Rapid Fire: Mavericks Drop Home Opener to Raptors 102-91.

 

Coming into their contest with the Toronto Raptors, the Dallas Mavericks were one of only two teams in the NBA to not see action on their home court.

 

Unfortunately for the Mavericks (2-2) they lost their first home opener since 2011, as the Toronto (4-0)  backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan proved to be too much, combining for 47 points en route to a 102-91 Raptors victory.

 

Toronto came out of the gate strong, shooting 53.8% from the field in the first quarter led by nine points from Lowry.  As expected, Mavericks starting forward Chandler Parsons played limited minutes again, doing most of his damage in the first quarter. He managed to put up eight points on three of four shooting, including a nifty move off the dribble to finish around the rim. He finished with nine points in 14 minutes of play.

 

“Anytime you give up 31 at home its concerning,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “Usually 25 is a good number to put up, but we were too loose in the first quarter. We made a lot of mistakes, turned the ball over and you cant do that.”

 

The Mavericks opened the second quarter on a 14-4 run to take a 39-35 lead. Dirk Nowitzki and Devin Harris led the charge, drawing consecutive “and one’s” to get Dallas back to level pegging. But the Raptors fought back and closed the deficit before going into halftime, and the Mavs took a 51-49 lead into intermission.

 

Unfortunately for Dallas, Parsons did not see the floor in the second half. Carlisle said this an issue the team is going to have to overcome moving forward as they monitor his minutes coming off knee surgery in the spring.

 

 

“It’s frustrating,” Parsons said. “It hurts watching your team struggle like that and knowing they could use me out there. I don’t know. I’ll have to find a way to deal with it.”

 

Both teams would trade blows in the third quarter, exchanging points to the tune of three straight trips down the floor. Lowry continued to have the hot hand for Toronto, ending the period with 23 points and helping the Raptors take a 74-73 lead into the final 12 minutes of play.

 

Even without Parsons, the Mavericks managed to keep it close and even took the lead for a stretch in the fourth, but the tandem of Lowry and Derozan combined with Dallas’ inability to score is what ultimately did Carlisle’s squad in. Toronto would go on a 12-0 run late in the fourth quarter to give them a 94-86 lead and  ice the game.

 

Game Notes:

 

Dirk had somewhat of a vintage performance, scoring 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting while adding seven rebounds. He also played 35 minutes, a number well above his average of 27.5 mpg from last season. Carlisle said he left him on the floor because he had to.

 

“We weren’t playing well enough, and I didn’t really have a choice,” Carlisle said. “We tried getting him more looks but they were just draped all over him.”

 

Rookie forward and first round pick Justin Anderson did not see the floor until the final 42 seconds, playing only in garbage time. It appears as though Carlisle’s hesitancy to play rookies will continue, at least for the time being.

 

Next Up: Dallas hosts Charlotte on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30. The Mavericks have won 14 consecutive home games the Hornets.