It’s an unflattering commentary on any NBA team’s season to deem November games must-win, but that is the Mavericks’ reality.
Fortuitously for Dallas, it rallied from a woeful first half behind rookie Cooper Flagg and pulled out a 118-115 victory over 2-14 New Orleans on Friday night in American Airlines Center.
Nonetheless, Saturday’s quick-turn home game against Memphis also looms as important. Why? Because the cushy home-heavy schedule Dallas has failed to exploit is about to get road-onerous.
Flagg led the Mavericks with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, but it was ex-Pelican Naji Marshall’s 3-pointer with 30.7 second left that gave Dallas a 116-115 lead.
Mavericks
After P.J. Washington Jr. (24 points, 9 rebounds) blocked a 3-pointer by Pels rookie Jeremiah Fears, Max Christie sank two free-throws with 10.8 seconds left, his 22nd and 23rd points. The Mavericks forced New Orleans into a pair of 3-point misses to hold on for just their fourth clutch win in 13 attempts.
The Mavericks trailed by as much as 53-38 Friday night, but roared back with a 26-11 run to the third quarter, taking their first lead since the opening minutes, 75-74, on a Cooper Flagg dunk.
The score was tied at 85 entering the fourth quarter and the lead pingponged down the stretch.
With New Orleans leading 107-105 and Flagg at the free-throw line, Fears goaded Marshall into an ill-advised technical foul, which the Pelicans turned into a 3-point margin.
But the Mavericks persevered and any win is welcome at this point. Entering Friday, Dallas was 3-8 in AAC, where it had lost five of its last six.
Entering Friday night, the Mavericks had been outscored at home by an average of 117.8 to 112.9, but at least they could tell themselves that many of this season’s losses were winnable.
They entered the night 3-9 in clutch games, which the NBA defines as games in which the margin is five points or fewer during the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
“We’re getting better and better each game,” Christie said. “The encouraging part is we’ve lost our lost games by one or two possessions, for the most part. Obviously, not winning is never fun, but we’re right there.”
It hasn’t helped that the Mavericks haven’t gained meaningful traction in American Airlines Center. After Saturday’s game against Memphis, 13 of Dallas’ 17 games will have occurred in AAC.
The Mavericks likely will rue their home failures when the schedule dramatically flips starting Monday night, with a game at Miami to start a four-game road trip.
That trip also begins road stretches of 7 of the next 10 games, and 10 of the next 14.
Perhaps even more formidable is the step up in competition, upcoming opponents that include the 11-4 Lakers, 11-3 Denver (twice), 15-1 Oklahoma City and 13-2 Detroit.
Dallas’ next 11 games are against opponents that entered Friday night with a combined 93-55 record (62.8%).
Sloppiness also continues to be an issue for Dallas, which entered Friday night averaging 17.6 turnovers at home. On Friday they surpassed that total with four minutes left, with a one-point margin at the time.
“Turnovers, obviously, not even at the end of the game, but just throughout the game,” Christie said. “We’ve got to be able to value those possessions a little bit more.”