Dallas couldn’t finish the job in the clutch yet again
The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Miami Heat Sunday evening by a score of 123-118. Kyrie Irving led the way for Dallas with 27 points, while Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 33 of his own for Miami. In what has become a frustrating pattern this season, Dallas played well but could not close the game out down the stretch. Their record drops to 9-8 on the season.
Dallas came out of the gates on fire, scoring on six of their first seven possessions. An easy Quentin Grimes layup gave the Mavericks a 13-8 lead, prompting a timeout from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. It took a few minutes, but Miami found its footing, and some uninspired defense from Dallas let the Heat keep the game close. Things fell apart for the Mavericks to end the first, as the offense completely dried up. Miami finished the quarter on a 16-5 run to take a 33-28 lead into the second period.
Buckets remained difficult to come by for Dallas to begin the second period; their scoring drought reached nearly six minutes of game action before a Daniel Gafford putback stopped the bleeding. Miami opened up a brief double-digit lead, but three and-ones from the combination of Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington helped the Mavericks steady themselves and tied the game at 39. The game turned into a sludge fest after that, with both teams engaging in some bozo basketball for the remainder of the frame. The Maverick offense got stuck in the mud again, allowing Miami to take a 56-51 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Mavericks quickly tied the game early in the third quarter, with Klay Thompson scoring seven big points. The two teams traded baskets for a while after that, and Dallas couldn’t quite seem to get over the hump any time they had a chance to take the lead. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, Miami caught fire from three midway through the period and built their advantage to as many as 10. It looked like the Heat might pull away, but Naji Marshall scored 10 straight points for Dallas, and the Mavericks made a mini-run to end the quarter, bringing themselves to within five at 89-84 after three.
Spencer Dinwiddie opened the fourth quarter with a personal 5-0 run, tying the game. Dallas got down a few points and re-tied the game numerous times throughout the quarter but could not take the lead until a massive Kyrie Irving stare-down three finally put them in front with 4:34 remaining. Dallas struggled to score for the next two minutes, but Miami couldn’t re-take the lead and a massive Irving and-one gave them a four-point lead with 2:30 left. But Miami answered back, and a tough layup from Jimmy Butler restored their lead at 112-11 with one minute left. Irving gave Dallas the lead back with a sweet pull-up jumper and then made a great hustle play to steal the ball and give Dallas an extra possession up one with 14 seconds left. Irving got fouled but split the free throws; unfortunately, Jimmy Butler tied the game with a dunk with 4.3 seconds left. A desperation three from Dinwiddie rimmed out and the game went to overtime.
Overtime was a disaster for Dallas, as they scored just four points in the period. Jimmy Butler took over for Miami while the Mavericks decided to run the offense through Spencer Dinwiddie, who was not up to the task. The Mavericks lost, 123-118. Here are three observations from this one.
Too much Spencer Dinwiddie
Okay, look, I get what Jason Kidd was thinking. He wanted another ball handler and playmaker next to Kyrie down the stretch of the game. Dinwiddie hadn’t shot the ball well, but he was competing on defense and gave Dallas some extra creation juice on offense. He even made a clutch defensive play down the stretch that should have helped Dallas win the game. But Kidd, as he so often does with his preferred veterans, gave Dinwiddie much too long of a leash. Dinwiddie played the entire overtime period, took four shots, missed them all, and committed a back-breaking turnover that led to points for Miami. One of the shots he bricked was an early clock, step-back three with 53 seconds remaining and the Mavs down just four. And on defense, he wasn’t doing anything special, as Miami got whatever they wanted in OT. It was a baffling decision from Kidd, from both a process and results perspective. Dinwiddie was 1-of-12 from the field for the game, and there was just no reason to reward a bench player with so much late run when he’s shooting like that.
Kyrie Irving can’t be a one-quarter player
Irving was brilliant in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points and hitting multiple clutch shots that should have been game-sealers. But he did miss a crucial free throw that directly led to overtime. And before the fourth, Irving was not making his presence felt. Maybe the game isn’t a do-or-die situation if Irving is more aggressive in the first three quarters. And all the energy Irving expended in the fourth made him completely ineffective in overtime. With Luka Doncic out, Irving needs to play like a number-one option to beat good teams, and he did not do that tonight.
Naji Marshall continues to impress
Marshall scored just one point in the first half, and it looked like he was on his way to one of his worst games of the season. But he turned it around in a big way in the second half, pouring in 19 points and spearheading the Maverick comeback. Marshall has been a revelation for Dallas, and his production off the bench has been massive. He was the only reserve player that had juice tonight, and it was disappointing no one else off the bench helped him out.
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