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DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks entered Friday night's game against the New York Knicks as 11-point favorites at the American Airlines Center. In terms of NBA point spreads, that is a significant margin. 

Yet, due to some poor decisions, sloppy play, and stubbornness, the Mavs found themselves down early, and they could never quite find their footing, falling 106-102 in embarrassing fashion. 

“They played a great game, from start to finish," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. "They didn’t shoot the ball super-well overall, but their three-point shooting was terrific and that was the difference in the game."

One of the major keys to sustained success at the NBA level is continuity. Whether that be in a pregame routine, practice habits, lineup composition, or effort, it is one of the pillars of playoff-level teams and what makes them so good in the regular season. 

Right now, the 5-3 Dallas Mavericks do not have that. A good portion of the blame for that, if not the majority of it, falls on the head coach. 

There are other factors, including poor defense, lackluster performances from obviously much-need role players, and poor decision making by the playmakers at large, but at its heart, the blame for this kind of defeat circles directly back to Carlisle. 

For the eighth-straight game, Carlisle has employed a different starting lineup and rotation to begin the game, and for the eighth-straight game, things have gotten off to a very slow start for the Mavericks. 

“The first quarter was really the part of the game that we didn’t recover from," Carlisle said, "They came out strong, we had a good early start to the game, but we ended up losing the first quarter by eight. That is not the right way to start this game off. ”    

There were warning signs of this being an issue in games against Washington, Cleveland, and Orlando. These issues were eventually going to catch up to them, and on Friday night, against one of the five worst teams in the NBA, they did. 

Luka Doncic, who had a career-high 38 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, is not free of blame here. Neither is Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks. Each of the two, while filling the stat sheet and making a slew of phenomenal plays individually, also made major mistakes, the most glaring of which being Doncic's ill-advised shot at on the Mavs' final possession. 

"It’s a tough loss but (Doncic) is playing like he could be the MVP," Kristaps Porzingis said. "He’s playing incredible so I want him to keep going and keep doing his thing. Those are the types of shots we know he can make. He could’ve gotten to a better spot but sometimes you just have to let him do his thing and maybe next time he takes that crazy shot and it goes in.” 

The rest of the team, which only had one other player (Tim Hardaway Jr. with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting) score in double-digits for the game, is not immune to criticism here, either. The fact is, the inconsistent lineup combinations, turnovers, fouls, poor decisions down the stretch were to blame, but in the end, it largely falls on Carlisle pushing the right buttons.

Is Courtney Lee a better starting option than Seth Curry? Is Jalen Brunson really only worthy of 16 minutes? The answer to those questions, we say, is "no,'' but those were just two of the odd decisions put forth by Carlisle here.

“Yes, I would love to get (Curry) more shots," Carlisle said. "I am looking at those kinds of things all the time, but other teams know he is a great shooter and they stay pretty close to him. We are going to have to work on that.”    

We'll suggest that players like Seth Curry, Jalen Brunson and Delon Wright should not be falling by the wayside, while Tim Hardaway Jr. is shooting 15 shots off of the bench. Whatever the fix is, it will be up to Carlisle to determine the best course of action. 

Unfortunately, however, the Mavericks will not have much time to reflect on this one, as they board a Memphis-bound flight to face their first back-to-back of the season against Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, and the Grizzlies at Fed Ex Forum on tonight. 

“Maybe we’re not as experienced but it was many things before that fourth quarter," Prozingis said after the loss. "Maybe our intensity wasn’t the best in the first half of the game defensively. That gave them life throughout the game, and they made some big shots. We have to make sure we protect the home court next time. I know we haven’t been playing as well at home. We’ve been playing better on the road, but we have another chance tomorrow on the road. We have to keep going.” 

After that, the Mavs head east to take on the Boston Celtics, before Kristaps Porzingis makes his homecoming return visit to Madison Square Garden for a rematch with these same (now 2-7) New York Knicks.

“It’ll probably be a lot of noise," said Porzingis. "I don’t know if it’s going to be positive or negative. It’s going to be a lot of emotion I think from the fans and for me also. I’m coming back to New York. It’s going to be interesting. I’m looking forward to the game. I spent four years of my life living there so it’s going to be special going back.”