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The Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 87-78, in the last game before the all-star break, pushing the team’s record to 18-16. It was the first win with less than 90 points since 2016.
The Mavericks offense sorely missed Luka Doncic who missed tonight’s game with a strain on his back (AKA: rest) as the team rattled shot after shot throughout the first half. The team finished 1 of 19 behind the arc for the first two quarters, but luckily the Thunder connected just 35 percent from the field. The Mavericks managed to take a 49-42 lead into the break.
The Mavericks turned the corner in the third as the lid finally lifted off the basket. After shooting five percent deep in the first half, the team connected on 40 percent of their attempts in the third quarter (4 of 10). The team kept pace in the fourth, pushing the lead to no less than 20 points as a lower Thunder team couldn’t quite keep up. Encouragingly, the Mavericks didn’t let go, nor let the Thunder spoil the game late. Without their star on top of a horrible night of filming, the Mavericks were able to secure a victory. But make no mistake, it was a lousy game, so let’s jump right into some observations.
The Mavericks wrestled without Doncic
Obviously. But the first half of basketball was some of the worst Mavericks basketball I’ve seen in a long time. Missing 18 of 19 three points was comically bad, and the team looked flat and sloppy. Dallas finally turned things around in the second half, but the Thunder played excruciatingly poorly that it didn’t take much for the Mavericks to advance.
The Mavericks are in desperate need of a second shot-maker because they didn’t get it from players like Kristaps Porzingis or Josh Richardson in the first half. Porzingis was particularly frustrating until he kept two or three in the middle of the fourth quarter. It was the kind of play Porzingis should have dominated from the jump, but it took until the second half to make his mark. The Thunder played so poorly that it ended up being a good fit for the Mavericks.
Josh Richardson babysat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander … and it worked!
Rick Carlisle’s defensive allocation is puzzling. I don’t know much, but I do know that the Mavericks traded in a historically elite three-point shooter for Richardson because the team coveted length and defensive tools that were not currently on the roster. For reasons I didn’t know, Dorian Finney-Smith spent more time chasing the opposing team’s best perimeter player rather than Richardson, but tonight we saw Richardson’s value in taking on the main mission. In the third quarter, Richardson tied Gilgeous-Alexander (who played the entire quarter), and the Mavericks managed to push the lead from seven to 14 points. Richardson even forced a few turnovers on SGA records. Gilgeous-Alexander still scored seven points during the quarter, but it was a good example of why Richardson should take more of the main defensive mission.
This game was a complete dud
There isn’t much else to it. The Mavericks took 87 points while adding just 12 points in the fourth. The team shot 38 percent from the floor and a meager 20 percent from three. But the Mavericks won because the Thunder were even worse. Hardaway and Porzingis led the way with 19 apiece, Richardson added 16 and Brunson had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in a place start. Ugly wins always count, especially this season. Two games over .500, baby.
Here is the post-match podcast, Mavs Moneyball after dark. If you don’t see the integration below “More Mavs Moneyball”, Click here. And if you haven’t already, subscribe by searching for “Mavs Moneyball podcast” in your favorite podcast app.
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