That trademark Dallas Mavericks defense allowed 90 points in the three quarters the regulars played against the Charlotte Hornets at American Airlines Center on Saturday, and the Hornets went on to take the 120-116 win in the Mavs’ second of four preseason games. The result doesn’t matter, but there will still be takeaways.
The Mavericks starters got to stretch their legs for three quarters instead of two in their second preseason game, and the results were largely mixed. There were encouraging signs,
and then there was Anthony Davis, who is still working his way back into game shape, apparently. Davis walked or trotted back on defense several times and at one point in the third quarter, jogged over to defend a Brandon Miller corner 3-pointer and somehow still fouled him for a four-point play. These things happen in preseason play. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s worth keeping an eye on at this point.
Here are four stats that stood out in the Mavs’ preseason loss to a pesky bunch of Charlotte Hornets.
28-8: Charlotte’s big first quarter run
This team’s identity is on the defensive end, right? It would be nice if they tried to defend the 3-point line from time to time. The Charlotte Hornets shelled the Mavericks from 3-point range to start the game. After Dallas looked spry behind Cooper Flagg’s hustle to start the game with a 5-2 lead, the Hornets rattled off 28 of the game’s next 36 points over a span of 5:19, taking a 30-13 lead on back-to-back pull-up jumpers from Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller midway through the first.
The Hornets hit six 3-balls as part of the five-plus-minute run. Bridges hit three, LaMelo Ball added another pair and Collin Sexton connected on his first attempt from deep in the game. Dallas responded with a 16-0 run of their own. Bridges led all scorers with 13 points in the first quarter, including a vicious alley-oop finish on a slick lob from Ball and through the half-hearted slapping defense of Klay Thompson five minutes into the proceedings.
It’s the preseason. These things happen. But the Mavs were playing the (checks notes) Charlotte Hornets and gave up 34 first-quarter points — all while Derek Harper droned on and on about the team’s “smothering brand of defense.” Lord have mercy.
3: Cooper Flagg first-quarter steals
It sure hasn’t taken Cooper Flagg long to show us all the different ways he can affect the game. On his way to just two points in the first quarter on Saturday, Flagg contributed to the Mavs’ 16-0 run with two of his three first-quarter steals during the run. His second steal of the quarter led to a Dwight Powell run-out layup to make it 30-20 with 3:32 left in the first. His third eventually led to a reverse layup inside for Dereck Lively II to inch Dallas to within 30-29.
Then in the second quarter, the floodgates opened for Flagg on offense. He scored seven points in the first 1:53 of the second quarter on a beautifully smooth pull-up 3-pointer near the top of the key, an even prettier alley-oop finish from D’Angelo Russell, and a behind-the-back dribble creating space for an undefendable jumper to pull the Mavs in front, 40-36.
Flagg stuffed the stat sheet in his 13 first-half minutes, leading the Mavs with 11 points (along with Thompson) on 4-of-7 shooting at the break and dishing four assists to go along with his three steals.
3-of-3: Klay Thompson first-half 3-point shooting
Seeing Thompson hit his first three 3-point attempts is always an encouraging sign. He’s another year older, but his greatest strength, his shooting touch, is a skill that lasts. It’s always a beautiful sight to see him raise up in rhythm. Sometimes you just know it’s going in before it even leaves his right hand, and his three makes in the first half were perfect examples of that.
The Mavs are going to desperately need Thompson’s outside shooting this year, as much as they appear to depend on bigger lineups. He led the Mavs in scoring, along with Flagg, with 11 points in the first half as the Hornets took a 61-59 lead into the break.
Thompson missed his fourth 3-point attempt, his first of the second half, with the Mavs trailing 71-63 three minutes into the third quarter. Then he canned his next attempt less than two minutes later to kill a 13-0 Hornets run. Thompson did his part in his 21 minutes on the floor, finishing with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point land in the loss.
6/4: Dereck Lively II’s third-quarter stat line
Lively had a big third quarter for the Mavs, scoring six of his 10 points and grabbing four of his six rebounds in the frame. He took the ball away from Sexton midway through the third and strolled down the floor with a smooth little Eurostep move to finish the breakaway and bring the Mavs to within 83-74.
The only thing I think will hold Lively back from the “breakout year” several teammates have predicted for him in his third NBA season will be the logjam of depth the Mavs have at the four and the five on the roster. He made the case for his claim that he grew a couple of inches this offseason by blocking an actual hook shot attempt from Miles Plumlee late in the second quarter.
Lively finished the night with 10 points, six boards, two blocked shots and two steals in 22 minutes against Charlotte. He made five of his six shot attempts.
