Mavs Crunch-Time Donuts: Why Can't They Finish at the Finish Line?
In Tuesday's Dallas Mavericks Crunch-Time Donuts, we reflect back and ponder today: "Why Can't They Finish at the Finish Line?''
DONUT 1: AH, MEMORIES
Among our most vivid memories of the NBA-title edition of your Dallas Mavericks was the crunch-time mastery of the trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Rick Carlisle.
Individually, they were Hall-of-Fame-bound, all three of them, but they were also imperfect.
But together? Dirk as an ultimate offensive weapon, Kidd as the BBIQ triggerman and Carlisle as the architect of it all?
Perfection.
DONUT 2: FALL IN TO THE GAP
This year's edition of Carlisle's bunch, young as it is, is bright enough to know that ambition isn't enough to close the gap that exists between those Mavs and the Luka Doncic/Kristaps Porzingis-led 2019-20 team. That gap has never been more apparent than it was Sunday at the AAC, when the down-the-stretch Mavs couldn't make free throws, couldn't execute solid possessions and literally - for the final 3:14 of the game - couldn't score.
DONUT 3: QUOTABLE
“When you struggle during a stretch at the end of the game, you can come up with a lot of reasons and a lot of excuses and stuff,” Carlisle said after the 112-109 loss to Indiana. (Game story here.) “I just don’t think we can do that. I think we all have to own it. We have to look at it objectively, see what we can do better and then simply do better.”
DONUT 4: BY THE NUMBERS, MICRO-VERSION
Before we take that "objective look,'' let's look at the raw numbers, micro-version, from Sunday.
-Dallas didn’t score in the final 3:14 of the game.
-Dallas didn’t make a field goal in the final 4:40.
-Dallas missed its last 10 field-goal attempts.
-Dallas was outscored down the stretch 8-0.
-Luka, brilliant as he almost always is (here, a 36-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist game while demonstrating an "athleticism'' that is uniquely astounding), struggled at the line, as he too-often does.
DONUT 5: BY THE NUMBERS, MACRO-VERSION
It's rather amazing that the Mavs are as good as they are (virtually locked into an NBA Playoffs berth with a 39-26 record, all of it an impressive turnaround from the previous half-decade) ... considering how poor they are in clutch time.
-Dallas is 1-4 in overtime games.
-In games decided by five points or fewer, Dallas is 6-16.
-In games decided by three points or fewer, Dallas is 2-9.
DONUT 6: WHAT'S ON LUKA?
Free throws.
Really, that's the fix.
Luka complains frequently about not getting calls (including on Sunday, Bloody Sunday), but at the same time, he goes to the line nine times per game - that's fourth in the league, a tick behind James Harden, who is celebrated/bemoaned as a re-inventor of basketball due to the way he draws shooting fouls.
But Doncic missed a free throw at the 3:14 mark to drop his number for the game to 6-of-10. He is a 75-percent free-thrower for the year. That needs to be better. And led by him - because he is the leader for all of it - the Mavs dip to 70 percent in the clutch, a bottom-five number in all the NBA.
DONUT 7: WHAT'S ON KP?
Porzingis obviously was due for a less-than-superhuman outing. But this was ... too less.
“Just weren’t making shots,” Porzingis said after totaling nine points on an abysmal 3-of-17 night. “We got some decent looks. ... It (will) be like that sometimes. You just don’t make shots.''
It's hard to beat up KP here, given that he's become, in the last month, one of the scariest 30-point threats in the league. But 3-of-17 is tough to stomach - and tough to overcome.
DONUT 8: DIE BY THE SWORD?
The Mavs are three-point-shootin' fools, and had a handful of such opportunities late here. There were two missed three-point attempts from Luka. There was a big miss from Courtney Lee. In total, outside of Tim Hardaway Jr.'s 30-point work (including 6-of-11 from the arc), the rest of the Mavs shot 8-of-32.
As our Steven Kilpatrick pointed out in Mavs Monday Donuts, a lot of Dallas guys are approaching a lot of records from distance. But if we're reading our notes properly, seven of the Mavs' final eight shots were from 23 feet out or longer.
Oh how we long for an "easy bucket.''
DONUT 9: THE OPPORTUNITY MISSED
We noted the other day, with bright optimism, that the Mavs entered last week within wishing distance of Houston, Utah and OKC, the three teams that were ahead of seventh-slotted Dallas, and that the Mavs have four games, all at home, against that potentially leap-frogg'able trio.
So it slaps you right in the face to watch, in particular, the talented Rockets slip up ... with the Mavs failing to take advantage.
The Rockets have in fact lost four straight games. ... and they nevertheless maintain an edge in the standings on Dallas as we begin the week.
DONUT 10: MEANWHILE IN BEANTOWN ...
Oh, and at the same time Sunday night, Oklahoma City (entering the night one game up on Dallas) rolled into Boston and beat a good Celtics team. The score? Thunder 105, Celtics 104.
Clutch.
And still ... Dallas is at San Antonio tonight for a 7 p.m. tip while sitting just 2.5 games out of fourth in the West.
Time for more clutch?
DONUT 11: SCAR TISSUE
We talk a lot in this space about "scar tissue,'' the needed toughening of a young player, a young team, before there is true readiness to be a champion. And maybe that's the real story here.
Before Carlisle won that title in 2011? He'd won a lot of games. But he was 51 when he won the championship. Scar tissue.
Kidd, of course, was "old'' - 38 - when he won his title in Dallas. But what's sometimes forgotten in Dallas is the fact that at the start of the previous decade, he led the Nets to consecutive NBA Finals ... both losses. Scar tissue.
Before Dirk won? You know. So much heartbreak. So much "closeness.'' Nowitzki won the title age age - time flies! - 32.
DONUT 12: THE FINAL WORD
Are we suggesting that Rick must wait another decade, that Luka must wait until his 32, that KP must wait until he's 38? No. God, no.
We are suggesting that it took time (and standout teammates) for Rick, Kidd and Dirk to climb the mountain. Maybe they were "born clutch'' or, more likely, they "developed clutch.''
Rick, Luka and KP can do the same thing, painful as the process is.
"If you're in this league for 13 years and just battling in the playoffs for 11 or so years and always coming up a bit short,'' Nowitzki said when his Mavs finally won that title, "that makes it more special.''
In due time, it can happen again. In due time.
