The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 87-78 in the final game before the all-time season, breaking the team’s record to 18-16. It was the first win to score less than 90 points since 2016.
The attack of the Mavericks missed Luka Doncic a lot who missed tonight’s game with a strong tension (AKA: rest) when the team hit the first half shot after shot. The team finished 1-of-19 from behind the arc through the first two quarters, but luckily the Thunder connected only 35 percent off the field. The Mavericks were able to take a 49-42 lead at halftime.
The Mavericks turn the corner in the third while the lid finally lifts off the basket. After shooting five percent from deep into the first half, the team turned up 40 percent of their efforts in the third quarter (4-out-10). The team kept pace in the fourth pace, pushing the lead to as many as 20 points as an inferior Thunder group could not quite keep up. Encouragingly, the Mavericks did not disappoint, nor did the Thunder let the game up. Without their star above a horrible shooting night, the Mavericks could have scored a victory. But make no mistake, it was an ugly game, so let’s get right on some observations.
The Mavericks struggled without Doncic
Of course. But the first half of basketball was some of the worst Mavericks’ basketball I’ve seen in a long time. The miss of 18 of 19 three-pointers was very bad, and the team looked flat and sloppy. Dallas eventually turned it around in the second half, but the Thunder played terribly badly that the Mavericks did not need much to advance.
The Mavericks urgently need a second creator because they did not get it in the first half from players like Kristaps Porzingis or Josh Richardson. Porzingis was especially frustrating until he caught up with a couple of tries halfway through the fourth quarter. It was the kind of play that Porzingis had to dominate from the jump, but it took until the second half before he made his mark. The Thunder played so poorly that it ended up being good for the Mavericks.
Josh Richardson guarded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander … and it worked!
Rick Carlisle’s defense award is tricky. I don’t know much, but I do know that the Mavericks traded a historic elite three-point shooter to acquire Richardson because the team craved the length and defensive tools that were not currently in the rankings. For reasons I was unaware of, Dorian Finney-Smith spent more time chasing the best team of the opposing team rather than Richardson, but tonight we saw the value of taking Richardson as the primary assignment. In the third quarter, Richardson paired with Gilgeous-Alexander (who played the entire quarter), and the Mavericks were able to extend their lead from seven to 14 points. Richardson even forced some revenue on SGA drives. Gilgeous-Alexander still scored seven points in the quarter, but that was a good example of why Richardson would take the primary defensive assignment more.
This match was a complete dud
There is not much else to it. The Mavericks scored 87 points, while adding just 12 points in the fourth scoring. The team shot 38 percent from the floor and a meager 20 percent from three. But the Mavericks won because the Thunder were even worse. Hardaway and Porzingis led by 19 pieces, Richardson added 16, and Brunson started with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in a row. Ugly wins still count, especially this season. Two games above .500, baby.