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The Dallas Mavericks were defeated by the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, 116-93. The exhausted team was able to keep the game in single digits until about the third quarter, when the Raptors opened the game. Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Lowry led their respective teams with 23 points each.
Both teams struggled offensively off the gate, but Porzingis found an early rhythm, putting the Mavericks 10-9. The Mavericks struggled to buy a bucket early on, and as frustrations grew, coach Rick Carlisle received two technical fouls, ejecting him from the game.
The Mavericks found their shot in the second quarter, but the Brunson / Burke squad gave up repeated rim practice, allowing the Raptors to push the lead to 33-28. The Raptors extended the margin to nine, but a big stretch from James Johnson and Brunson gave the Mavericks a 44-43 lead. The score was tied at 47 to end the half.
Doncic and Porzingis showed just how good their one-two punch can be to open the third, with Porzingis receiving two back alleys Doncic. The Mavericks apparently ran out of gas midway through the quarter, allowing the Raptors to continue an extended run to push the lead to a top 12. They led by nine to finish the quarter.
The wheels pretty much came off in the fourth, with the Mavericks showing understandable signs of fatigue and exhaustion on the second night of a back-to-back and shorthanded line-up. By the time Luka came back to around eight minutes, the Raptors were up 16, and the lead continued to swell from there.
Depth issues catch up with Dallas
The Mavericks were missing Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber tonight. Each of these players make important contributions, and their absence in recent games has taken the Mavericks to a breaking point.
The coaches had no choice but to play their remaining players for long minutes: Porzingis played 65 combined minutes on this back-to-back, which is not at all ideal given his injury situation and recovery. Doncic was also in the Bulls game late to give the Mavericks one last push, and as a result he looked tired at various points tonight. Tim Hardaway Jr. was back tonight even though he had a strain in his groin that kept him from playing Sunday’s game. Heck, even Carlisle couldn’t get through the whole game today.
The Mavericks had no semblance of shooting
Dallas had one of its worst shooting performances tonight, at 38% on the field and 25% on three. This is in part a result of the aforementioned absences, as Kleber and Finney-Smith ensure reliable production from the perimeter. However, the three-point shooting issues are somewhat structural as well. Other than Porzingis, no one on the Mavericks is billed as a pure shooter, which means many wide open shots of Doncic’s brilliant passes have been missed often tonight and in other games.
Hardaway had an O-iron tonight, going 0 for 12 on the field and 0 for 6 on three. He was hesitant on shots that he wouldn’t normally think twice about, and at other times he would take some really horrible shots, like a transition pull-up to the free throw line with a Raptor player on his face. and at least one pass option available. He’s definitely capable of bouncing back, and he’ll need that for the Mavericks to generate a quality offense.
Kristaps Porzingis was effective in his fourth return leg
As with most other games this season with an appearance at Porzingis, tonight all the ups and downs of his game were on display. He had an effective stat line, going 8 of 14 on the field and 2 of 5 of three, and had a game-record 23 points. He was also effective in painting, blocking two hits and modifying a few more. This was best illustrated at the start of the third quarter, when Porzingis completed two alley-oops and blocked two shots while retrieving the ball within four minutes.
On the other hand, he often attempted various moves that he just wasn’t very good at, especially posting. In most cases, every time Porzingis received the ball around the elbow with his back to the basket, the result was a roll. Defensively, he rarely ventured outside of the paint, which would lead to opening three every time he passed to a perimeter player. This was a problem, as he was sharing the floor with another center from Willie Cauley-Stein. It shows how important Kleber is at the moment.
The Mavericks visit the Indiana Pacers for a 6 p.m. CT game that can be watched on Fox Sports Southwest or League Pass.
Here is the post-match podcast, Mavs Moneyball After Dark. If you can’t see the integration below “More Mavs Moneyball”, click here. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe by searching for “Mavs Moneyball podcast” in your favorite podcast app.
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