{"id":638405,"date":"2026-03-04T07:55:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T07:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/638405\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T07:55:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T07:55:26","slug":"player-grades-recapping-the-mavericks-vs-the-hornets-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/638405\/","title":{"rendered":"Player Grades \u2013 Recapping the Mavericks vs. the Hornets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, still without Cooper Flagg, started their longest road trip in 15 years, taking on the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>. The six-game trip got off on the wrong foot with a 117-90 loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get to the grades!<\/p>\n

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Brandon Williams: B+18 PTS \/ 4 REB \/ 1 AST \/ 0 STL \/ 1 BLK \u2013 27 MIN<\/p>\n

Williams was aggressive on both sides of the ball, setting an early tone driving and staying connected defensively. He notched his eighth-straight game in double-figure scoring on 4-for-10 shooting and was the Mavs\u2019 leading scorer throughout nearly the entire night. He led the parade to the free throw line for Dallas and was excellent when he got there, converting at a 10-for-11 clip.<\/p>\n

Max Christie: C-11 PTS \/ 5 REB \/ 1 AST \/ 1 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 33 MIN<\/p>\n

Christie couldn\u2019t find the range but took a bit too long to pivot away from the longball in favor of driving more frequently. When he did the latter, better things happened. If you\u2019re going to lead the team in shot attempts (15), converting more than 28% is a requirement.<\/p>\n

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Khris Middleton: B9 PTS \/ 9 REB \/ 3 AST \/ 0 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 29 MIN<\/p>\n

Middleton was a mixed bag, having chipped in solid point and rebound totals, but he turned the ball over often (three) and committed four fouls. Not his best night as a Mav, although a somewhat janky substitution pattern may have contributed to him not finding his flow.<\/p>\n

P.J. Washington: B13 PTS \/ 2 REB \/ 3 AST \/ 0 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 28 MIN<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s output was very similar to Middleton\u2019s, though he had fewer fouls and turnovers. The grade lands the same, however, as Washington was a near non-factor on the boards and had some bone-head plays that suggest he\u2019s working his way back, which is exactly what he\u2019s doing after a three-game absence.<\/p>\n

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Daniel Gafford: B10 PTS \/ 5 REB \/ 2 AST \/ 2 STL \/ 1 BLK \u2013 22 MIN<\/p>\n

If taking shots to the head were a measure of success, Gafford would be MVP. He was the unfortunate recipient of a few blows that sent him to the floor, but nothing that kept him down for long. He had a much better game on Tuesday night than he has in recent days, though it\u2019s not hard to imagine an even more efficient shooting night and\/or a higher rebounding total.<\/p>\n

John Poulakidas: N\/A0 PTS \/ 5 REB \/ 2 AST \/ 0 STL \/ 0 BLK \u2013 14 MIN<\/p>\n

Making his Mavs\u2019 debut, Poulakidas did a nice job. For a two-way player with virtually zero reps, pulling in five rebounds and dishing two dimes isn\u2019t too shabby. Of course, we wanted to see the shooter shoot, but he instead deferred to his teammates so we\u2019ll have to wait until at least next game to see what he can do in that department.<\/p>\n

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Dwight Powell: B12 PTS \/ 4 REB \/ 3 AST \/ 1 STL \/ 1 BLK \u2013 26 MIN<\/p>\n

Powell was an efficient 3-for-5 from the floor to go along with 6-for-8 from the free throw line, doing little bits of everything. Unfortunately everything included two turnovers and three fouls along with nearly killing Ryan Nembhard in an all too familiar friendly fire collision.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/p>\n

Dallas reversed things this game, keeping close early and coming unglued at the end. To be plus-18 points from the free throw line, yet getting destroyed by a 27-point margin is puzzling (it was the three-point shooting that did it, if you\u2019re curious). We\u2019ll see what the rest of the road trip will bring!<\/p>\n

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH<\/a> on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball<\/a> for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks, still without Cooper Flagg, started their longest road trip in 15 years, taking on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[20309,7,10823,684,473,3878,225,149,2619,5991,3461,568,685,2039,7139,6,15470,59567,9856,682],"class_list":["post-638405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-charlotte-hornets","tag-ast","tag-basketball","tag-brandon-williams","tag-charlotte","tag-charlotte-hornets","tag-charlottehornets","tag-cooper-flagg","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-daniel-gafford","tag-dwight-powell","tag-free-throw-line","tag-getty-images","tag-hornets","tag-khris-middleton","tag-max-christie","tag-nba","tag-pts","tag-reb","tag-ryan-nembhard","tag-washington"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116169836354783550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}