Findog
03-31-2015, 01:54 PM
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20150329-sefko-loss-to-indiana-deepens-state-of-flux-mavs-are-in-pushes-dallas-closer-to-eighth-seed.ece
INDIANPOLIS — If you’re willing to use one game as an adequate sample size, you can make the argument that the Mavericks’ offense looked better without Monta Ellis than it looked with him.
The defense, however, can continue to be described in three words.
Not good enough.
The Mavericks did just enough wrong Sunday night to lose 104-99 to the Indiana Pacers, who are on the fringe of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. The loss extended the Mavericks’ road woes and diminished any fading chance of them rising higher than seventh in the Western Conference playoff seedings.
The cold, hard fact is that the Mavericks now are as close to eighth place in the West as they are to sixth. Wednesday’s visit to Oklahoma City, currently the No. 8 seed, could go a long way toward determining who ends up seventh and eighth.
The state of flux that the Mavericks are in right now runs deep.
They are finding it harder and harder to explain what’s going wrong as they realize every mistake can be the reason they are losing games at a rapid clip.
As Dirk Nowitzki said, it wasn’t a matter of playing hard. The Mavericks left everything they had on the court. But without Ellis, the Mavericks have an even smaller margin for error than they did before.
They had some defensive miscues down the stretch, including a slow rotation that allowed Skyline product C.J. Miles to hit his fifth 3-pointer that made it 102-97 with a minute to play, a deficit the Mavericks could not make up.
That came after George Hill made consecutive 3-pointers earlier in the fourth that put the Pacers up 95-89.
The Mavs are 1-7 on the road since the All-Star break.
“I thought we battled pretty good,” Nowitzki said. “We were without our leading scorer, and we still battled. Those two 3s by Hill back to back hurt us. We had some turnovers, but I thought we left it all out there and came up a little short.”
So it’s come to this: The Mavericks can play as hard as they can and if they don’t upgrade their execution and overall playmaking, they’re not good enough to beat a 32-41 Indiana team that’s currently on the outside looking in on the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
It’s not enough just to play hard. They have to play well, too.
Miles was a pain for the Mavericks all night. They could never find him on the 3-point arc and he finished with a game-high 28 points.
The Mavericks wasted good efforts by Chandler Parsons and Rajon Rondo, who are going to be leaned on more heavily on the offensive end with Ellis out with a right calf strain.
Parsons, filling the shooting guard spot for the first time, had 27 points and 10 rebounds while Rondo had 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
The Mavericks have lost four of their last five and two in a row to start this disjointed road trip that ends Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
“It’s a fine line,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Slim margins for error and a couple of untimely turnovers here or there can make a big difference. When the little things don’t go right, it’s difficult to win. I know we battled them hard, but they made some plays.”
And the Mavericks didn’t.
A key point came when the Mavericks were down 97-91, but Parsons got to the rim twice and Rondo scooped up a shot off the pick and roll to tie the score.
Roy Hibbert knocked in two free throws with 1:30 to play, and the Mavericks ran a good play for Charlie Villanueva for a 3-pointer from the corner. The wide-open look rimmed out, and Miles then connected on his triple.
“On the rotation, we just didn’t get to him quick enough and that was probably the game right there,” Nowitzki said.
That’s where the Mavericks find themselves now.
One mistake ends up being one too many.
INDIANPOLIS — If you’re willing to use one game as an adequate sample size, you can make the argument that the Mavericks’ offense looked better without Monta Ellis than it looked with him.
The defense, however, can continue to be described in three words.
Not good enough.
The Mavericks did just enough wrong Sunday night to lose 104-99 to the Indiana Pacers, who are on the fringe of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. The loss extended the Mavericks’ road woes and diminished any fading chance of them rising higher than seventh in the Western Conference playoff seedings.
The cold, hard fact is that the Mavericks now are as close to eighth place in the West as they are to sixth. Wednesday’s visit to Oklahoma City, currently the No. 8 seed, could go a long way toward determining who ends up seventh and eighth.
The state of flux that the Mavericks are in right now runs deep.
They are finding it harder and harder to explain what’s going wrong as they realize every mistake can be the reason they are losing games at a rapid clip.
As Dirk Nowitzki said, it wasn’t a matter of playing hard. The Mavericks left everything they had on the court. But without Ellis, the Mavericks have an even smaller margin for error than they did before.
They had some defensive miscues down the stretch, including a slow rotation that allowed Skyline product C.J. Miles to hit his fifth 3-pointer that made it 102-97 with a minute to play, a deficit the Mavericks could not make up.
That came after George Hill made consecutive 3-pointers earlier in the fourth that put the Pacers up 95-89.
The Mavs are 1-7 on the road since the All-Star break.
“I thought we battled pretty good,” Nowitzki said. “We were without our leading scorer, and we still battled. Those two 3s by Hill back to back hurt us. We had some turnovers, but I thought we left it all out there and came up a little short.”
So it’s come to this: The Mavericks can play as hard as they can and if they don’t upgrade their execution and overall playmaking, they’re not good enough to beat a 32-41 Indiana team that’s currently on the outside looking in on the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
It’s not enough just to play hard. They have to play well, too.
Miles was a pain for the Mavericks all night. They could never find him on the 3-point arc and he finished with a game-high 28 points.
The Mavericks wasted good efforts by Chandler Parsons and Rajon Rondo, who are going to be leaned on more heavily on the offensive end with Ellis out with a right calf strain.
Parsons, filling the shooting guard spot for the first time, had 27 points and 10 rebounds while Rondo had 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
The Mavericks have lost four of their last five and two in a row to start this disjointed road trip that ends Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
“It’s a fine line,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Slim margins for error and a couple of untimely turnovers here or there can make a big difference. When the little things don’t go right, it’s difficult to win. I know we battled them hard, but they made some plays.”
And the Mavericks didn’t.
A key point came when the Mavericks were down 97-91, but Parsons got to the rim twice and Rondo scooped up a shot off the pick and roll to tie the score.
Roy Hibbert knocked in two free throws with 1:30 to play, and the Mavericks ran a good play for Charlie Villanueva for a 3-pointer from the corner. The wide-open look rimmed out, and Miles then connected on his triple.
“On the rotation, we just didn’t get to him quick enough and that was probably the game right there,” Nowitzki said.
That’s where the Mavericks find themselves now.
One mistake ends up being one too many.