As for their lottery chances, they remain in fifth place in Tankathon<\/a> rankings, one and a half games out of fourth. Of the 14 teams in the lottery, the Nets four-game losing streak is the longest.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve often described the Dallas Mavericks as \u201clost\u201d this season, even with more wins to their name than our boys from the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush. Whether that\u2019s due to front office turnover, the mindless trade that warranted said description, or the classic excuse, injuries, there\u2019s no arguing these silver stallions have galloped off-course in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n
Still, they were able to find their way to win tonight in the lone star state. Neither Egor D\u00ebmin nor Cam Thomas nor Zaire Willaism suited up in this latter half of a back-to-back for the Nets. Brooklyn could\u2019ve used them, or perhaps just a re-do button.<\/p>\n
Dallas seized an early lead by leveraging Brooklyn\u2019s switch-heavy defense, often throwing screens until Porter Jr., who\u2019s far a less troublesome matchup at the defense end, faced the ball. Then, they attacked accordingly.<\/p>\n
Beside him, Drake Powell made his first career start with D\u00ebmin resting to manage his left plantar fascia injury. His early minutes looked to be short lived after he picked up two fouls in the game\u2019s first three minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot different from college,\u201d Powell admitted postgame. \u201cYou got to show your hands a lot, and that\u2019s something that I\u2019ll continue to grow at, to be a good defender in this league. I think, just like with the more film that I watch, more games that I play, it\u2019ll just build over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez opted to leave the 20-year-old in, and while he put together a few minutes of honest ball, his teammates couldn\u2019t do the same. Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton also got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, picking up their second personals in the sixth and seventh minutes of the first period as well.<\/p>\n
Those whistles put Dallas in bonus prior to the period\u2019s halfway mark, and encouraged them to attack the Nets with even more aggression than they already were. Brooklyn shooting 1-10 from three in the period didn\u2019t help either, but it didn\u2019t take the Mavs long to establish a sizable lead after that, leading Brooklyn into the second by a 32-23 score.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t start the game very well,\u201d an earnest Fern\u00e1ndez said postgame. \u201cWe allowed them to drive, and we fouled. We were like half step slow, and there\u2019s no excuses here. That\u2019s the NBA, and as you know, the schedule is going to keep being tough. So, not complaining about the fouls at all. We did foul. We put ourselves in a tough situation in the penalty, and that\u2019s not the way you want to start the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Be that as it may, the period wasn\u2019t without it\u2019s defensive highlights\u2026<\/p>\n
Brooklyn also struggled early on the glass, that is, until Day\u2019Ron Sharpe came at it with a Texas-sized appetite. For a second straight game, Sharpe looked like the best one out there in black and white. He corralled seven rebounds in the first quarter against Dallas, tied for the most he\u2019s had in any quarter in his career. He notched a double double before the eight minute mark of the second after just 10 minutes and 27 seconds of burn. That\u2019s the fastest double-double in the league this year and the fastest by a Net since Andre Drummond did it in 10:14 in April of 2022. Sharpe\u2019s agent joined in on the applause for him mid-game too\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was physical. He set good screens. It\u2019s not just the points and rebounds. He did a lot of things for his teammates,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez added. \u201cHe ran from the front of the rim to the front of the rim, set really good screens, rolled, all those things that are very meaningful for what we\u2019re trying to do. And I\u2019m happy for him. I hope we would have won the game because, you know, it means a little more, but happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
But despite Sharpe\u2019s prompt efforts, the Nets remained behind. Their 1-of-9 start from three boiled into 1-of-16 after an 0-of-7 start to the second. Even when a few started to go down, they didn\u2019t always count\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to keep shooting them, and sometimes you\u2019re not going to make them,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cThe reality is, I usually tell the guys 14 turnovers are mine, and the rest, we\u2019ve got to be better, so most likely, we should have shot three more at least\u2026If the shots are necessarily going in or not, I don\u2019t really care. You got to take good shots and you\u2019ve got to shoot them with conviction. We\u2019ve got to create them with conviction. And then when you\u2019re in position, go and attack the glass, because we have guys like Day\u2019Day, Mike, Nic, and Noah, they can go fight for seconds, and that\u2019s a mentality we need to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dallas, who averages roughly 10 made triples a game, meanwhile shot 8-of-14 from deep through the 5:10 mark of the second. Cooper Flagg also started to get going in the second frame, adding past due insult to an injury we suffered last May. Through two, he led all scorers with 19 points after shooting 7-10 from the field, grabbing a steal and a block in the process too.<\/p>\n
Even with Nolan Traor\u00e9 helping the Nets get one back, they trailed at the break by 56-45 score with putrid 34\/18 splits\u2026<\/p>\n
With their long range missile system disabled, the Nets had no choice but to start attacking the paint, which Claxton gladly led the charge in. He came out of the tunnel with some added aggression, scoring each of Brooklyn\u2019s first two baskets to match his entire first half scoring in less than two minutes.<\/p>\n
Drake Powell then commanded the second wave, going after Dallas\u2019 drop defense from the mid-range and at the cylinder. He put in quick six points in the same amount of minutes in the third. He\u2019d go on to finish with 10 points after shooting 5-of-10 from the field. He missed all four of his threes, though\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cJust wanted to stay aggressive on both ends of the floor,\u201d Powell said. \u201cThat\u2019s what Jordi told me to do leading up to the game. And yeah, just ultimately, trust myself and trust my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nets got it to three around the two minute mark of the third, but a few misses got the Mavs running in rhythm again, and back into a six to seven-point cushion.<\/p>\n
Consequentially, Brooklyn entered the fourth feeling like they were down more than they were. Reality, however, gave us a game.<\/p>\n
Not long into into the final period, Porter Jr. and Klay Thompson had themselves a high-noon shootout in our western setting. Dallas continued to move the ball well and find their man, especially with doubles consistently thrown at Flagg. Porter Jr. slowly but surely turned in a solid bounce back effort, eventually going for 28 points on 9-17 shooting for the game. The scoreboard lit up like saloon windows, and once the chaos stalled, the Nets were down just three with 6:05 to play.<\/p>\n
But where Thompson left off, Naji Marshall picked up. Now attacking the paint after the high doubles thrown at Flagg, he flushed floated after floater, giving the Mavs back a nine point with around two to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think it worked until it did in,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said of the doubles. \u201cIf it works, you give yourself a chance, at some point though, we\u2019re putting two to the ball, but we\u2019re not rotating fast enough, and once you do that, and the ball moves, you gotta move fast. You got to create indecision with your activity\u2026Obviously, you got to give him credit. He played very well, and that\u2019s what he does. He\u2019s a physical player, he\u2019s a driver. He drives left, the same as Cooper Flagg, and we knew it, and they did it all game. So, credit to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell hit a smooth fadeaway on the baseline to keep the pressure up next time down the floor. But Flagg, his old ACC opponent, out-did him one more time, nailing his second three of the game from the top of the key to put the game out of distance.<\/p>\n
In a season meant to focus on growth and development, the Nets got perhaps their least exciting, yet honest lesson of the year. Every now and then, you run into a game where neither your schemes nor effort matter. On some nights, shots don\u2019t fall, you\u2019re timing\u2019s not there, and your opponents give you no room to catch up. On some night, you just don\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n
Final: Dallas Mavericks 113, Brooklyn Nets 105<\/p>\n
Ziaire Williams also missed tonight\u2019s game with an illness. It\u2019s the second game he\u2019s been out with that designation this week. This time, however, he\u2019ll get an extra day to rest up with Brooklyn not playing again until Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Day\u2019Ron Sharpe\u2019s seven rebounds in the first quarter against Dallas are tied for the most in any quarter in his career. It is the 12th time he has done so and his second time in the first quarter of a game (Q1 at SAS, 2\/21\/22). His six offensive rebounds also tie his career high. It is the fourth time he has done so and first in the first half.This was the second career instance where Sharpe had a double-double in a single half (11 PTS and 10 REB on 11\/14\/23 vs. ORL, which was the last time a Net accomplished the feat in a first half).The last player in the NBA to reach a double-double in under 11 minutes before Sharpe did so tonight was Anthony Davis on 1\/27\/25, LAL at CHA<\/p>\n As for their lottery chances, they remain in fifth place in Tankathon<\/a> rankings, one and a half games out of fourth. Of the 14 teams in the lottery, the Nets four-game losing streak is the longest.<\/p>\n
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