DALLAS – Because the Dallas Mavericks’ offense surprisingly disappeared in the second half Monday night at American Airlines Center, so too did their chances of beating the Los Angeles Lakers.
After lighting up the scoreboard for 67 points in the first half, the Mavs apparently took their foot off the gas while tallying just 30 points in the second half, en route to suffering a very disappointing 107-97 loss to the Lakers. Very disappointing because the Lakers were playing without superstar LeBron James, who didn’t even make the trip to Texas due to a groin injury.
But no James, no problem for the Lakers as they outscored the Mavs 32-13 in the third quarter and 21-17 in the fourth. In the end, it was the 11th loss in the past 14 games for the Mavs, who dropped to 18-22 on the season.
It was one of the worst halves of basketball of the season for the Mavs, who recorded a mere two of their season-low 12 assists after intermission.
“We didn’t show up in the second half, plain and simple,” guard J. J. Barea said. “It was embarrassing for the fans — the second half was awful.
“We’re not playing hard enough, especially here at home. We can’t come out like that in the second half and have that showing here.”
Things were so bad for the Mavericks in the second half that they scored more points in the first (33) and second (34) quarters than they did in the entire second half. To be frank, rookie Luka Doncic tallied 15 points – half of the Mavs’ total – in the second half, and was the lone player generating any offense after intermission.
“They picked it up and we struggled,” coach Rick Carlisle said, describing his team’s second-half woes. “Give them a lot of credit for picking up their intensity and picking up their defense.”
After making 25 of their 43 field goals in the first half, the Mavericks made just 11 of 43 shots in the second half. And after converting 6 of 11 shots from 3-point range in the opening half, the Mavs made just 2 of 19 baskets from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half.
The miserable shooting performance in the second half left the Mavs totally dazed.
“We missed some shots,” Carlisle said. “They weren’t bad shots, but we were unable to get some traction defensively ourselves, and then all of a sudden it’s a 32-point quarter for them and a 13 (point) quarter for us.
“That was where things went sideways for us.”
Doncic, who scored a game-high 27 points and also had eight rebounds, took describing the loss a step farther.
“We did bad,” he said. “Our defense wasn’t as great as the first half.
“I think they played way better defensively in the second half. We didn’t move the ball as well as we did in the first half.”
With Harrison Barnes scoring eight points, the Mavs led 33-25 after the first quarter. That lead swelled to 62-47 late in the second quarter before the Mavericks settled on a 67-54 lead at intermission.
But the Lakers immediately took control in the third quarter and never looked back as the Mavs’ home record fell to 15-4.
“There’s nothing that guarantees you anything when you walk out on your home court, and certainly nothing guarantees you anything just because you have a 13-point halftime lead,” Carlisle said. “You’ve got to play the whole 48 minutes.
“I thought the second half as a whole was just ugly. It’s on all of us. We all own it. Everyone with a uniform to me to all the coaches. We own it. And so we’ve got to get back to work tomorrow.”
