The Dallas Mavericks have lost their third game in a row and now even have to worry about a place in the Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference. After a weak start, the Charlotte Hornets lost 109:117 at home despite a late recovery.
Dallas Mavericks (36-38) – Charlotte Hornets (24-51) 109:117 (BOXSCORE)
There could hardly have been a better starting position against the weakened Hornets: Luka Doncic (34 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) and Kyrie Irving (18, 9 and 7) were only in action for the tenth time this season – and they Guests, coming off a loss to the Pelicans the day before, were without their top three scorers (Terry Rozier, Kelly Oubre Jr. and LaMelo Ball).
None of that helped: In the end, the Mavs suffered their seventh home loss in the last ten games – and the record with Doncic and Irving is also just 3-7. With a record of 36-38, they are eleventh in the extremely tight playoff race in the West, which would not even be enough for participation in the play-in tournament.
Before the eyes of owner Mark Cuban, who wears a t-shirt with the imprint “Question Authority” wore – obviously a nod to the planned protest against the narrow defeat against Golden State – the Mavs couldn’t blame the refs for this failure – they just played too bad for that. The first nine threes all went wrong, and the defense under their own basket was extremely porous and allowed Charlotte to repeatedly score high percentage shots, often even with a bonus free throw. After the first quarter, the Mavs were 26:37 behind.
“The first half was terrible,” summed up head coach Jason Kidd, who even spoke of “dog shit” in this context: “They should have booed us in the first quarter.” Irving, on the other hand, was not bothered by the boos: “So what? Of course you always want to play well, but there can only be five people on the court for the Dallas Mavericks. If the fans want to swap places with us, then go for it – don’t do one Compulsory. But it takes years of work to get to that level.”
In the second and third quarters, the Mavs came back to seven points after an intermittent increase in performance, but both times the visitors pulled away almost effortlessly because they dominated under the basket and in transition. When Charlotte turned a 73:66 into an 85:67 in three and a half minutes and Kidd called the time-out, boos could be heard from the stands in the American Airlines Center – and after the timeout Doncic immediately caused the next turnover.
Luka Doncic starts catching up – but an ex-maverick hits the dagger
Because the Slovenian started a personal 10-0 run a little later – eight points plus an assist to Christian Wood – suddenly something was possible again: When the score was 90:79, Hornets coach Steve Clifford took the time-out. Mavs rookie Jaden Hardy added two threes, after three quarters the Mavs were only eight points behind. Suddenly there was life in the booth. The Mavs then showed a lot more defensive effort, led by Irving, they came within a point (96:97).
But again the Hornets stayed cool and put in a 10-0 run for their part because the three-pointer didn’t want to fall at Dallas (9/36 3FG overall). 37 seconds before the end, the hosts reduced it again to -5 (109:114) and were even successful with a coaches challenge when Doncic cleared the opposing center Nick Richards at ringside. Ex-Maverick Dennis Smith Jr., of all people, hit the dagger seconds later with a wild threesome from far out.
“It felt great,” said the point guard, who was drafted by Dallas in 2017. “After the ball went in, I looked straight over to the bench and said: There you have it!”
On Sunday there is direct revenge, this time in Charlotte. Overall, that’s what it means Remaining program also quite good with the Mavs. With further such performances, it will almost certainly not happen with the postseason.
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