DETROIT, MICHIGAN — The Dallas Mavericks found a way to win their second game of their three game road trip against the Pistons 115-105. The game itself came down to the wire but Dallas went into this matchup slotted as the better team and their depth paid off.
Load management has infiltrated and taken over NBA franchises. Some subscribe to it, Some don’t, and some teams fall right in the middle and rest players when necessary. The Mavericks are one of those teams that fall right in the middle and for the most part the Mavericks have had only one occurrence of “load management” and that was when several players were held out for a few weeks in February. Other than that, Dallas has had players available when they were scheduled to be available.
Tonight, the Mavericks utilized this game against the Pistons to rest two of their starters, Luka Doncic and Dorian Finney-Smith, because of minor injuries both players have sustained. There isn’t truly an answer to if this was the best move with just 10 games remaining in the season and losing a game right now could be costly, especially with how things are shaping up in the Western Conference. Dallas did receive news that Kristaps Porzingis & Josh Richardson would return to the lineup after the two players have been out since last week.
Any team in the NBA would struggle without two of their starters in the lineup, but right now is the best time to see how much depth you have on the bench which ranks top of the list in priorities. So it wasn’t a surprise to see the Mavericks suffer a slow start in the first quarter.
It was a collective effort early which is a good sign for this team that needs to gather wins to sustain their playoff positioning. Josh Richardson, Jalen Brunson, and Kristaps Porzingis scored 15 points combined and finished the quarter shooting 43% from the field as a trio. Dallas shot 43% from the field and Tim Hardaway Jr finished as the team’s leading scorer with 6 points and surprisingly Jalen Brunson recorded a team high 5 rebounds. Dallas never lost the edge from their explosive night against the Warriors, it just took them time to find their rhythm in the lineup. The Mavericks managed to tie the game 26-26 after Jalen Brunson knocked down a momentum shifting three pointer.
Dallas capitalized in a major way on their momentum and Tim Hardaway Jr continued to be the catalyst behind the Mavericks success. Hardaway Jr scored 11 second quarter points and shot 100% from the field with two of those shots coming from beyond the arc. The Mavericks bench stepped up and truly was the difference maker in this game. The Mavericks bench scored 14 points through two quarters with most of their points scored coming in the second and Dallas forced 11 turnovers which they easily converted into points. The Mavericks finished the second quarter with a 60-54 lead that was capped off by Kristaps Porzingis after laying in the ball with 1.5 seconds remaining.
The Mavericks began the third quarter on a 10-4 run putting a good amount of space between them and the Pistons, but before the Mavericks knew it the Pistons fought their way back into the game right before the third quarter ended. The Dallas offense went stagnant for a period of time and it gave the Pistons the control they needed at the perfect opportunity. Even though the Mavericks went stagnant on offense they maintained a 86-83 lead at the end of the third and THJ continued to give the Pistons the business on offense scoring 8 points in the quarter.
Dallas didn’t have the start they wanted and turned the ball over to begin the fourth quarter and missed all of their shots in the first 3 minutes of play. Dallas’s offensive drought continued well into the fourth quarter registering 2 points before Boban Marjonovic was fouled and knocked down both of his free throw attempts. The Pistons took over the game on defense and performed well mainly running a zone defense stopping the Mavericks from making easy buckets in the paint.
Despite the Pistons best defense Tim Hardaway Jr continued to score the basketball and kept the Mavericks head above water. What really helped the Mavericks case was Hardaway Jr connecting on all 6 of his free throw attempts after he was fouled twice on two of his three point shot attempts late in the fourth which gave Dallas a 2 point lead and hit another clutch three pointer to increase the Mavericks lead to 4 points. The Mavericks efforts on the other end of the floor helped them put the final touches on the Pistons and secure their second straight road victory. Tim Hardaway Jr finished with a whopping 42 points and shot 60% from beyond the arc and answered the call while two players were out of the starting lineup.
The Mavericks can take a deep sigh of relief right now because they are now two games ahead of the Blazers for the moment. This final stretch will be tight but even the games teams are supposed to win can make or break their chances of participating in the play in tourney. Hopefully this would be the signature win the Mavericks needed to separate themselves from the Blazers and avoid playing in the play in tournament they so desperately do not want to play in.
