The Dallas Mavericks lost at the American Airlines Center for the first time in four home games this season. Their comeback rally came up short against the Miami Heat, losing 125-110.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks in points by scoring a season-high 33 points but was limited to only three rebounds and five assists. Jalen Brunson also effectively scored for the Mavericks, finishing with 25 points and making 10 of 13 shot attempts.
The Mavericks got off to a great start, which has been rare so far this season and took an early 20-9 lead. Dallas propelled themselves to this lead by hitting four of their first six three-point attempts.
However, the Mavericks could not maintain that hot-shooting streak, allowing Miami to chip away at the lead. By the end of the first quarter, Dallas held only a 30-24 lead.
The second quarter is where the game got away from Dallas. Miami outscored the Mavs 46-32 to take a 70-62 lead they would never relinquish into halftime.
The Dallas defense seemed to have no answer for the Heat, who almost seemingly were scoring at will. “It was tough, but our defense wasn’t the best today,” said Luka Doncic after the game, “We’ve got to work on that.” Miami’s Tyler Herro scored 15 of his 25 total points on the night in the second quarter alone.
The Mavericks played hard but simply could not match the talent level of the Heat, who had four players finish with 22 or more points.
Along with the 25 from Herro, Miami’s Jimmy Butler added 23 points, Kyle Lowry had 22, and Bam Adebayo also scored 22 while grabbing 13 rebounds. Not only was the talent disparity noticeable amongst the starting lineups, but the Heat bench also outscored the Mavericks bench 46-21 in this game.
Due to injuries for the Mavericks, the talent gap was even more noticeable. Key players Kristaps Porzingis and Maxi Kleber were forced to miss the game, but even with those healthy players, it still would not have been an even talent matchup on paper.
“I would consider them the best team in the league right now,” Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd said of the Heat following the game, “You look at their defense. I compare it to the Chicago Bears’ ’95 defense. They’re playing at a very, very high level.” This win was Miami’s fifth straight, and they are now tied for the best record in the NBA at an impressive 6-1.
Dallas does deserve some credit for their effort as they went on a scoring run with Miami leading 97-81 with 2:12 to play in the third quarter. The Mavericks fought hard and clawed back to be only trailing 101-95 with ten minutes left in the fourth, but Miami held them off down the stretch to secure the victory.
This loss brings the Maverick’s record to 4-3 on the season. Dallas played their fifth game in seven days on Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
