The Dallas Mavericks (14-25) began a new era of sorts on Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls (18-20) — one where Anthony Davis is out for the foreseeable future. The Mavs came in with a 4-14 record in games Davis sits, and ended up with another loss after a 125-107 beat down.
Let’s get to the grades!
Ryan Nembhard: B
16 PTS / 3 REB / 6 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 29 MIN
Aside from stealing the ball from Cooper Flagg and essentially passing it to Bulls’ Matas Buzelis for a layup, Nembhard was good in his return to the starting lineup. He led all Mavs in scoring, though
that may be more of an indictment of the Mavs than merit for Nembhard. He shot well overall (5-for-11; 3-for-6 from deep) in the loss.
Max Christie: B-
10 PTS / 3 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 27 MIN
Christie wasn’t bad, but wasn’t especially good — a theme for the Mavs on Saturday. He shot a solid 4-for-9 and 2-for-5 from downtown, but didn’t log particularly high minutes in a blowout.
Cooper Flagg: D
11 PTS / 1 REB / 2 AST / 1 STL / 1 BLK – 28 MIN
Simply put, this was Flagg’s worst NBA game since his bumpy start to his rookie season, so hopefully it’s now behind him and he can get back to the supernova status he achieved in December. His turnover total (five) exceeded almost every other primary statistic, which tells you all you need to know.
Naji Marshall: C
14 PTS / 4 REB / 3 AST / 3 STL / 0 BLK – 24 MIN
A pregame stat graphic on the game broadcast showed Marshall holds the fourth-highest field goal percentage of all NBA players under 6’7”. Then the game happened, and he decided to disprove the graphic. The otherwise highly efficient Marshall struggled with his shot (4-for-11). Aside from a nice steals total, he just couldn’t get much going throughout the night.
Daniel Gafford: D
6 PTS / 7 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 1 BLK – 25 MIN
Gafford is in position to capitalize on newfound opportunity, but it didn’t quite materialize on Saturday. He missed a disproportionate number of shots, saw passes go through his hands, and should have had more rebounds as the primary big in the Mavs’ lineup.
Klay Thompson: C-
10 PTS / 2 REB / 1 AST / 0 STL / 1 BLK – 20 MIN
Thompson shot 4-for-10 from the floor but had the worst plus/minus on the team with -19. Thompson provided little boost to a team in desperate need of anything. Like so many of his teammates, this one was forgettable.
Moussa Cisse: A-
5 PTS / 10 REB / 0 AST / 2 STL / 3 BLK – 19 MIN
In a game like this, one could argue no one deserves a grade in the A range, but individual performance is key. Cisse got the call from the big club and made the most of his opportunity as the only player who actually cared to rebound (the only Mav in double-figure boards) and actually played defense while the Bulls were getting anything and everything they wanted. Five stocks to go along with 10 boards in under 20 minutes made him the unlikely star of the night for Dallas. He hurt his shoulder in the fourth quarter, but managed to stay in the game.
Jaden Hardy: B
14 PTS / 1 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 19 MIN
His game mainly took place in garbage time, so that factors into the equation here, but scoring more points than minutes played on shooting the likes of which virtually no one else could achieve (5-for-8 overall; 4-for-7 from deep). Two turnovers and a foul in limited minutes is a bit much.
Final Thoughts
Without Anthony Davis (and Dereck Lively and P.J. Washington), the Mavs lost the rebounding battle against the Bulls, and it might be something we all want to get used to for a while. Dallas was outrebounded 52-42 and the Bulls had nearly as many defensive rebounds (41) as the Mavs had total rebounds. They will be rolling out relatively fewer big men and a variety of players who don’t normally get much floor time for the foreseeable future, so this may be a trend.
The Bulls had the largest lead they’ve had in any game all season long, a dubious distinction to hang on the Mavs. This is not a particularly daunting opponent, and yet they made the Mavs look like G-League team. Let’s hope this was a one-off and Dallas can get back to their endless run of clutch games quickly.
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