Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks 86 at Oklahoma City Thunder 99
While the new-look Dallas Mavericks figure to have a lustrous future, Tuesday night the team from the Lone Star State was not shining so brightly.
(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Mavericks returned to the hardwood in Oklahoma City for the start of four games in five nights. It was also the first game for the newly acquired Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson, as the trio got a crash course in Maverick basketball. The Mavericks led the season series 2-0 coming into Tuesday night, but the Thunder came into the game riding a six-game winning streak and at the Mavericks' expense that number moved to seven. The week-long layoff between games and lack of practice time with the new players was apparent, as the Mavericks shot just 32 percent on the night to begin the new era with a 99-86 loss.
"The fact that myself and Caron didn't get a chance to practice with the team probably impacted us tonight in a negative way," Haywood said. "But at the end of the day, we're professionals. We have to go out there and do our jobs, and tonight we didn't get it done."
"You can easily use (the trade) as an excuse," point guard Jason Kidd added. "We have a lot of veteran players that have come over in the trade. We let this one get away from us."
Adding insult to injury, the Mavericks may have lost their starting center for an extended period of time, after Erick Dampier exited the game due to an injury late in the fourth quarter.
"Right now, I'm just concerned about Damp's situation," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "I'm not sure what's happening with him."
But the game began on a good note for the Mavs. Immediately Butler looked to make an impact on his new squad, joining the starting lineup at the shooting guard slot in his Maverick debut. The two-time All-Star took the court next to Kidd, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Dampier. But the first-stringers weren't together long before Nowitzki picked up two quick fouls after four minutes of play, forcing sixth man Jason Terry into the game sooner than Carlisle would have wanted. Still, with Butler and Haywood fitting right in early, the Mavericks sprinted to a 14-2 run before eventually holding a 26-16 advantage after one.
The Dallas defense was the story after the opening quarter, holding the Thunder to just 6-for-25 shooting in the period.
"I think we can see the potential, especially there in the first quarter. Everybody was touching it and getting open shots. I can definitely see the potential," Nowitzki said.
After sitting the majority of the first quarter, Nowitzki came out aggressively in the second stanza. But the Thunder got right back into the game with their young core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green. Finishing the half on a 10-2 run, the Thunder surged ahead with a last-second three from James Harden to grab a 56-54 lead heading into the intermission. Oklahoma City outscored Dallas 40-28 in the second quarter."Look, we had 54 points at halftime, so we had enough points," Carlisle said. "The bottom line is they shot over 70 percent in the second quarter and had a 40-point quarter. That got them going."
The shooting touch wasn't there for the Mavericks in the first half, connecting on just under 42 percent of their shots. Meanwhile, after the slow start, the Thunder finished the half shooting 48 percent. The two teams went to their respective All-Star forwards early on, as Durant's 16 first half points just bettered Nowitzki's 15.
Both teams picked up the defense in the third quarter and the scoreboard reflected it. But with both teams struggling to score, Dallas' turnovers in the period became costly, assisting the Thunder on its 14-0 run. After a seven-minute scoreless stretch, the Mavericks mustered up merely a season-low 11 points in the period. Meanwhile, the Thunder capitalized at the other end, leading by as much as 14 before taking a 78-65 advantage into the fourth.
"In the third quarter, we couldn't hit shots. It was defense in the second quarter and in the third quarter our offense struggled. We had looks and they were a lot of shots that we normally make, but we just couldn't...It was frustrating," Carlisle said.
"After halftime, we only scored 11," Kidd said. "You have to give those guys credit...We didn't make shots, we had some good looks. I think we started pressing and we tried to do it individually to try and stop the bleeding. It just didn't work out."
The margin widened to 17 early in the final period, before Carlisle shifted to a lineup of Kidd, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki and Dampier in hopes of sparking an offensive explosion. The unit responded with a 13-4 run, cutting the deficit to single digits. But the team's comeback attempt hit a wall with the Thunder defense keying in on Nowitzki.
The Mavs then lost Dampier with an open dislocation to his right middle finger at the 2:54-mark, attempting to block a shot. Unable to get any closer than eight, Carlisle pulled his key contributors inside of the final two minutes.
While the Mavericks struggled with their shooting all night long, the defense was not the problem, as the Thunder connected on just 43 percent of their shots en route to the win. With both teams having trouble finding the bottom of the net, the rebounding numbers were unusually high, as the Mavericks captured a 53-51 edge on the boards.
"In the second half, I think our defense was actually alright," Nowitzki said. "We held them to around 40 points, that's not bad. Offensively, we couldn't get anything going."
(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Thunder's 18-7 advantage in fast-break points and 15 points off of Dallas turnovers were deciding factors in the game.
Coming off of his career-best 22-point performance in Sunday's All-Star Game, Nowitzki finished with a team-high 24 points on 9-of-22 shooting. But the Mavericks likely No. 2 and No. 3 scoring options, Terry and Butler, were a combined 8-for-31 as the two collectively scored 27 points. The cold-shooting night was a total team effort, Carlisle said.
"Tonight, a couple of the guys that would be main scorers for us were struggling shooting the ball, so a lot of it was falling on (Nowitzki's) shoulders," the coach added. "We don't want that to happen."
"We knew it was going to take some time," Nowitzki said. "We have four games in five nights coming out of the break and that is never easy. First game after the break is usually never easy."
Durant finished with a game-high 25 points, hitting that number for an NBA-best 26th straight game, though he did so on 9-of-28 from the field.
But after the game, the concern in the locker room was with Dampier. The 7-footer remained in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, heading to the hospital to have the finger surgically closed. He is expected to join the team back in Dallas on Wednesday, however a timetable for his return to the court has not been set.
"Damp's going to be out for awhile, but we've got big Haywood stepping in," Nowitzki said. "Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. Other teams have them too. Hopefully big Brendan can step in there and really get used to us playing with each other, and protect the paint like Damp does. We'll be okay.
"Big Damp is usually very tough, and I'm sure he'll be on the court sooner than later."
Now, on the second night of a back-to-back, the Mavs will host the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday. That game will air nationally on ESPN and locally on KTXA and KTXA HD at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS. The two teams have split the first two games of the season series.
"It's a tough loss and it's a quick turnaround, so we've got to get ready for Phoenix tomorrow," Carlisle said.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment