The games will come fast and furious at the Mavericks now, which is a good thing. After being idle for more than 20 weeks, then riding the wave of emotions that come from a record-setting 85-point first half and an equally spectacular collapse in the fourth quarter and overtime to lose to Houston on Friday, the Mavs need something fresh.
Mostly Luka Doncic and Rick Carlisle need to move on, because neither distinguished himself in the 153-149 loss to the Rockets.
Yes, I know Doncic had a triple-double. Everyone knows he had a triple-double because every sportscast’s description of the game goes something like, “The Rockets beat the Mavericks in overtime despite a triple-double from Luka Doncic ...”
We are endlessly fascinated with triple-doubles. We shouldn’t be. Naturally, a player has to do some things right to achieve one. And for Doncic to be leading the NBA in triple-doubles at 21, yes, it does mean he’s a special talent, one Dallas is fortunate to have. But those numbers Friday — 28-13-10 — hardly tell the entire story.
The Mavericks lost to the Rockets because they didn’t make clutch free throws. Doncic, a fabulous shooter who can kick balls into the basket from 30 feet, was 5 for 9.
The Mavericks lost to the Rockets because they were sloppy. Doncic’s eight turnovers were nearly as many as the entire Houston team (9).
The Mavericks lost to the Rockets because they tend to be a lousy team at crunch time despite all their gaudy offensive numbers. And the guy who has the ball in his hands at crunch time is Doncic. After Houston tied the score on Robert Covington’s offensive rebound of a missed free throw, the Mavs had 3.3 seconds to execute a winning play. The best they got was Doncic missing a falling-out-of-bounds 30-footer. He went 1 for 9 on 3-point shots.
Yep, OT. Another Mavs’ late-game stumble. pic.twitter.com/1zPoPVZIzE
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) August 1, 2020
Look, the same goes for Russell Westbrook, whose near triple double (31-11-8) doesn’t tell half his story, either. Yes, he made a couple of late defensive plays, but he was brutal shooting the basketball. Teams don’t even like their players taking two-point shots any more unless they are close to sure things — this is especially true of the Rockets — and yet Westbrook was 12 for 27 from two-point range.
The Mavs were thrilled any time Westbrook pulled up for a shot. By contrast, James Harden had 49 points on 20 field goal attempts. He was 11 for 11 inside the 3-point line.
The good news is Doncic doesn’t fall for his own mythology. He’s aware he played poorly down the stretch. The Mavericks need Doncic and Carlisle to be better at the end of games. When a team leads the league in losses by five points or fewer (17) despite heavenly offensive efficiency numbers, the coach has to answer for some of that.
“I’ll take the blame for this one,” Carlisle says, raising his hand for emphasis. pic.twitter.com/xIsiIiVFIW
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) August 1, 2020
The Mavs’ best weapon Friday night was Trey Burke — another dagger for Knicks fans, I know — who had 31 points in 30 minutes. He made eight of 10 3-pointers. In a five-minute stretch from late third to early fourth quarter, the Mavs maintained a nine-point lead by tying the Rockets 15-15. Burke had nine of those 15 points.
With 10:05 to go, Carlisle subbed Seth Curry for Burke. This was one of those nights Curry has from time to time in which he’s surprisingly invisible. He never made a basket. He fouled out. With 5.2 seconds left, he could have iced the game with a pair of free throws, but he made only one. By the time Burke got back on the floor, there were two minutes left in overtime and Houston was up four.
The team needs to move on from Friday’s loss. Phoenix at 8 p.m. Sunday is no tap-in putt for this team. Carlisle said late Friday, “This is about as tough as it gets.”
But the missed opportunity is greatly exaggerated. So much talk has focused on the Mavs getting past Houston or Oklahoma City to the No. 6 seed and avoiding playing the No. 2 Clippers in the first round. I fully understand Kawhi Leonard’s presence and think that’s a heck of a team (one I picked to win the NBA title, although that hardly matters).
Still, it’s crazy to view a 44-21 team (Clippers) as this impossible task while seeing a 43-22 team (Denver) or 42–23 team (Utah) as easy marks.
It doesn’t matter all that much whom the Mavericks play in the first round. Dallas will make devastating runs against anyone. But if the Mavs can’t play better in the last five minutes of games, they won’t beat any of these teams.
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