Mavs Talk: Will 'Closed-Door Team Meeting' - And 3 COVID-Healthy Players - Help?
The Dallas Mavericks “had a talk,” on Monday night after losing yet another home game to the Denver Nuggets, 117-113. But going forward? They'll have some depth.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray got ejected late in the third quarter, allowing Dallas to creep back into the game for a close fourth quarter. Ultimately, the Nuggets closed the game with some major help from Michael Porter Jr. who finished with 30 points and some big buckets down the stretch.
READ MORE: Jokic’s Nuggets Top Luka’s Mavs, 117-113
While the loss raised concern for the Mavericks, Luka Doncic’s performance certainly didn’t, as he finished with 35 points, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds.
There was "talk'' in the post-game locker room meeting. And on Wednesday, more talk - about Josh Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell being moved up to being listed as "questionable'' for Wednesday’s game at Utah. (Maxi Kleber is not listed as being upgraded yet.
Said Finney-Smith, who has gone through this process, fortunately, with his pregnant girlfriend staying healthy: "Coach said it was going to be a weird year, but I didn't know it would be me stuck in this shit."
The Mavericks (8-9) will be in Salt Lake City for two games against the scorching-hot Jazz, who have won eight straight games. The second game is Friday. For us? Now let's hear Mavs talk, presser-style ... bridging Tuesday and Wednesday ...
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on the disappointing first half:
“I thought the first half was very poor. The ball didn’t move. We were distracted. We didn’t help each other defensively. Very disappointing.”
Carlisle on ‘unselfish play’:
“Team play. It’s got to be unselfish team play,” Carlisle said. “It doesn’t matter who we put out there.
"If the ball’s moving and we’re executing and helping each other get shots, that’s going to breed a togetherness on the defensive end and we’ll give ourselves a chance.''
Doncic on the postgame ‘talk’:
“We had a talk,” Doncic said when asked what the post-game message was in the locker room. “Coach spoke, but that will stay between us.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. on the Murray incident:
"I was trying to do the best I could to deny the ball. The rest speaks for itself." Asked whether the league office needs to look into the play, Hardaway said, "It doesn't even matter at this point. What matters is we lost."
READ MORE: Whitt's End: Luka Is The Next Emmitt
James Johnson on the second half effort:
“The turnaround point happened in that locker room at halftime … We didn’t leave it up to coach to come in there and really give us the spiel on what’s going on. We know what’s going on. We know what we were doing wrong. I think we were able to hold each other accountable and use that as a spark instead of fighting among each other.”
The Mavs (8-9) will look to return to .500 on Wednesday night when they travel to face the Utah Jazz (12-4).
Said Carlisle after Wednesday's workout before the team's flight to Utah: "It's great having them (the non-COVID trio) back on the floor ... They're three of our best defenders."
