After six wins in a row, the Dallas Mavericks bit their teeth at the New York Knicks and lost 85: 108. Luka Doncic had a bad day, but the opposite was true for RJ Barrett.
New York Knicks (21-21) – Dallas Mavericks (22-19) 85:108 (BOXSCORE)
Only 8 of his 23 field throws found their target, hardly anything fell from downtown (1/9). It was enough for Doncic to double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but he also managed 5 turnovers with 5 assists.
Notable support on the offensive only came from the backcourt, the lack of firepower in the frontcourt was not the Mavericks’ undoing for the first time. Jalen Brunson contributed 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Tim Hardaway Jr. played 13 points (1/7 3P) from the bench.
In the Knicks, however, every starter achieved double digits, especially RJ Barrett with 32 points at 13/22 from the field. The Knicks seemed to be having a lot of fun on the field, which Mitchell Robinson (19, 9/10 FG, 10 rebounds) saw as a recipe for success for the rest of the season after the game: “We have to have a good time together.”
The Knicks (12/27 3P, 44.4 percent) scored more than twice as well from downtown as the Mavericks (8/37, 21.6 percent) and were also ahead in the zone (50:38). With 17 points (6/17 FG), 12 rebounds and 8 assists (5 turnovers), Julius Randle wasn’t too short of a triple-double.
Maxi Kleber played almost 37 minutes in the absence of Kristaps Porzingis and Willie Cauley-Stein and got 9 points (3/8 3P), his highlight of the game was an explosive block against Nerlens Noel, who later took revenge on Jalen Brunson.
Mavericks freezing from downtown
It took almost eight minutes for a Maverick with a surname other than Doncic or Brunson to score for the first time in the game, with two free throws Finney-Smith shortened to 12:17. In addition, Dallas did not convert a field throw in the last two and a half minutes of the first section, which was lost by the guests at 21:30.
After only two triples in the first quarter, Dallas found no success from Downtown in the second section, only one more hit was added by the break – in a total of 16 attempts. New York played out the more open throws and also scored better (8/17 3P at break), so Dallas was still quite well served with -11 at break.
The Mavs came out of the catacombs well with six quick points, but their next field goal came back when they were -20. With Doncic on the bench, they couldn’t shorten the difference much in the third quarter either and went into the last 12 minutes with 66:84.
At the latest after two turnovers by Doncic in a row, the game seemed to be over 10 minutes before the end, Luka just didn’t manage enough for a comeback in the second round (3/12 FG).
Dallas couldn’t get any closer than -14, the Knicks fans had a lot to cheer for in the garbage time. This included several showdunks but also a threesome from fan favorite Frank Ntilikina – who plays for Dallas.
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