The Dallas Mavericks have conceded the third bankruptcy in a row, at 104: 116 against the Utah Jazz they had no chance. Accordingly, Luka Doncic was frustrated after the game. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is hoping for Maxi Kleber to return soon.
“I don’t know what to say.” Doncic was in the truest sense of the word speechless when he was asked about the current condition of the Mavs after the sixth defeat in eight games. “A lot is currently going wrong.”
As so often in the past games, Doncic was the best Mavs player with 30 points (13/24 FG) and 6 assists, but otherwise? Only Tim Hardaway Jr. (19) and Kristaps Porzingis (18) got double-digit points, the rest of the evening belonged to jazz.
Although they had to do without top scorer Donovan Mitchell, they still dominated the action from the start. The Mavs found no remedy against Rudy Gobert, who raged with 29 points and 20 rebounds in the zone, Jordan Clarkson scored a season high with 31 points from the bench and Joe Ingles scattered 7 threes and 21 points (also season high) now a tenth win in a row. This put Utah at the top of the Western Conference (14-4).
The home side were superior to Dallas, especially on the boards (50:36 rebounds), in half time alone Gobert (13) collected more rebounds than the entire Mavs team (12). From Mavs’ point of view, the break was 19 points behind, and there was no improvement in sight afterwards.
Mavs: A lack of team chemistry a reason for the misery?
“The first half was the killer,” analyzed coach Rick Carlisle. “We didn’t come out with enough energy and will. They were great and we didn’t play well.” The summary of the events was so simple, the error analysis was a little more difficult.
“We’re just not ourselves,” said Doncic. “We have to catch up and do a lot better than that.” Porzingis cited the lack of team chemistry as the reason for the current low. Most recently, three starters were out of action for a long time due to the corona protocol, “we are not clear about our roles”.
“We’re just out there and playing,” continued Porzingis. “We’re a talented group, but as long as we don’t have everyone back, play together and spend time together off the court, we won’t have that chemistry.”
After all, Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Richardson returned to the starting lineup against Utah, both of whom missed nine games due to corona infection. Dwight Powell was also back after missing eight games. All three were still far from their top form.
Richardson (6) and Finney-Smith (3) were each on the floor for 24 minutes, Powell (0 and 3 rebounds) was used for 13 minutes. “They gave us what they could give,” said Carlisle. “This is tough, but this is just the beginning for them on the way back.”
Dallas Mavericks hope Maxi Kleber will return
“It won’t be long before the three of them are back in the flow,” Hardaway Jr. said. The Mavs will also need that to end the series of bankruptcies. “We didn’t play much as a full team. That’s not an excuse, but at the same time it makes it very difficult. But hey, if it were easy everyone would do it,” said Hardaway Jr.
After all, Carlisle held out the prospect of Maxi Kleber’s return soon. The 28-year-old has already missed nine games in the NBA’s corona protocol, but has now left quarantine and is doing individual workouts.
“He’s on a different schedule because it took him longer,” Carlisle explained. In the upcoming game on Friday, Kleber will be absent again, but he could make his comeback in the subsequent home games against the Phoenix Suns. But before that there is a second duel with Jazz. The Mavs then want to provide an answer.
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