The Dallas Mavericks faced off against the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night in their second NBA Cup game of the season. Dallas’ Cup woes continued, as they lost again 133-127.
Let’s get to the grades!
7 PTS / 2 REB / 5 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 18 MIN
Williams struggled shooting and ceded much of his playing time to D’Angelo Russell, who suddenly found his shot after struggling all season himself. He still did some cool things however, at one point saving a possession by diving into the scorer’s table and generally making some nice effort plays.
10 PTS / 7 REB / 0 AST / 2 STL / 1 BLK – 36 MIN
Christie struggled shooting the ball overall but made the most of his threes. It’s a shame he wasn’t his usual self on a night where Klay Thompson started off hot. Having both players cooking would have been a nice thing to see. Christie was fine, but it wasn’t up to his standards of late, and he uncharacteristically fouled too often.
16 PTS / 5 REB / 0 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 47 MIN
Devin Harris said it best on the broadcast when he described Flagg’s game as “quiet.” He shot well enough outside of his three-point attempts, but didn’t get as many shots as you would have liked. Worse still, he contributed virtually nothing in any other major statistical category, inflating his numbers a bit given the additional 10 minutes of game time. His game got a bit louder as it went on, and he got and made some big shots down the stretch, which is huge for his growth.
28 PTS / 8 REB / 2 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 47 MIN
Marshall often steps up when needed. P.J. Washington sits the game out and Marshall goes on a bit of a tear in his place. Tonight was a nice encore to his game against the Wizards. Better yet, he shot great from beyond the arc and made the most of a high number of well-earned free throws. Very solid game overall as he led the Mavs in scoring for most of the game until D’Angelo Russell went on a fourth quarter heater.
10 PTS / 8 REB / 1 AST / 1 STL / 3 BLK – 27 MIN
Gafford got himself into early foul trouble which greatly limited his time. With Derek Lively just returning to action and playing restricted minutes, this was not particularly fortuitous. He got the bad end of most interactions with Ivica Zubac and turned the ball over too much, but despite the self-inflicted limited minutes, he did at least make the most of his few shot attempts. Still, if he could have somehow gotten the better of even a possession or two, the Mavs would have had more breathing room. His grade stays out of the basement on the merits of saving the game with an amazing block.
28 PTS / 6 REB / 5 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – MIN
Russell finally broke through, scoring as efficiently as he has since he came to Dallas. Throughout his slump, he contributed rebounds and assists, and it was nice to see he didn’t forget that part of his game just because he was scoring tonight. He hasn’t found the three-ball yet, but he generally looked good and controlled the offense well throughout the night. He missed a game winner, perhaps trying too hard to draw a foul, but was basically the singular reason Dallas was even in position to go to OT.
13 PTS / 2 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 27 MIN
Thompson joined Russell in a return-to-form game of his own, looking like his vintage self. For most of the season, he was a shooter searching for his shot. Tonight he found it and did exactly what the team needs him to do. His shooting did cool a bit as the game wore on, but he was solid from beyond the arc, if not a bit too voluminous when it was all said and done.
The Mavs were played off the floor in the early portion of the first quarter before D’Angelo Russell and Klay Thompson, both of whom were struggling with their shot all season, got them back into the game by starting off hot. Behind an extended run, the Mavs took a nice lead before another reversal of fortune saw the Clippers take it back. Maddeningly, Dallas yet again gave up 60 or more points for what is now the fifth time this season. One of those occurrences saw the Mavs yield more than 70, and they have allowed 58 on multiple occasions as well. Bottom line is the Mavs need to get their defense in order and need to get off to much stronger starts to avoid playing catch-up all the time.
The second half was similarly unbalanced, with Dallas looking fantastic for short bursts, only to then look out of sorts and lacking flow. They fell down by double-digits in the third quarter only to close the gap a bit. The fourth quarter was much of the same until Dallas closed on a run to force their first OT game of the season. The Mavs ultimately went to a second OT before running out of gas. Facing a team on a six-game losing streak is a prime opportunity to get on the right track, but the Mavs couldn’t pull it off, putting a disappointing end on a game that could have been a very exciting win.
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