Mavs Talk: ‘We Just Weren’t Right,' Says Carlisle
The shorthanded Dallas Mavericks had a tough night on Thursday night, losing 116-108 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Coach Rick Carlisle called the beginning of the game a "horrendous start" for the Mavericks, who played without Dallas star players Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis on the back-to-back.
Dallas fell behind to 35-19 at the end of the first quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge for OKC, putting up 35 points and six assists.
On the other hand, multiple Mavericks players stepped up, including Josh Richardson (27 points), Jalen Brunson (26 points), and Tim Hardaway Jr. (24 points).
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Now let's hear Mavs talk:
Tim Hardaway Jr. on the loss:
“Give them credit… There could be a lot said about us being on back-to-back and so on, but hey, everybody’s putting on a uniform out there and competing. We’ve just got to be better.”
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Carlisle on what went wrong:
“We just weren’t right… The ball wasn’t moving. Defensively we weren’t concentrating well enough and we didn’t have enough presence, so we’re looking at a difficult night.”
Richardson on the close game:
“If we had started pushing three minutes, maybe four minutes earlier, I think it’s a different game.”
Brunson on not using excuses:
“We know what type of team we are at full strength… It’s just on the guys that were playing tonight: It’s on us. We started the push way too late”.
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Next up, the Mavericks (19-17) will travel to face the Denver Nuggets (21-15) on Saturday at 7:30 PM CST.
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