DALLAS, TEXAS — After winning a crucial game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, the Mavericks fell apart at home losing to the New York Knicks 117-109. The Mavericks played well to start the game and the supporting cast played well, but the Mavericks two biggest stars struggled for most of the game and that was the difference maker.
The Mavericks had a fiery start to the first quarter and 4 out of the Mavericks starters knocked down at least 1 three pointer in the first half, the lone exception surprisingly was Luka Doncic. The three point shooting paid off for a moment in the first quarter to take their first lead, but the Knicks came roaring back behind Julius Randle’s efficient start to the game scoring 15 points of the Knicks first 23 points in his first 7 minutes of the game. With Luka Doncic being subbed out early to nurse what looked like a minor knee injury, Josh Richardson filled the role nicely with a nice first quarter scoring 9 points on 4 out of 6 shots at a 66% clip. Despite Dallas’s hot start from three, the Mavericks finished the first quarter converting only 41% of their shots from the field and trailed the Knicks 25-34 as a result.
Dallas has had a problem all season with their approach on the offensive end and mostly their performances have been unbalanced. Either they’re hot from three and cold from the field or vice versa, but this team has had very few nights where they were in rhythm from beyond the arc and the field at the same time.
Tim Hardaway Jr had a spirited start in the second quarter scoring the Mavericks first 9 points converting on all of his shot attempts from the field including 1 three pointer. His scoring outburst lit a spark for Dallas on the defensive end. All it took at this point was for them to keep scoring and create scoring opportunities off turnovers. What came as a surprise the Knicks held Luka Doncic to just 3 points on 1 of 3 shooting through 12 minutes of play which is similar to what happened in their last game against Memphis when the Grizzlies held Luka to only 4 first half points. The Knicks did the same to their former draft pick Kristaps Porzinigis as well only allowing him to score 7 points on 3 of 10 shooting through 16 minutes of play. The supporting cast played well but the New York Knicks defense just made it hard for the Mavericks to get Luka & KP involved which is the best way to stymie the Mavericks offensive attack.
Tim Hardaway Jr continued his dominant stretch of scoring and put the team on his back during KP and Luka’s struggles. THJ finished the first half with 16 points while 14 of those points were scored in the second quarter and finished the half leading the Mavericks in scoring. Luka Doncic and KP finally got on the board at the end of the second quarter after KP scored on a three pointer and nice hook shot and Luka scored on a pair of free throws, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Knicks 56-52 lead going into half time.
Only 2 players in the Mavericks lineup finished scored in the double digits and KP and THJ and only 4 players finished with a positive +/- in the first half, but collectively the Mavericks had a hard time slowing down the Knicks who shot 52% from the field and converted three pointers at a 47% clip. To narrow the gap the Mavericks needed more consistent play from their stars.
Luka and KP must’ve discussed some things at halftime because the duo came out of halftime with a new found energy. KP and Luka combined to score 10 of the Mavericks first 12 points of the quarter and did so connecting on 3 out of their 5 shot attempts to help Dallas take their first lead since the first quarter. The duo finished as the leading scorers for the Mavericks in the quarter. Doncic scored 9 points on 3 of 6 shooting and KP scored 6 points converting on 50% of their shots, but the Mavericks continued to trail the Knicks for the third straight quarter and it’s no secret what the Mavs record is when they trail at any point in the game.
After finishing the third quarter trailing the Knicks by 4 points, Dallas allowed the Knicks to go on a 13-5 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to establish a nice cushion. Dallas started a mini run of their own to respond scoring 3 consecutive buckets and a made free throw to narrow the Knicks lead to 6 points with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game. The Mavericks defensive efforts played a part in narrowing the Knicks lead placing their hands into passing lanes and disrupting things on the interior, but the Mavericks had their hands full with Julius Randle who continued to score the basketball frequently.
The Dallas offense went cold for nearly a minute straight until Kristaps Porzingis scored on a and 1 foul and converted the free throw to narrow the Knicks again, but was quickly followed up with a quick jumper from the Knicks. As the final seconds began to tick down Luka Doncic got fouled and went to the line to put some points on the board but came up short, missing both free throw attempts, which was consistent with the struggles he had the entire game.
With only one player scoring over 20 points, the Mavericks couldn’t develop the collective effort to win the game and have lost their last 3 out of 4 games which happened before after their last road trip. A win tonight would have moved the Dallas Mavericks closer to their 6th seed hopes but with this loss it complicates things and makes the last remaining 17 games that much more crucial if they want to avoid the play in tournament.
