The Dallas Mavericks returned home after a four-game Eastern Conference road trip to play the Brooklyn Nets for the second time in a week. The Mavs beat them in Brooklyn last Monday but Daniel Gafford returned to action in this game after being out since February 10th.
He returned to the starting lineup alongside Spencer Dinwiddie, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, and Anthony Davis, while Brooklyn started D'Angelo Russell, Keon Johnson, Jalen Wilson, Ziaire Williams, and Nic Claxton.
Dallas hit four of its first five shots, but they couldn't get many stops. D'Angelo Russell hit back-to-back threes after a poor shooting stretch in recent weeks, but both teams were hovering around 60% shooting through the first few minutes of this game.
But then the offenses stalled out. Both teams went about two minutes without scoring a basket before Naji Marshall tipped in a dunk to tie the game at 22, then Caleb Martin cut backdoor and finished with a nice layup to take the lead. That helped them take a 29-25 lead into the second quarte.
Brooklyn made three straight three-pointers to start the second, which helped them tie the game back up. Dallas was dominating the paint, but the Nets kept getting open for threes, and that gave them the lead a few minutes later. Six different Nets knocked down shots from beyond the arc, but Klay Thompson nailed a three of his own from the corner to retake the lead and force a timeout from the Nets.
Dallas built the lead up to seven before Brooklyn went on an 8-0 run, fueled by two more three-pointers, to get the lead right back. They just could not miss threes, entering halftime shooting 13/29 from deep. And yet, P.J. Washington hit a three, and then Max Christie hit a lay-up through traffic, and the Mavs had a 63-58 lead at the break.
The Mavericks were doing a little better job of running the Nets off the three-point line initially, but they kept putting the Nets on the free-throw line instead. Naji Marshall and Anthony Davis both got in foul trouble. Dallas went up by seven in the opening minute of the quarter, but the Nets worked their way back into it and took the lead once the three-point shooting started to fall again.
Dallas again was up by seven, but the Nets went on another 8-0 run fueled by threes from Jalen Wilson and Tyrese Martin, and took the lead on free throws from Martin. But they would outscore the Nets 6-2 over the final three minutes of the quarter, with a Jaden Hardy three-pointer giving them an 87-84 advantage heading into the final frame.
Hardy then turned around and hit a three to start the fourth quarter, and then Klay Thompson shot-faked and got to the rim for their largest lead of the night at eight. Naji Marshall then made a prayer with the shot clock expiring, and the Mavs led by 10.
But the Nets offense continued to a roll. A three from Dariq Whitehead and an empty free-throw trip from Anthony Davis had the Nets back within three to force a timeout from Jason Kidd midway through the quarter. Tyrese Martin then tied the game with an open three from the quarter after getting an offensive rebound. Klay Thompson wasn't helping Dallas by missing a few consecutive shots, and that allowed the Nets to get out in transition to take the lead on a dunk to close off a 12-0 run.
Daniel Gafford tied the game again with a thunderous dunk, and then good ball movement found Max Christie open for a corner three, which he nailed. Brooklyn matched it, and then the teams traded two-point buckets.
A grimacing Daniel Gafford split a pair of free throws, then Caleb Martin got fouled on a drive on the next possession, and he also split his free throws. D'Angelo Russell converted an and-one on the next sequence, putting Dallas down by one with 1:16 to go. Anthony Davis missed a shot in the lane, then Nic Claxton got an and-one after slipping a screen. He'd make it, and the Mavs faced a four-point hole with 47.6 seconds to go.
Spencer Dinwiddie tried to go for the thunderous dunk and was met at the rim, sending it the other way, but Caleb Martin got a chase-down block of his own. P.J. Washington was fouled on the next possession, where he'd go 2/2. Keon Johnson missed a shot in the lane, giving the Mavs a chance to tie or win with 9.1 seconds remaining.
Klay Thompson hesitated on a corner three and missed, but Dallas got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Spencer Dinwiddie for a pretty open three, but he also missed it. Brooklyn got the rebound and called timeout with 1.9 seconds remaining. But the Nets would make their free throws and that would do it, with Brooklyn picking up the upset win, 113-109.
Two things immediately stand out on the box score: Dallas' free-throw shooting and Brooklyn's three-point shooting. The Mavericks were just 17/29 at the free-throw line. Every single Maverick who attempted a free throw missed one. That's embarrassing for an NBA team. And then there's the Nets, who went a ridiculous 20/51 from deep. Eight different Nets made MULTIPLE three-pointers. That is just inexcusable from a Mavericks team trying to make the postseason.
The Mavericks had six players in double figures between 11 and 17 points, led by Daniel Gafford in his return with 17 points and 7 rebounds in just under 19 minutes. P.J. Washington (13 points), Klay Thompson (13 points on 5/16 shooting), Anthony Davis (12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists), Max Christie (12 points), and Spencer Dinwiddie (11 points, 8 assists) were also in double figures.
Brooklyn was led by Keon Johnson with 24 points, followed by D'Angelo Russell (18 points), Jalen Wilson (12 points), Ziaire Williams (11 points), and Tyrese Martin (11 points).
Dallas will stay at home to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
