TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA — Dallas has been without several key players in their rotation for the past two weeks now, but on Monday prior to their matchup against the Raptors, they received some good news. Tim Hardaway Jr who missed the last game due to a groin injury and Jalen Brunson who has spent most of his time quarantining in Denver would be available for their game tonight.
The effects of Dallas missing some of their players began to show itself after dropping their last two games and losing two consecutive games for the first time this season. Before losing those two games the Mavericks were clicking on all cylinders and went on a 4 game winning streak. The Mavericks played without some of their players and that illustrates how deep this team is but nothing lasts for long in the NBA.
The Dallas offense began the game with a shot clock violation, but quickly cleaned it up and drew first blood after Kristap Porzingis dropped the first 5 points of the game for the Mavericks. Both offenses came to a stand still for a brief moment after both teams went scoreless for nearly two minutes but Porzingis broke the ice scoring on a turnaround jumper to take a 10-9 lead and then a 12-9 lead after Doncic knocked down a pair of free throws. Dallas’ biggest lead was 3 points and Toronto’s was 1 point. Both teams tussled for the lead, vying for control of the game, A true area the Mavericks have struggled in is grabbing an early lead, separating and sustaining that lead.
Dallas’s performance in the first quarter was plagued by turnovers and to add to it Rick Carlisle was ejected after receiving his second technical foul. Jahmal Moseley took over for the Mavericks as coach and they finished the first quarter trailing the Raptors 22-18.
Kristaps Porzingis led both teams in scoring with 8 points hitting 3 out of 5 of his shots, but what was surprising was how poorly the Mavericks shot. The rest of the team only knocked down 2 out their 13 shot attempts which was the story in the last game after the supporting cast didn’t have their best outing against the Bulls.
Jalen Brunson opened the second quarter finishing on a driving layup and connected on a three pointer to erase the deficit tying the game 26-26. Trey Burke got busy as well and connected on a pull up jumper. Dallas defensive efforts were affected by bad turnovers which translated into easy buckets on the other end for the Raptors. Porzingis continued to score the ball and help keep the game within reach for the Mavericks. Luka Doncic was subbed in after a short break to help the Mavericks in the ball security department and to get a flow going on offense.
Dallas was buoyed by the move and as a result went on a 13-2 run to take their third lead of the game. Luka was dishing them out and James Johnson reaped the benefits scoring his first 5 points of the game on the run while securing 3 rebounds. Dallas lost the lead briefly but got it back after Doncic was fouled on a tip in basket and made a free throw, which was followed by a Kyle Lowry driving layup to tie things up before half 47-47.
The Mavericks finished the first half converting on 40% of their shots from the floor but turned in a poor first half shooting from beyond only knocking down 29% of their three pointers. Kristaps Porzingis led the Mavericks in scoring with 14 points and Luka Doncic finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists continuing his trend of potential triple double performances. Both Jalen Brunson and James Johnson combined for 16 points and Trey Burke chipped in with 4 points. The Mavericks needed more of a contribution from their bench if they wanted to win this game after the Mavericks bench was outscored 14-26 through the first two quarters. Tim Hardaway Jr who gave the Mavericks healthy contributions during their win streak failed to hit a shot in the first half missing 6 of his attempted shots.
Entering the third quarter the Raptors committed 3 fouls and one of those sent Willie Cauley-Stein to the line which he knocked down to put the Mavericks up on the board for the third quarter. Kristaps Porzingis continued to play well scoring on a driving dunk and an alley oop which came by way of a Doncic lob pass, and assisted on a Jalen Brunson three to give the Mavericks a 56-55 lead. As it was all game the lead was never safe. Kyle Lowry converted on a driving layup to give the Raptors another lead.
Both offenses stalled again and didn’t score another basket until there were 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Mavericks stopped the drought with a James Johnson three pointer, but the Raptors went on a 16-2 run before the Mavericks were able to score another bucket off a Luka Doncic free throw. Dallas finally got a shot from the field to go down after Trey Burke scored 5 of the Mavericks final third quarter points after knocking down a three pointer and to cut the Mavericks deficit down to 9.
Throughout the game the Mavericks played catch up while the Raptors continued to make the most of their possessions. James Johnson scored off a driving layup entering the fourth quarter to bring their deficit down to 7, but the Raptors were able to knock down a three pointer on the ensuing possession. Each time the Mavericks tried to inch their way back into the game, the Raptors would go down the floor and make something happen on the other end and Dallas struggled defensively to stop them.
Dallas had a tough time making shots all night and that continued through the fourth. As a result the Mavericks experienced another offensive drought only cashing in on 31% shots from the field with just a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game. James Johnson and Trey Burke were the only Mavericks to score two or more shots in the fourth quarter for the Mavericks knocking down 4 out of 6 shots a combined 9 points.
The Mavericks ended up losing the game 116-94 after a subpar outing on both ends of the floor, extending their losing streak to three games.
Dallas was at a disadvantage, being without some of their players already and then their coach getting ejected from the game in the first quarter. Tough breaks, but the road only gets tougher from here for the Mavericks as they travel to Indiana to face the Pacers on Wednesday. Hopefully sooner rather than later, the team will be back at full strength.
