Naji Marshall: B+
22 PTS / 4 REB / 3 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 30 MIN
Marshall was ripping in the early going, but really came back down to earth hard as the night wore on. He finished 7-for-17 and only made a single three-pointer on six attempts. He was the Mavs’ second leading scorer and went 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
Max Christie: C+
9 PTS / 1 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 32 MIN
Christie did very well for himself, but just didn’t quite do it at a high volume. He connected on 3-for-5 from the floor (all from deep) for a hot shooting night, but didn’t get an abundance of touches to really see what his night could have
been. For the amount of minutes played, he didn’t offer much in spite of a hot hand.
Cooper Flagg: A-
26 PTS / 8 REB / 7 AST / 2 STL / 1 BLK – 36 MIN
Flagg didn’t have one of his best nights for nearly three quarters, but yet again insisted on contributing a little bit of everything. Flagg stayed the course and before you knew it, he had a great game with his 1-for-4 three-point shooting the only real knock on his game. He hit 10-for-18 overall.
P.J. Washington: A-
19 PTS / 15 REB / 1 AST / 0 STL / 1 BLK – 31 MIN
Washington did not look spectacular for much of the game and he did not shoot particularly well until later in the evening (8-for-15 overall), yet he notched a double-double just as the fourth quarter got underway and had a handful of nice plays in the final twelve minutes. His 15 rebounds were a season high. He ultimately fouled out with seconds remaining, but otherwise managed a nice game when it was all said and done.
Dwight Powell: B
7 PTS / 4 REB / 0 AST / 1 STL / 1 BLK – 16 MIN
Powell gave the Mavs largely what could be expected, especially in so few minutes. The highlight of his night was the ability to draw fouls and convert well enough on his free throws (5-for-7), but some of the responsibility for Nikola Jokic’s monster night falls on him as well.
Tyler Smith: A-
8 PTS / 1 REB / 0 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 8 MIN
Tyler Smith, you ask? Smith is not a familiar name to Mavs’ fans, but in game 73 of the season, he doesn’t have many more chances to be featured. In very few minutes, Smith had himself a nice night. 3-for-5 from the floor including 2-for-4 from deep is certainly not bad for under eight minutes of play.
Khris Middleton: B+
11 PTS / 3 REB / 5 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 18 MIN
Middleton had a quietly solid game. He hit his shots (4-for-8), shared the ball and maximized relatively few minutes. He had only a single turnover, for a nice to assist-to-turnover ratio.
Final Thoughts
This game was just plain strange. Dallas did what they have become so good at doing – falling behind only to make a big run to officially qualify the game for clutch status. After drawing to within a point with only minutes remaining, Dallas came unraveled quickly. To top things off, they allowed Jamal Murray to drop 53 points and watched Nikola Jokic come a single assist shy of the fourth 20/20/20 game in the history of the NBA.
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