“Short term trips and a lot of long flights
It’s crazy to see the path that we on, yikes
Showing off to fine women sitting next to you
You rich, she broke, who really finessing who
Let it sink in don’t go jump off the deep end
Attention got way too much value so they just pretend
And I ain’t perfect, but recognize the circus
Where they hide what’s inside
And trick you with what’s on the surface
You better move ’em with a purpose, leeches in the lurkest
Burn down your worth just to leave you when you worthless”
This is part of a verse from Misguided, a song on Damian Lillard’s new album, The Letter O. We already confirmed this is the first time that the Mavericks have been 0-5 to start a season, but even though this seems like it’ll never end it’s still a “short term trip” the season is a “long flight.” Several people on twitter have been, understandably, talking about tanking and getting a lottery pick. First of all, this team (probably no team) is ever going to intentionally lose games; at least the coaches and players aren’t going to. Also, this team isn’t a terrible team. The Mavericks have real players with real talent and one of the best coaches in the NBA. Dame described this roster best, “they hide what’s inside/and trick you with what’s on the surface.” On the surface, this team is winless but that’s not a good representation.
This Mavericks team has had a rough schedule and haven’t put forth the effort needed to win in those “either/or” games. Tonight, in stretches, they competed, hustled, and some played their best. But it wasn’t good enough. Now they’re dealing with several injuries and unknown issues all across the roster and no one knows when this slide will end. Until then, it’s about the journey, seeing Justin Anderson and Salah Mejri swat shots and get the AAC more hyped up than Sean Health[note]No offense Sean[/note] ever could. That makes a game like this worth it, string a bunch of those together and this season is definitely going to be better than what 0-5 looks like right now.
In the first half we witnessed one of the most incredible things in nature, the Dirk Dunk. The official Play-By-Play said “06:42 Nowitzki 0′ Cutting Dunk”
Shortly after that dunk, the Mavs were down 11-18 and Carlisle subbed in Curry for Barea and Powell for Dirk. The lineup of Deron/Curry/Wes/HB/Powell went on a 13-1 run and put the Mavericks up 24-19. This lineup actually gave the Mavs a spark off of the bench and forced four turnovers in that stretch. JJ Barea added 16 points of his own in the first half shooting 4/5 from three-point territory. The Mavericks ended the first half only down three, 52-55 and at halftime someone tweeted this and almost instantly regretted it…
From Three:
Mavs: 8/17
Blazers: 3/14That can't last long.
— Dallas Sports Fanatic (@Dallas_Fanatic) November 5, 2016
The Blazers came out of the break steaming and if they would have looked into the mirror all they would have seen was that fire emoji[note]???[/note]. The Mavericks went 0/6 from three to start the second half while the Blazers went 7/9 from deep. But the real story was the end of the 3rd quarter when Simba and Salah put the Mavs on their back there was a few great plays, capitalized by this #SimbaSwat…
That unit of Barea, Curry, Anderson, Acy, and Mejri really had the Mavs rolling and had that Mavericks down three, 76-79, at the end of the third quarter.
After that can we really mention anyone other than Damian Lillard? Dame continued his reign of terror with 15 points in fourth quarter, 42 total points in total on 12/18 shooting from the floor. That’s not a typo, 42 points on 18 shots. Only 17 players in NBA History have ever done that, including our own Rolando Blackman.
During the third quarter, it was reported that Dirk was not going to come back into the game due to his achilles that had already kept him out of two games this season. After the game Coach Carlisle said that Dirk didn’t “reinjure the achilles” but that they are going to keep him out for “7 days” and reevaluate then. He continued by saying that Dirk is “more than willing to keep playing but obviously need to take care of him.” Insinuating that the injury would normally keep a player out but they’re being extra cautious because, as Dirk says, his body “isn’t doing well as it is.”
Carlisle only said of Andrew Bogut’s absence that “Bogut, asked us to say it was personal.”
Apparently sometime during the game, Wes Mattews banged his knee and it was bothering him. He was holding it after the game but didn’t say anything that would indicate that it was actually injured. Also at the end of the game, Deron Williams was limping and asked to come out. Carlisle’s only comment on these two injuries was, “Wes got banged, Deron had a knee thing at the end of the game.” Nothing more, which could be great, or even more bad news.
In the next week or so light will be shone on this season. There’s a bright side to this Mavericks season but in the locker room after the Mavericks lost 95-105 to the Portland Trailblazers there wasn’t any exuberance to mention.
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