The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-94. After putting up 139 against the Toronto Raptors, Dallas’ offense couldn’t quite answer the call as a late-game comeback stalled.
Anthony Davis
put up 26 points to go with 11 rebounds, and Oklahoma’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander countered with a 23-point, eight-assist night. Chet Homgren and Isiah Hartenstein combined for 34 points against Dallas’ depleted frontcourt.
Dallas’ matchup against Oklahoma City was its fourth of what will be six straight home games to open the season. The home court stretch is nice, but a back-to-back is still a back-to-back. After keeping it close for the first half, rarely falling behind more than five points, it seemed like the Mavs ran out of gas as the Thunder spent the third quarter opening up a 20+ point lead.
However, a Dallas offense that scored just 69 points through three quarters showed signs of life in the fourth. A 15-0 run brought Dallas within four as the score narrowed to 95-to-94 with fifty-five seconds to go, coming all the way back from a 22-point fourth quarter deficit. Oklahoma City was ultimately able to weather the storm, despite scoring just 14 points in the fourth quarter, and remained undefeated on the season.
Everything but scoring
There have been more than a few pain points for the Mavericks so far this season, and, in this game at least, many of them seemed to be moving in the right direction. The turnovers were down significantly tonight. After averaging 19 turnovers per game through their first three, Dallas coughed it up only eight times against an OKC defense that was the best in the league last season.
Along with improved ball security, Dallas managed to send the Thunder to the free-throw line for just 12 attempts, and that’s including fouls they committed trying to extend the game in the fourth. Especially impressive considering Anthony Davis, the lone big, with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively sitting out, managed to stay out of foul trouble. Early fouls had troubled Dallas’ bigs in their two losses, so playing a little cleaner is a positive.
Still, all those improvements came on a night where the offense could only muster 94 points. Heavy legs on a back-to-back are one thing. Rolling out an offense that is league-worst by a LARGE margin is its own issue. Coach Jason Kidd continues to bring D’Angelo Russell, the team’s only league-tested point guard, off the bench as the Cooper Flagg, point forward, experimentation continues.
Holding the defending champs to their lowest scoring game of the season is something of a moral victory, but the offense’s inability to take advantage means that it still goes in the loss column; their third in four games.
Riding the hot hands
It would’ve been very easy for Dallas, on the second night of a back-to-back and facing the reigning champs, looking down a 22-point deficit, to just pack it up and try again on Wednesday. Especially with a roster like this, that’s missing a “just give it to BLANK” kind of scoring option. But while Dallas might not have a single player who can carry the offensive load, what they do have are options. If one guy’s not hot, there’s more where that came from.
With Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall contributing just 17 points in 45 minutes of play, going a combined 2-of-8 from deep, Kidd opted to let Max Christie and Jaden Hardy play for much of the fourth quarter. Christie, who was inserted into the starting lineup with Lively out, and Hardy, someone who’s never seen a shot he didn’t want to take, were 6-of-12 from deep and combined for 25 points.
While Kidd seems not yet ready to ask Thompson to start the game coming off the bench, it seems like he’s not against letting him sit with Dallas within a single shot late in the fourth.
Growing pains
After his first 20-point night, Cooper Flagg regressed with a bit of a dud on the offensive end, going 1-for-10 and zero assists.
It’s not worth overreacting to any single outing from the rookie and youngest player in the NBA, but with any luck, the team can start to see some improvement from Flagg, especially if they’re going to commit to letting him bring the ball up and initiate the offense. With Lively out and an opening in the starting five, it seemed almost too obvious the Russell would be the player elevated to a starter, but when it was Max Christie instead, it serves as a measure of just how serious Kidd is at getting Flagg some heavy minutes as the offensive engine; even if it may cost them some games early in the season while Flagg, and the team as a whole, are working out the offensive kinks.
