense set which leads to impossible steb back three. You do this when you have 0,5 second left, not 3,5 seconds. Luka is great, but I think he needs more time than a couple of seconds to create a good look, because he uses a series of tricks and fakes to get himself in position or drag defense towards him. When given limited time, his only solution is a step back three.

How can he be a losing player like KAT?

I didn't say he is. I said I am affraid he will become.

[Jym]

2. I don't remember any situation this season when we were able to create a great shot in last offense of the game with limited time available. I remember many more failed attempts like against Houston. Pass to Luka behind three point line with defense set which leads to impossible steb back three. You do this when you have 0,5 second left, not 3,5 seconds. Luka is great, but I think he needs more time than a couple of seconds to create a good look, because he uses a series of tricks and fakes to get himself in position or drag defense towards him. When given limited time, his only solution is a step back three.

He desperately needs a Paul Pierce type mid-range shot
Even with 3 seconds he'd be able to use his dribble get off a fairly clean look

Check out this first shot
Luka could get that all day, every day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWgv5V3y9uo

[omahen]

Even with 3 seconds he'd be able to use his dribble get off a fairly clean look

I am not sure. Pierce did this to a much higher and much slower defender. Luka was facing an elite defender. Even if Houston switched, it wouldn't be much different.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

when burke is having a hot game he's pretty much unstoppable, carlisle should have let him close out the 4th instead of seth

[ThisIStheYear]

As far as concerns over coaching goes, this is the second best offense in history with a roster that should probably be about 7th- 10th in any given season. The overachieving is mostly coaching. The coach also is one of the very few with a ring. There’s absolutely no way the Mavs can upgrade there. I’d focus on needed roster changes. I want to see how he team responds today, but am concerned they could go something like 3-5 i in the restart and 0-4 against the Clips. A 3-9 finish to the season would lower my priors for next season to “ miss the playoffs.” There are several talented teams below the Mavs in the West. The Mavs need to separate now, or they’ll regress next season and Luka will walk first chance he gets. That’s why I consider Friday’s loss as potentially the worst regular season loss in franchise history. It could start a chain reaction of negative events. Today is a must win game. Mavs must play the bubble season at least at 500, including playoffs, to stay on track.

[Dahlsim]

It was the best of quarters, it was the worst of quarters...

A miracle that it is tied with how bad Luka looked at times and with how stupid Harden has been.

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Boban the Giant can't help it if he's the biggest and strongest!

LOVE that RC is trusting him against small ball.

+7 in 5 minutes.

Did he even get on the court in the 2nd half?

Boban was exposed pretty bad defensively when rockets shot the corner 3. Its easy to figure if the opposing big man is always close to the rim, leaving your teammate wide open in the corner, dish it out to him. I wish he could at least spread his arms out to at least make the ball handler second guess about passing.

Huh?  Oh, because the Rockets didn't score a bunch of 3's and massively destroy the Mavs defense when Boban was off the floor?     Trading 2 for 3 is a fine transaction when game time is short and your team has a significant lead on scoreboard.  

Defense is key.  It's half the game literally, but time and score decide the finish.  Coming up with too many empty scoring possessions is the only way to lose a big lead at a certain point in time. Carlisle has to know what that point is and put his team in the best position to keep scoring.

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Luckily I went away before the 2nd half and only watched this unfold on the highlights. Great game Seth Curry 0% from the field, 50% from the line. Also Boban 6pts, 5 rebs, +7 in five minutes. The only reason you sign Boban, the basketball player, is to see whether he can exploit the other team on offense more than he gets exposed on defense, but yeah what do I know.

That's the problem, what guy's like you and I know is just the obvious stuff.  Rick Carlisle is a basketball coaching savant.  I don't mean that sarcastically.  He really is, but that's the problem. 

He can design one of the most historically potent offenses in league history, but then completely fail to score points when the game is most on the line.  The genius offense bogs down then it's the obvious solutions that escape him.