The effort was better, but the result was still the same for the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas would fall to the Phoenix Suns at home 111-105 on Saturday night. Dallas has now lost five straight and eight out of their last ten.
On Friday after Dallas’ loss to the Jazz, Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who scored a team-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists, including 18 points in the third quarter against Phoenix, questioned the team’s efforts, but on Saturday, Doncic was happy with how the team played.
“Way better,” Doncic said of the team’s effort. “I think everybody was a little tired. We came at like 4 a.m. yesterday. I think the effort was great today, and I think we had a little bad luck. We had like five or six open shots at the end, and they don’t fall. We got to work on that.”
Willie Cauley-Stein added: “I think our effort level was a 10 out of 10 tonight. Guys were fighting, and we’re in great positioning to help each other out. This is what this stretch is about. We’re bleeding right now, and we’re trying to stop the bleeding. I think our effort level, where our attitude and effort was today, was two steps in the right direction.”
Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was disappointed in the loss, but like Doncic and Cauley-Stein, he was happy with the fight Dallas showed against the Suns.
“What a disappointing game,” Carlisle said. “We were fighting from the beginning and got behind, were able to get a lead, and then it was tied at halftime. Then in the third, we built a 15-point lead with six to go in the third, but we had some loose possessions, we had some poor defensive possessions, and they got the momentum back.
“It’s just a really disappointing one because of how hard our guys fought. But Phoenix hung in, and they made plays. They were able to do what they had to do to get the momentum back and win. We’ve just simply got to do better. I loved our attitude heading into the game. Just really disappointed for the team.”
Obviously, losing five consecutive games is not a good thing, but according to Tim Hardaway Jr., who finished with 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists on Saturday night, these struggles will help Dallas in the long run.
“Everything is happening for a reason,” Hardaway jr. said. “I feel like that in order for you to be great, you have to go through the trenches with your brothers and crawl and dig your way out of that hole. Tonight, I think we moved one step closer in the right direction. I am not saying it was great because we didn’t get the win, but at the same time, people showed effort [and] people were moving the ball. It felt like there was some joy out there today, and it was a great job from all of our guys that stepped in to show that.”
Dallas will battle the Suns on Monday night in the second game of their two-game set, and hopefully, they will have another solid effort.
Notes:
-Chris Paul led Phoenix with 29 points to go with a game-high 12 assists and 4 steals. This was Paul’s sixth double-double of the season and the 452nd of his career.
-Deandre Ayton left the game with a shoulder injury early on but eventually returned and contributed 18 points and a season-high-tying 17 rebounds for his 73rd career double-double.
-Dallas was without Kristaps Portzingis(Rest) on Saturday night.
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