OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA — After winning their first game back after the all-star break, the Mavericks were defeated by the Thunder in their first back to back of the second half the season 116-108.
Dallas knew it would be a challenge to grab a win on the road without their best and arguably second best player; it was a challenge indeed. Carlisle went to Jalen Brunson at point who helped push the Mavericks to a victory against the Thunder last Wednesday and Willie Cauley-Stein who held the starting role at center in place of Kristaps Porzingis before Porzingis made his season debut. Cauley-Stein was part of the reason why the Mavericks pulled off their first winning streak of the season so it made sense for Carlisle to call WCS number.
Dallas trailed the Thunder by 14 at the end of the first quarter and struggled with their ability to convert from the field after playing their most efficient basketball of the season over the course of the month. The Mavericks only knocked down 30% of their shots in the first quarter and the Thunder took advantage of their offensive struggles. Oklahoma City converted on 46% of their shots from the field and knocked down 5 shots from beyond the arc. The leading scorer for Dallas in the first quarter was Josh Richardson who notched 5 first quarter points on 50% shooting while the team only combined to convert 4 out of 18 shots from the field.
The bench and supporting cast wasn’t as nearly as effective as they were in their win against the Spurs on Wednesday.
In the second quarter the Mavericks improved their efforts on offense converting on 46% of their shots, but couldn’t narrow the gap between them and the Thunder. Oklahoma City had an exceptional performance from the floor knocking down 55% from the field and made a handful of shots from the perimeter to maintain their double digit lead. This was just the beginning to the Thunder’s solid night from the three point line. Oklahoma City knocked down 10 out 14 of their first half shot attempts from beyond the arc, adding another layer of adversity for the Mavericks to overcome finishing the first half facing a 15 point deficit which is the largest halftime deficit the Mavericks have faced during their impressive stretch.
Josh Richardson continued to cook in the second quarter scoring 6 more points to increase his point tally to 11 points leading the Mavericks in scoring for the first half. Jalen Brunson scored on both of his shot attempts and finished second in scoring with 9 points, Tim Hardaway Jr finished with 7 points converting on 3 out of 11 of his shot attempts, but the Mavericks continued to struggle to get more production from other players on the bench. The depth that Dallas displayed in their win against the Spurs vanished overnight literally.
In the third quarter the Mavericks started digging themselves out of the hole they dug themselves into. Dallas outperformed the Thunder from the field converting on 50% of their shots and converting on 5 of their 9 shots from the perimeter. The Thunder did the bare minimum to maintain their lead but that is all that was needed. OKC finished the third quarter shooting 38% from the field while knocking down 3 of their 10 shot attempts from three to carry the 15 point lead they held at half over into the fourth quarter.
The identity of a team isn’t defined through the first three quarters of play, it is defined by how they respond in the fourth quarter. For the Mavericks the fourth quarter over the course of the month has been money time, and this team has risen to the occasion more times than not. After a short sputter early in the fourth quarter the Mavericks scored 8 straight points by way of free throw after a technical foul and two back to back three pointers from Josh Richardson and Maxi Kleber to put the game within reach.
During the run the Mavericks knocked down 50% of their shots from the three point line erasing the Thunder’s 15 point lead only to 2 points after Tim Hardaway knocked down 1 out of 2 of his free throws with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Thunder went on a 9-2 run with not much time left to increase their lead to 9 points. Down the stretch the Mavericks shot poorly from the free throw line which hindered them to overcome the lead and led to the Thunder defeating them to snap their 4 game winning streak.
Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Maxi Kleber scored 91 points combined and finished the game as the only players in double digits. Richardson and Brunson both finished with season high scoring totals while Hardaway Jr notched another 20+ point performance on the season off the bench.
Let’s consider everything before the “this team no good” chants begin. Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis were both sidelined for resting purposes and the Mavericks are playing in back to back games one week removed from going on break for the All-Star game. The Mavericks had this game circled on the schedule prior to the all-star break as a possible rest day for Luka and KP, so they weren’t afforded the time to prepare for their absences prior to the break.
Losses are expected in a long season, but in no way, form or fashion should this team be doubted or questioned at this point in the season after recovering from their tumultuous start. This is what the game is and there will be minor bumps in the road but what creates championship culture are adverse situations and this is one of those minor moments that teams experience.
