A slow start dooms Dallas' efforts in second loss to Sacramento
Short-handed, the Dallas Mavericks couldn't overcome a Sacramento Kings team that appears to have the Mavs' number this season. The 113-106 loss is a result of a lack of availability in the Mavericks' top eight rotation and a slow start in the first quarter. In the first 12 minutes of game action, Dallas didn't make […]
Short-handed, the Dallas Mavericks couldn't overcome a Sacramento Kings team that appears to have the Mavs' number this season.
The 113-106 loss is a result of a lack of availability in the Mavericks' top eight rotation and a slow start in the first quarter.
In the first 12 minutes of game action, Dallas didn't make a single 3-point basket (0-9). And from the field, they shot a pedestrian 30 percent. The typically effective Luka Doncic was 0-3 at this point in the game and had only scored one point. Trusty Tim Hardaway Jr. was 2-9, and 0-4 from three, to the tune of four points. And as a whole, the Mavericks scored 17 points in the opening frame.
Meanwhile, Sacramento got off to a directly opposite start. As a team, the Kings shot 60 percent from the floor and 63 percent from three. The Dallas killer, Harrison Barnes, got to his spots and scored nine points, only missing one shot in the quarter. To back his efforts, Buddy Hield and Richaun Holmes both scored six points. And by the end of one, Sacramento scored 31 points to lead Dallas by 14.
“Pretty simple,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Another poor start really did us in. The first quarter, if you look at it on the stat sheet, looks like a 14-point deficit. But we were down 20-3. We just got to be way better to start the game.
“Early holes are hard to dig out of and it’s tiring talking about it over and over again. But we’ve got to be better and we’re going to have an opportunity in a pretty short period of time to try to do that.”
The game by the numbers:
Though Dallas pieced together competent second, third and fourth quarters, the early deficit was too much to climb out of with a skeleton of a roster. In the fourth quarter, Dallas saw its deficit shrink to as small as five, but a missed step-back three from Doncic put the proverbial nail in the coffin on a Dallas loss.
The Mavs' leading scorers included Doncic who scored 24 points on 8-20 from the field and 4-12 from three. Second in scoring is Tim Hardaway Jr and Trey Burke. Both scored 19 points. And Dorian Finney-Smith pitched in with 10 points and seven rebounds.
For the Kings, Holmes had a field day against the limited Dallas frontcourt. He scored 24 points and grabbed six rebounds, and he only missed three shots (9-12). Second in scoring for Sacramento was Barnes, who tallied 19 points in the game.
The Kings seem to have Dallas' number after two wins against them in a two-week period. And it's easy to chalk this game up to it being a "trap" game, but in the NBA every opportunity to win is important. Dallas just had too many mental lapses, and just too little talent on the floor.
"We’ve been on a high. We’ve been winning," Burke said after the loss. “That’s a team that plays very hard and with a lot of energy. And this year, we’ve had trouble with teams like that, particularly at the beginning of games. Tonight, the first quarter, we got off to a very slow start and shot ourselves in the foot pretty much for the whole game.”
The good news is, Dallas can quickly place this loss behind them. The bad news is, they have to play Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night to do so.
Feature image via Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports.
