The Mavericks dropped a technique for having only four players on the track. In case anyone wants to know, at a glance, what kind of night it was for them. They ended up losing 90-105, but they were 41-60 at the break… and thank you. An anemic, painful display had left them 35-58 a little earlier, in a second quarter in which they took a 0-17 run (from 30-34 to 30-51), without energy and without resources, overcome by the rival’s pincer on Luka Doncic and sold in the mirror of talent: whathow many Mavs players, beyond Doncic, would be in the top seven or eight of this head-to-head matchup? The answer, surely, will not be liked in Dallas, where the Cavaliers were much better and where things are not going well: 14-14 after 28 games. neither cold nor heatwhich implies a lot of cold if you come from playing the final of the West in the previous playoffs. Three losses in the last four games. If we open the camera shot, eight in the last thirteen. Nothing that happens seems random. Parallel to that painful first part of the team, by the way, Jalen Brunson, with the Knicks, danced in overtime against the Bulls. Things.
In that total loss of the first half, Luka Doncic stayed at 11 points and Donovan Mitchell scored 25. Mitchell, let’s remember, played many sections disconnected, unfocused, in the first round series that the Jazz lost to the Mavs despite the loss of Doncic at the start of the tie. A crossroads that sent some to the West final and others to rebuild: Rudy Gobert went to the Timberwolves, Mitchell to the Cavs where he has found himself again. The Ohio team is 18-11 and remains third in the East, although the Nets and Sixers are pressing. The first of mortals beyond the Kingdom of heavens (Celtics, Bucks).
But, and this is a bad sign for the Mavs, the Cavs are not in a good place. There are rotation players (Kevin Love, Cedi Osman…) in low hours, the team has been stuck, and denied in tied finals, and He came to Dallas with eight losses in his last nine away games. The last one, in San Antonio. Now comes a stretch of six at home, including Saturday’s visit from these same Mavs who previously played the Trail Blazers. That is, they have two bones in back to back to end the week. It is a team, we know that, capable of picking up when things get ugly and falling again when it seems that it is finishing up. The result, between comings and goings, is 50% victories in mid-December. cotton does not deceive. And a ninth place in the West, two from the fourth (the home field factor in the first round) that are occupied, precisely, by those Blazers who arrive to visit tomorrow, with Damian Lillard in a splendid moment. The party, therefore, is going to have its that.
After the stake of the first half, the Cavs controlled the pace without too many problems. Was a couple of arreones from the Mavericks, which did not consummate a viable comeback option and they only scored eight points in the last seven minutes, apparently broken. The Cavs put Doncic under maximum pressure: Lamar Stevens (or Isaac Okoro) on him and the partition from Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen if the Slovenian broke that barrier and tried to score in the zone: hence those 11 points at halftime with a 2/8 near the basket and only three free throws taken. He finished with 30 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 9/23 shooting, 5 turnovers and, Good news, a 10/11 in free throws. An issue that we already know is thorny in Dallas.
Jason Kidd saw it so badly that he sat down Dorian Finney-Smith (rarely) and Dwight Powell at halftime. He brought in Reggie Bullock to chase Mitchell (25 points in the first half, 34 at the end) and Christian Wood to find solutions in attack. The center finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4/7 in triples thanks to some plays from pick and pop in which he took advantage of his outside versatility against Allen. The Mavs did little more in attack in which Doncic was outclassed this time and Tim Hardaway Jr has gone, as are his streaks, from hitting 30 triples in five games to signing an 11/35 in the last four (three losses). Only 16 baskets from two, bad rebounding (33-43), bad distribution (17-26 in assists)… Bad in general against a team that arrived with doubts and without an optimal version of Darius Garland (12 points, 6 assists this time). But Mitchell, against the ghost of the last playoffswas enough for the Cavs to have something like a decent attack against some dull, lazy Mavericks, without fangs, fair in talent and sold in the defense of their zone, where Kleber’s loss was noted. Right now, It is what it is: wins, losses, good and bad streaks… and in the lot of 50% of victories. We will see the thing as follows.
