The Dallas Mavericks (5-17) suffered an unnecessary 104-109 defeat against the Brooklyn Nets (8-13) in their home arena. In the final phase, especially the bad work under the basket became a disaster. Meanwhile, Maxi Kleber showed a strong performance and set a new career record with 16 points.
The Mavs had the matter well under control at first. Thanks to the hot Maxi Kleber (12 points came in the first quarter) the hosts gained a two-digit lead. But they melted down because Dallas didn’t hit much and Brooklyn had a better hand on the other side of downtown. Accordingly, the guests from the Big Apple took a break (48:47).
After the change, the game fell into a free-throw strategy because both teams had already reached the foul line after just a few minutes. Brooklyn continued to make a better impression, however, as the points were more easily placed on the scoreboard. Thus, the guests barely made it deep into the fourth quarter. Brooklyn then settled down a bit, but Dallas did not let go of Devin Harris (11) and Harrison Barnes. Harris scored down to two points 18 seconds before the end. The Nets, in the person of Joe Harris (11) and Spencer Dinwiddie, showed some nerves on the line, but Dallas missed the chance to collect the rebounds after the unsuccessful attempts and got no chance to win.
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Top scorer of the Nets was DeMarre Carroll with 22 points and four converted threesomes. Spencer Dinwiddie came up with 19 counters and six assists. Trevor Booker contributed another 16 points and 9 rebounds. In the Mavs, Barnes was the most diligent scorer with 17 points. For this purpose he set up a new career high with 6 assists. Dwight Powell, coming from the bank, scored 14 points. There was also a new career record for adhesives with 16 points (7/11 FG).
Dirk Nowitzki, on the other hand, stayed pale in 26 minutes with 10 points (4/9 FG) and 7 rebounds. Nine minutes before the end of the race, the 39-year-old had to leave the field with a limp, but returned again in crunchtime. However, his influence was small.
Dallas is traditionally a team with few ball losses. In the first 18 minutes, every possession ended with a close, the break was only 2 turnovers. After the change, however, the Mavs could not conserve this. 11 ball losses were at the end (Brooklyn: 14)
Against an actually weak Nets-Defense Dallas could sink only 46 percent of the throws. The Mavs took too many jumpers, also because the transition-open didn’t exist. So Dallas had problems to get to the basket and pulled a few fouls. Only three minutes before the break did the hosts receive the first free throws after Yogi Ferrell was fouled during the jump. After the switch, however, Dallas did better and in the third quarter, he took the line eleven times and thus stayed in the match.
In the third quarter, the Nets missed out on a break. The reason for this was a few free throws. While Dallas, with the exception of a Powell mishap, drowned everything on the line, the Nets hit only half of their freebies. Even during the crunchtime this would have almost become a disaster for the guests. As a team, the Nets only hit a meager 56 percent of the line. Eleven out of 25 attempts were awarded.
Mavs vs. Nets: This way to the BOXSCORE!
Spencer Dinwiddie. In the absence of D’ Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin, the playmaker is a pleasant surprise for the Nets. Playing down his boots calmly, making hardly any mistakes and Smith was able to hold most of the game in front of him. Again and again he played his wings well, and together with Booker he scored some important buckets in the fourth quarter. After two assigned freebies in the crunchtime he made it better and pocketed the game from the line.
The rebound work of the Mavs in crunchtime. Brooklyn served the Mavs a possible equalization shortly before the end actually on the silver platter. But after the mistakes of Harris and Dinwiddie, Dallas could not grab the rebound. In total, the Nets took 14 offensive rebounds, including the two decisive ones in the last ten seconds. Otherwise weak: Dennis Smith Jr. and also J. J. Barea, who was only able to raise his statline in the last two minutes.
Rick Carlisle is well known for his ability to align himself with the opponent in the regular season, including a team like the Nets. Dallas tried to defend the three-line hard. Thus the Nets got few free throws from outside, especially in the beginning. However, the hosts then let it slip a little bit and Brooklyn returned to the game with a few threesomes. Carlisle was very dissatisfied at this time and took several timeouts. In the final phase, the Distance Throw was defended well again, but rooms opened up in the zone which were able to use mainly Dinwiddie and Booker.