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When Rick Carlisle pulled the stunt of resting most of his starters for the first time this season, the team rolled over the Pelicans on the road shorthanded, surprising many. How did the starters respond to their rest? A dud in Milwaukee. The Mavs were in the same position in Chicago tonight, as they were coming off the second game of a back to back in which all 5 Mavs starters didn’t play. One would think the effort and energy level would be high after the entire starting 5 was coming off rest, right? Wrong.
The Mavs came out just as they did in Milwaukee a week ago, and couldn’t manage to get anything going to start the game. They scored just 3 points as a team during the first six minutes of the 1st quarter. They finished the first frame shooting just 32%, only to see their shooting percentage decrease in the second quarter. They finished the half with two 18 point quarters each, looking sluggish and as if the rest did no good. The second half was a different story, however.
It isn’t often you have the opportunity to win an NBA game when you shoot 39% from the field, yet the Mavs did just that. Down 10 at half, the Mavs were able to cut the lead to just two heading in to the fourth quarter. The final frame belonged to Dirk and Deron Williams, the Mavs two best shot creators. D-Will scored 10 points in the final frame to finish with 18 points and 6 assists. They were also able to take advantage of several turnovers in the second half, in which the Bulls only scored 31 points. They were clearly able to take advantage of a Chicago team coming off a double overtime game on the second night of a back to back, and while it wasn’t pretty, were able to grind out a quality road win. Here’s what we learned:
Behind the scenes: Given his offensive struggles, Wesley Matthews has been defending opposing two-guards at an elite level this season. Coming off a 53 point night, Jimmy Butler was held to just 2 of 11 shooting for just 4 points. A large chunk of that was due to Matthews solid defense. So far this season, Rudy Gay is the only shooting guard to score more than 30 against the Mavs. Wes’s defense has been a huge key in the teams success this season.
Rest? To heck with that: The Mavericks starters don’t seem to respond well to rest. Just as they did in Milwaukee, they came out tonight not being able to hit a shot (two 18 point quarters). They might need to reconsider conceding games even though rest is supposed to be about the bigger picture. It doesn’t seem to do the starters any good.
The Mavs gauntlet stretch of playing the Cavs, Thunder, Bulls, and Spurs will conclude Sunday in San Antonio. A split against those 4 teams would be ideal, but the Spurs have yet to lose a game at home this season, and the Mavs haven’t won there since 2010. Tipoff is set for 6:00.
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