NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from Dallas Mavericks vs Brooklyn Nets
When the Mavericks came visiting for a matchup in Brooklyn, the Nets had just dropped three in a row to the Heat, Hornets, and Wizards. However, for this one at home, the hosts put up a solid performance from tipoff to the final buzzer and handed the Mavericks a disheartening 127-88 blowout loss.
"This was definitely a game for us to build off of," guard D'Angelo Russell said. "Coming into this one, we knew we had to get it. We know we've got a tough stretch coming up so we need all the confidence we can get."
To put things into perspective, the 39-point victory is the Nets biggest margin of any victory at home since they moved to Brooklyn back in 2012. They improved to 33-33 (0.500) on the season with this win, still at the 7th spot on the East leaderboard and 16 games behind the Conference leaders in Bucks.
On the other hand, the Mavericks fell further below to a 27-36 (0.429) win-loss record, now down at the third-worst spot out West. They have now lost seven of their last ten games.
Let's take a look at some prominent talking points from this one-sided Mavericks-Nets encounter.
#1 Brooklyn man-handle the Mavericks as Doncic underwhelms
Dallas trailed in every quarter of the game, heading into the second half with an 18-point advantage. This was also the Nets' biggest halftime lead of the season, which they furthermore extended to 26 after the third period, another season-high.
"It was ugly from start to finish," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "When you lose every quarter in an NBA game, you certainly haven't done what you needed to do, so very disappointing night."
The Mavericks were limited to a miserable 35.6% shooting for the game as Doncic went 6-of-16 from the field, able to chip in just 16 points. Moreover, he missed three of his four FTs, putting up an under-20-point score for the first time in five games.
D'Angelo Russell finished with a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds and added a couple of steals on the defensive end. Nets starter Rodion Kurucs had a downtown party to himself as he finished with 19 points.