On a night when Dirk Nowitzki traveled with the team for the first time this season, the Dallas Mavericks showed everyone just how much they miss him. The Mavericks loss was a sharp contrast from their last game in LA, when they shocked everyone on opening night with an eight point victory over the Lakers. Wednesday night, the Mavericks looked like a completely different team, and I’m not referring to the acquisition of Derek Fisher, either.
The Mavericks never lead, and except for a run in the third quarter, never really threatened to take the lead. It was hard to expect anything different going into Wednesday night, as the Mavs had lost three straight before a victory over the lowly Pistons on Saturday night, and the now 12-6 Clippers who lead their division, had won three straight. The Clippers are trying to establish themselves as a legit contender in the West, while the Mavs are trying not to fall too far behind in the standings. Jamal Crawford led all scorers off the bench with 20 points, and added 4 assists. Vince Carter led the Mavericks with 16 points. Vinsanity has been doing his part in making up for Dirks absence lately, now averaging 14 points the last 5 games.
The only other bright spot for the Mavs was the 38 year old Derek Fisher, who’s 15 point performance was much better than the 2 points he scored in his first game with Dallas on Saturday night. The five-time champion shot 3-5 from long range and played better defense than any other point guard has for Dallas this season. Obviously it will take some time for Fisher to get acclimated with his new teammates and to get back into shape, but the 18 year veteran appears to be a nice fit, not only to run the offense but also teaching the younger guys a thing or two.
“I’m just looking forward to be as helpful as possible with this team,” Fisher said. “There’s a lot of young guys, but we do have some potential.”
In Fishers first game, his backcourt mate O.J Mayo thrived scoring 27 points, Wednesday night Mayo only scored 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting and went 0 of 4 on threes. Mayo is not getting near as many open looks as the season has progressed, as teams have learned he maybe the Mavs only legitimate option on offense right now. Jae Crowder continued to struggle, scoring only 2 points in 18 minutes and still looks very much like a rookie on defense, causing many Mavs fans to wonder why he’s still in the starting lineup.
Once again, the Mavericks got out-rebounded, and just got crushed down low overall, getting outscored 62-30 in the paint. However, that wasn’t what caused them to struggle. What caused them to struggle? A disgusting 22 turnovers to a team that loves to run the floor and excite the crowd with big time dunks and lobs. 5 of those turnovers were committed by Darren Collison, who only played 18 minutes off the bench. Collison has struggled after getting off to a great start for Dallas, causing speculation on how injured his finger really is. Blake Griffin had 19 points including a few typical electrifying dunks, and 13 rebounds. Caron Butler, the former Maverick, also had an electrifying dunk mixed in his 16 points. Honestly, a lot of players for the Clippers had electrifying dunks.
It got to the point in the last couple minutes after back-to-back fast break alley-oops, it appeared Mark Cuban was trying to go to sleep slouched down in his chair behind the Mavs bench. A look that he most likely shared with Mavs fans everywhere.
“I don’t think it was rubbing it in,” Carter said. “It wasn’t anything that was done maliciously. The plays were there for them.”
Sure Mayo had a bad shooting night, and yes there were a lot of shots that went in and out for Dallas, but the Mavs still got outplayed, in every aspect of the game, by a team that, quite simply, is just better. That’s something Mavs fans aren’t used to hearing.
Dallas slipped to 8-10 on the season, and if the season ended today, the Dallas Mavericks would be left out of the playoffs. Also something Mavs fans aren’t used to hearing. But, the season doesn’t end today, in fact we’re only a quarter into the season and the face of the franchise has yet to suite up. The feeling with most Mavs fans is if they can just hang around the .500 area and not fall apart without Dirk, this is a team that could surprise some people come playoff time.
In the meantime, Dallas has to get some production out of the power forward position, cut back on the turnovers, and play better team defense. The Mavs stop in Phoenix on Thursday night for back-to-back games on national television.
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