The Dallas Mavericks led by 17 points in the third quarter and looked poised to beat the Eastern Conference-leading Brooklyn Nets at home, instead, their offense collapsed in the final quarter, and the Nets rallied for a 102-99 win.
Both Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis were in the lineup after being on the injury report for the last few days. Porzingis looked healthy and finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Doncic finished with 28 points, six rebounds, and nine assists but did not appear to be 100% healthy.
Early in the game, Doncic noticeably winced after coming down from a shot attempt, catching the attention of the TV commentators. His injuries also appeared to affect his conditioning. As commentator Reggie Miller pointed out, he had never seen Doncic moving so slow.
“Look how he’s plodding up and down [the court]. He’s not really running.” Miller said on the TV broadcast.
Doncic first suffered a knee and ankle sprain in a November 15 win over the Denver Nuggets and missed the next three games. He returned for five games and appeared healthy before he missed Saturday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Coach Jason Kidd said “lingering soreness” from the original injuries was what kept him out. He was listed as questionable on the injury report before playing against Brooklyn.
Dallas was doomed by inefficient shooting once again. The Mavericks made only 9-of-46 (19.6%) three-point attempts on the night. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Reggie Bullock are known for their long-range shooting ability, but both failed to make any of their three-point attempts.
Hardaway finished with 11 points and went 0-of-7 from the three-point range. Bullock finished with six points and went 0-of-6 from three.
After making a franchise-record 68.7% of their shot attempts in a blowout over the New Orleans Pelicans last week, the Mavericks have made just 38% of their shot attempts in the following three games, all losses.
“Missed shots have been our narrative for a while now,” said Jalen Brunson, who had 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. “But we’re getting the looks. We’re working on it. We’ve just to translate it to the game.”
The bad shooting did not affect Dallas to start the game. The Mavericks were in control from the beginning, and going into halftime, they held a 12-point lead and had made 50% of their shot attempts.
Dallas also played well on the defensive end, forcing the Nets to turn the ball over eight times in the first half while only turning it over once themselves.
Brooklyn took much better care of the ball in the second half, turning the ball over four times, while the Mavericks had three second-half turnovers. Dallas still maintained control of the game, never letting the Nets get too close on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Going into the fourth quarter, Dallas held an 11-point lead.
The fourth quarter was when the offense completely collapsed. The Mavericks were outscored 27-13 in the final quarter. Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant nearly outscored the entire Dallas team in the quarter, scoring 11 of his 24 total points in the final frame.
The Nets never led in the game until about six minutes left when two James Harden free throws made the score 91-90 for Brooklyn. Harden finished with 23 points and 12 assists.
The Mavericks’ shooting was off the entire quarter. Their last basket of the game came on a short jump shot from Doncic with 3:51 left on the clock that put Dallas up 97-95. The Nets answered with a three-pointer from Patty Mills and a layup by Harden that put them ahead 100-97.
Porzingis added two free throws with a little over a minute to go in the game that brought Dallas within one point, but Durant answered with a clutch mid-range jump shot to make the score 102-99.
The Mavericks still had time to tie the game with a three-point shot, but both Doncic and then Hardaway Jr. missed three-point attempts in the waning seconds of the game to give Brooklyn the win. The Nets record improved to 17-7 on the season.
“We had a lot of open looks there in the fourth quarter that just didn’t go down,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said postgame. “And then Timmy [Hardaway Jr.] has a wide-open look. You couldn’t ask for a better look to tie up the game.”
Dallas now holds a losing record at 11-12 for the first time this season since losing in the opener to the Atlanta Hawks. They have lost eight of their last 11 games and five straight home games.
The Mavericks will get a chance immediately to get back to .500 as they play the second of back-to-back games in Memphis against the Grizzlies on December 8.
